氣味简体气味

qì wèi

Qi and flavour · qi wei

Also rendered: qi and flavour (Keeps both halves untechnical and leaves qi as qi) · qi and taste (Taste is narrower than 味, which covers smell too) · nature and flavour (The later formula 四氣五味 reshelves qi as temperature) · qi wei (Bare transliteration)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: qì wèi
Simplified: 气味
Literal: 氣 began as fodder handed to a guest; 味 is simply taste — 《說文》滋味也 — written with 未 for sound and perhaps for unripeness. Together they are everything a substance offers: what it does and what the tongue says about it.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：氣，饋客芻米也。从米气聲；味，滋味也。从口未聲。

In brief

Chapter 22 says that food and drug alike should be taken with their qi and flavour in accord, and thereby supplement the essence and boost the qi. It is the sentence that keeps the chapter’s dietetics from being a flavour table. A taste without its qi or a qi without its taste is half a remedy, and the rest of the chapter has already shown why: the same bitter that firms the kidney drains the spleen, so flavour alone never decides anything. What decides is what is taken, with what, and by whom.

Senses in the classical corpus

Taken in accord 氣味合而服之

氣與味相得而後服食

氣味合而服之，以𥙷精益氣 — Suwen 22

Each flavour has what it serves 各有所利

辛散酸收，各得其宜

各有所利，或散或收，或緩或急 — Suwen 22

Flavours fix neither good nor bad 苦於腎為補，於脾為瀉

一味而兩用，視臟而定

脾欲緩……用苦寫之，甘補之 — Suwen 22

The five flavours as a rule elsewhere 五味

本站另有「五味」條，第九篇所立

陰之所生，本在五味 — Suwen 3

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·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。此五者，有辛、酸、甘、苦、鹹，各有所利，或散或收，或緩或急，或堅，或耎，四時五藏，病隨五味所宜也。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。此五者，有辛、酸、甘、苦、咸，各有所利，或散或收，或缓或急，或坚，或软，四时五藏，病随五味所宜也。

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.Cǐ wǔ zhě, yǒu xīn, suān, gān, kǔ, xián, gè yǒu suǒ lì, huò sàn huò shōu, huò huǎn huò jí, huò jiān, huò ruǎn, sì shí wǔ zàng, bìng suí wǔ wèi suǒ yí yě.

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. These five have acrid, sour, sweet, bitter and salty; each has what it serves. Some disperse, some gather; some relax, some hasten; some firm, some soften. The four seasons and the five viscera — illness follows what the five flavours suit.

本篇論食不離「氣味」二字：藥食皆有氣有味，氣與味相合而後可服。前文五臟補瀉之條已明一味不必一用——苦之於腎為補而於脾為瀉，辛之於肝為補而於肺為瀉——故篇末不曰「隨五味」而曰「隨五味所宜」，所宜者，臟與時也。第九篇「陰之所生，本在五味；陰之五宫，傷在五味」，已發其端而未及補瀉之法，本篇足之。

素問·陰陽應象大論 Suwen 5 · 陰陽應象大論 Read in context →

氣味辛甘發散爲陽，酸苦涌泄爲陰。陰勝則陽病；陽勝則陰病。陽勝則熱，陰勝則寒。重寒則熱，重熱則寒。寒傷形，熱傷氣，氣傷痛，形傷腫。气味辛甘发散为阳，酸苦涌泄为阴。阴胜则阳病；阳胜则阴病。阳胜则热，阴胜则寒。重寒则热，重热则寒。寒伤形，热伤气，气伤痛，形伤肿。

qì wèi xīn gān fā sàn wéi yáng, suān kǔ yǒng xiè wéi yīn. yīn shèng zé yáng bìng; yáng shèng zé yīn bìng. yáng shèng zé rè, yīn shèng zé hán. chóng hán zé rè, chóng rè zé hán. hán shāng xíng, rè shāng qì, qì shāng tòng, xíng shāng zhǒng.

Among the qi and flavours, acrid and sweet disperse and vent, and so are yang; sour and bitter make one vomit and drain, and so are yin. When yin prevails, yang is diseased; when yang prevails, yin is diseased. Yang prevailing gives heat, yin prevailing gives cold. Doubled cold gives heat, doubled heat gives cold. Cold damages form, heat damages qi; qi damaged gives pain, form damaged gives swelling.

「氣味辛甘發散爲陽」——辛甘之氣味發散為陽，酸苦涌泄為陰；**「氣味」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

氣味

qì wèi

qi and flavour

本篇「氣味合而服之」

五味

wǔ wèi

the five flavours

辛酸甘苦鹹，本站第九篇已立目

服之

fú zhī

to take it

服食之謂，本篇謂氣味相合而服

補精益氣

bǔ jīng yì qì

supplementing essence and boosting qi

本篇服食之效

所宜

suǒ yí

what suits

本篇末句：病隨五味所宜也

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	qi and flavour	They leave qi untranslated and let 味 be flavour throughout the materia medica.
Unschuld	the qi and the flavour	He keeps the two items explicit, since the sentence is making a point about taking them together.
This site	qi and flavour	The later pairing 'nature and flavour' quietly redefines qi as temperature, which is a later doctrine; chapter 22 only asks that the two be taken in accord.

Entry status

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2026-09

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