Classica Sinica Medica

愈甚持起

yù shèn chí qǐ

The four turns · yu shen chi qi

Also rendered: healing, aggravation, holding and rising (Full rendering, keeps all four verbs) · the four turns of an illness (Shorter English framing of the same set) · recovery, exacerbation, persistence, relapse (Clinical idiom; too institutional) · yu shen chi qi (Bare transliteration)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
yù shèn chí qǐ
Simplified
愈甚持起
Literal
Four plain verbs. 瘉 — written 愈 by this chapter — is 《說文》 病瘳也, an illness recovering. 甚 goes back to satisfaction carried too far. 持 is 握也, to hold in the hand; to hold on. 起 is 能立也, to get up. Nothing here is a disease term: all four say what a sick person does.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：瘉，病瘳也。从疒俞聲（愈為後起字，本篇作愈）；甚，尤安樂也。从甘从匹；持，握也。从手寺聲；起，能立也。从走巳聲。

In brief

These are the four outcomes the whole middle of chapter 22 is built to predict, and they arrive in a fixed order because they follow the cycle of the phases. There is healing at what the viscus engenders — the child. There is aggravation at what overcomes it. There is holding on at what engenders it — the mother. And there is rising again when it comes back to its own seat. Liver disease heals in summer, worsens in autumn, holds through winter, and rises in spring; the other four viscera follow the same figure from their own positions.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Healing at the child 至其所生而愈
傳於我生之子氣而愈
It heals when the qi of the child I bear is transmitted.
肝病者，愈在丙丁 — 素問·藏氣法時論
2
Aggravation at what overcomes 至其所不勝而甚
值克我之氣而病甚
It worsens when it meets the qi that overcomes me.
肝病者……加於庚辛 — 素問·藏氣法時論
3
Holding at the mother 至於所生而持
值生我之母氣，病相持而不去
It holds level and does not leave when it meets the mother qi that bears me.
肝病者……持於壬癸 — 素問·藏氣法時論
4
Rising in its own seat 自得其位而起
值本臟當旺之時而病復有起色
It picks up again when the season of its own viscus comes to strength.
肝病者……起於甲乙 — 素問·藏氣法時論
5
The same figure told by seasons 愈於夏……起於春
以四時言之，與以十日言之者同例
Stated by the four seasons, this follows the same rule as stating it by ten-day periods.
病在肝，愈於夏，夏不愈，甚於秋，秋不死，持於冬，起於春 — 素問·藏氣法時論

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·藏氣法時論 Read in context →
夫邪氣之客於身也，以勝相加，至其所生而愈，至其所不勝而甚，至於所生而持，自得其位而起。 夫邪气之客于身也，以胜相加，至其所生而愈，至其所不胜而甚，至于所生而持，自得其位而起。
Fú xié qì zhī kè yú shēn yě, yǐ shèng xiāng jiā, zhì qí suǒ shēng ér yù, zhì qí suǒ bù shèng ér shèn, zhì yú suǒ shēng ér chí, zì dé qí wèi ér qǐ.
Now when evil qi lodges in the body, it imposes itself by overcoming. Coming to what it engenders, there is healing; coming to what it cannot overcome, there is aggravation; coming to what engenders it, there is holding; reaching its own seat, there is rising.
「以勝相加」一句，為本篇前半五臟病期之總綱：邪之客身，以所勝相加臨；至我所生者則愈，至克我者則甚，至生我者則持，自得其位則起。四句之中，「所生」兩見而所指不同——上者我所生（子），下者生我（母），讀者最易混看。前文言「病在肝，愈於夏，夏不愈，甚於秋，秋不死，持於冬，起於春」者，即此四句之例；下文心脾肺腎四臟，各自為例而不復舉其說。

Compounds built on this term

愈
yù
to heal
說文作「瘉」：病瘳也
甚
shèn
to worsen
說文：尤安樂也；引申為太過
持
chí
to hold on
說文：握也；本篇謂病勢相持
起
qǐ
to rise again
說文：能立也
以勝相加
yǐ shèng xiāng jiā
imposing itself by overcoming
本篇四句之總綱

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng(rendered one at a time)They have no single term for the set: 愈 becomes 'recovery', 甚 'aggravation', and the others are handled by the clause around them.
Unschuldto be cured, to become severe, to persist, to riseHe keeps each verb distinct and ordinary, which keeps the sequence visible.
This sitehealing, aggravation, holding and risingFour short words for four short words. The clinical alternative would turn a sentence anyone can follow at the bedside into a chart entry.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

Search the glossary

Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

See all reading paths