五榖简体五谷

wǔ gǔ

The five grains · wu gu

Also rendered: the five grains (Plain and sufficient) · the five cereals (Slightly agricultural; cereal implies breakfast) · the five staples (Right in spirit, though 榖 names grain specifically) · wu gu (Bare transliteration)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: wǔ gǔ
Simplified: 五谷
Literal: 穀 was glossed by the dictionary as continuing, 續也, the general name for all grain — which is to say the word's oldest notion is survival rather than agriculture. This chapter writes it 榖, the common abbreviated form. 五 is the count.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：穀，續也。百穀之總名。从禾㪊聲（本篇作「榖」，省寫之俗體，見本篇校勘）。《孟子·滕文公上》：樹藝五穀，五穀熟而民人育。

In brief

The closing maxim of chapter 22 is the sentence every later diet book quotes: potent drugs attack the evil, the five grains nourish, the five fruits assist, the five domestic animals benefit, the five vegetables fill out. Note what the sentence is not saying — it is not a hierarchy in which medicine is base and food noble. Both are needed; they are aimed at different things. The list that follows assigns a grain, a fruit, an animal and a vegetable to each viscus by flavour, which is the same principle as everything earlier in the chapter, applied to the kitchen.

Senses in the classical corpus

Grain as nourishment itself 五榖爲養

穀食為生人之本

五榖爲養，五果爲助，五畜爲益，五菜爲充 — Suwen 22

The chapter's own five 粳米、小豆、麥、大豆、黄黍

按肝心脾肺腎五臟分列

肝色青……粳米、牛肉、棗、葵，皆甘 — Suwen 22

With drugs set over against food 毒藥攻邪

藥攻其邪，食養其正，各有所司

毒藥攻邪，五榖爲養 — Suwen 22

Combined by qi and flavour 氣味合而服之

氣與味相合而後服

氣味合而服之，以𥙷精益氣 — Suwen 22

The lists differ by author 五榖之目不一

後世或以麻麥稷稻豆當之

五穀之屬各有其說 — 諸家本草

Occurrences in the classics

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

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1 passages

素問·藏氣法時論 Suwen 22 · 藏氣法時論 Read in context →

毒藥攻邪，五榖爲養，五果爲助，五畜爲益，五菜爲充，氣味合而服之，以𥙷精益氣。毒药攻邪，五谷为养，五果为助，五畜为益，五菜为充，气味合而服之，以补精益气。

Dú yào gōng xié, wǔ gǔ wéi yǎng, wǔ guǒ wéi zhù, wǔ chù wéi yì, wǔ cài wéi chōng, qì wèi hé ér fú zhī, yǐ bǔ jīng yì qì.

The poison-drugs attack the evil; the five grains nourish; the five fruits assist; the five domestic animals add benefit; the five vegetables fill out. Take them with their qi and flavour in accord, thereby supplementing the essence and boosting the qi.

「毒藥攻邪，五榖爲養，五果爲助，五畜爲益，五菜爲充」五句，為後世食療之所祖。其義不在貶藥而在分職：藥攻邪氣，食養正氣，二者各有所司。下文所舉之目——粳米牛肉棗葵（甘）、小豆犬肉李韭（酸）、麥羊肉杏薤（苦）、大豆豕肉栗栗藿（鹹）、黄黍雞肉桃葱（辛）——即以此一味配一臟之法，施於五味；與上文「肝欲散，急食辛以散之」諸條同一原理。「氣味合而服之」一句，尤見本篇不單言味。

Compounds built on this term

五榖

wǔ gǔ

the five grains

本篇作「榖」，見本篇校勘

五果

wǔ guǒ

the five fruits

本篇所列為棗、李、杏、栗、桃

五畜

wǔ chù

the five domestic animals

本篇所列為牛、犬、羊、豕、雞

五菜

wǔ cài

the five vegetables

本篇所列為葵、韭、薤、藿、葱

爲養

wéi yǎng

serving as nourishment

本篇四句之一目

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	the five grains	They keep the literal count and the grain, and leave the question of which five to the commentaries.
Unschuld	the five kinds of grain	He makes it slightly more explicit, which helps a reader who expects a list.
This site	the five grains	Which five are meant is disputed in every commentary, so the rendering should not pretend to know. The chapter supplies its own list anyway.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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