形氣相得简体形气相得

xíng qì xiāng dé

Form and qi in accord · xing qi xiang de

Also rendered: form and qi in accord (Literal) · the form and the qi matching (Plain English) · constitution and qi corresponding (Clinical, and 形 is not quite constitution) · xing qi xiang de (Bare transliteration)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: xíng qì xiāng dé
Simplified: 形气相得
Literal: 形 the visible form (《說文》: 形，象形也). 氣 the breath, the qi. 相得 to get one another, to be suited (得: 《說文》得，行有所得也 — to come by something on the road). The body's build and the body's breath agreeing about how much of it there is.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：形，象形也（段玉裁注：引申爲凡形體之偁）；得，行有所得也（段玉裁注：引申之凡相合、相宜者亦曰得）。

In brief

The first and simplest of the chapter’s prognostic pairs. A large frame with a thin pulse and too little breath to finish a breath is in danger; a wasted frame with a large pulse and a chest full of qi is already dying. Form and qi in accord means life; the nine probes failing to cross-check means disease; all three sectors and nine probes losing one another means death. The judgement is relational and not arithmetic: nothing here says how big the pulse should be, only whether it belongs to the body it is beating in.

Senses in the classical corpus

The pair that fails upward 形盛脉細，少氣不足以息者危

形有餘而氣不足

形盛脉細，少氣不足以息者危 — Suwen 20

The pair that fails downward 形瘦脉大，胸中多氣者死

形不足而氣有餘

形瘦脉大，胸中多氣者死 — Suwen 20

The pair that holds 形氣相得者生

形與氣相稱則生

形氣相得者生 — Suwen 20

The next two grades 參伍不調者病，三部九候皆相失者死

不調則病，相失則死

參伍不調者病。三部九候皆相失者死 — Suwen 20

The same test, later in the chapter 形肉已脱，九候雖調，猶死

形肉既脫，雖調亦死

形肉已脱，九候雖調，猶死 — Suwen 20

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

Display

2 passages

素問·三部九候論 Suwen 20 · 三部九候論 Read in context →

歧伯曰：形盛脉細，少氣不足以息者危。形瘦脉大，胸中多氣者死。形氣相得者生，參伍不調者病。三部九候皆相失者死。歧伯曰：形盛脉细，少气不足以息者危。形瘦脉大，胸中多气者死。形气相得者生，参伍不调者病。三部九候皆相失者死。

Qí bó yuē: xíng shèng mài xì, shǎo qì bù zú yǐ xī zhě wēi. Xíng shòu mài dà, xiōng zhōng duō qì zhě sǐ.Xíng qì xiāng dé zhě shēng, cēn wǔ bù tiáo zhě bìng. Sān bù jiǔ hòu jiē xiāng shī zhě sǐ.

Qibo says: a full form with a thin pulse, whose scant qi does not suffice for breathing, is in danger. A wasted form with a large pulse and much qi in the chest is death. Where form and qi are well matched, there is life; where they are jumbled and out of tune, disease. Where the three sectors and nine probes are all mutually lost, death.

本篇決死生之第一義。形盛脈細、少氣不足以息者危；形瘦脈大、胸中多氣者死——二者皆形氣不相得。形氣相得者生，參伍不調者病，三部九候皆相失者死。是其斷不在脈之大小，而在脈之與形相稱與否：同一脈大，形盛者宜之，形瘦者則為死候。與第十九篇「形氣相得，謂之可治；形氣相失，謂之難治」及「必察四難而明告之」同條而義同；本篇益以「三部九候皆相失者死」，為九候自相參驗之目。

素問·玉機真藏論 Suwen 19 · 玉機真藏論 Read in context →

形氣相得，謂之可治，色澤以浮，謂之易已，脉從四時，謂之可治。脉弱以滑，是有胃氣，命曰易治，取之以時。形气相得，谓之可治，色泽以浮，谓之易已，脉从四时，谓之可治。脉弱以滑，是有胃气，命曰易治，取之以时。

Xíng qì xiāng dé, wèi zhī kě zhì, sè zé yǐ fú, wèi zhī yì yǐ, mài cóng sì shí, wèi zhī kě zhì. Mài ruò yǐ huá, shì yǒu wèi qì, mìng yuē yì zhì, qǔ zhī yǐ shí.

When form and qi match, it can be treated. When the colour is lustrous and floating, it will readily resolve. When the pulse follows the four seasons, it can be treated. A pulse that is yielding yet slippery has stomach qi, and is called easy to treat — take it while the season allows.

「形氣相得，謂之可治」，形與氣相得則可治，相失則難治。本篇以形氣、色澤、脉之從違三者並舉，為預後之首條。

Compounds built on this term

形

xíng

form

說文：象形也

氣

qì

說文：气，雲气也；氣為餼之本字，經典借為气

相得

xiāng dé

in accord

得，行有所得也

形盛

xíng shèng

the form is exuberant

形有餘之謂

少氣不足以息

shǎo qì bù zú yǐ xī

too little breath to finish a breath

少音 shǎo

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

Wiseman & Feng	form and qi are in accord	They keep 形 as form and 氣 as qi throughout.
Unschuld	the physical appearance and the qi correspond to each other	Fuller phrasing, same relation.
This site	form and qi in accord	形 is what can be seen from across the room and 氣 is what you find at the wrist: the test is whether the two reports agree. Constitution would be wrong — the chapter says nothing about what this body is like generally, and everything about whether its pulse is proportionate to it today, which is why a large pulse is good news in one line and a death sentence in the next.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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