Classica Sinica Medica

正邪

zhèng xié

Upright evil · zheng xie

Also rendered: upright evil (Keeps the paradox of the name visible) · correct evil ('Correct' in English means right rather than upright, and loses the point)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
zhèng xié
Simplified
正邪
Literal
正 is upright, correct, the thing that is in its proper place — 說文 glosses it 是也, with 一 above 止, stopping at the one. To call an evil 正 looks like a contradiction, and chapter 26 resolves it: this is the evil that comes to a body that is doing something ordinary — exerting itself, sweating, pores open — and meets an empty wind while it is thus engaged. It is 'upright' not because it is harmless but because nothing has gone wrong for it to exploit except the body's own ordinary openness.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：正，是也。从止，一以止。凡正之屬皆从正；邪，琅邪郡，借為邪正之邪。正邪之名，後世或作「正風」，謂其人用力汗出、腠理開泄之時，適逢虚風，因正氣開泄而受之，故謂之正邪。本篇之目：正邪者，身形若用力，汗出，腠理開，逢虚風，其中人也微。

In brief

The mild evil that enters when the body is exerting itself: sweat comes out, the interstices open, an empty wind is met, and the strike is so slight that neither the patient nor anyone else notices. Chapter 26 sets it beside 虚邪 and uses the contrast to say why the good physician is rare — the empty evil announces itself by season and direction, while this one gives no sign at all and can only be caught by someone who reads the three regions and nine indicators before anything has formed.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Defined by the occasion 身形若用力，汗出，腠理開
用力汗出而腠理開，邪因之而入
正邪者，身形若用力，汗出，腠理開，逢虚風 — Suwen 26
2
Defined by being slight 其中人也微
中傷輕微，故無人覺察
其中人也微，故莫知其情，莫見其形 — Suwen 26
3
Why no one sees it 莫知其情，莫見其形
情不可知、形不可見，是正邪之狀
故莫知其情，莫見其形 — Suwen 26
4
Against the empty evil 虚邪者，八正之虚邪氣也
虚邪自外之虚風來，正邪乘身之開泄而入
虚邪者，八正之虚邪氣也 — Suwen 26
5
What catches it early 上工救其萌牙
上工候三部九候之氣而救於未成形
上工救其萌牙，必先見三部九𠉀之氣 — Suwen 26
6
What the inferior physician sees 莫知其情，而見邪形也
下工不知其情，待邪成形而後見
莫知其情，而見邪形也 — Suwen 26

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·八正神明論 Suwen 26 · 八正神明論 Read in context →
正邪者，身形若用力，汗出，腠理開，逢虚風，其中人也微，故莫知其情，莫見其形。 正邪者，身形若用力，汗出，腠理开，逢虚风，其中人也微，故莫知其情，莫见其形。
Zhèng xié zhě, shēn xíng ruò yòng lì, hàn chū, còu lǐ kāi, féng xū fēng, qí zhòng rén yě wēi, gù mò zhī qí qíng, mò jiàn qí xíng.
The upright evil is this: when the body is exerting itself, sweat comes out and the interstices open, and one meets an empty wind. Its striking of the person is slight, and so no one knows what is happening and no one sees its form.
「正邪」之名最易誤讀。**「中」讀 zhòng，中傷之義**，與下文「剌必中其榮」之中同音；**「腠」讀 còu**，腠理謂皮肉紋理之間隙；「開」讀 kāi；「微」讀 wēi。正者非邪之正，乃人身正氣開泄之時——用力汗出、腠理開張，適逢虚風，邪乘此開泄之隙而入，故謂之正邪，後世或徑作「正風」，其義更顯。其要在「微」字：中人也微，故莫知其情、莫見其形。正因為無形可見，下文才接出「上工救其萌牙」——上工之所以異於人，正在於邪未成形而先見之；篇末「莫知其情，而見邪形也」是說下工：不知其情，只待邪已成形而後見，救之已晚。「虚邪」條可參。

Compounds built on this term

正邪
zhèng xié
upright evil
乘身形用力汗出而入之邪，中人微
虚邪
xū xié
empty evil
本站本篇另立目，與正邪對舉（id 154 為其四字之形）
腠理
còu lǐ
the interstices
汗出而腠理開，是正邪入之門
萌牙
méng yá
the sprout
本站本篇另立目，上工所救者即正邪之未形

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Fengregular evilWiseman renders 正 as regular in a number of clusters, which fits the sense of something acting in its ordinary course.
Unschuldupright evilUnschuld keeps the paradox, and notes that the term is explained by the circumstances of the invasion rather than by the nature of the qi.
This siteupright evilThe name only makes sense as a pair with 虚邪, and 'upright' is what keeps 正 recognisable as the same word the reader meets in 正氣 and 八正 elsewhere on the site. 'Regular' would suggest a schedule, which is exactly what this evil does not have.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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