從逆简体从逆

cóng nì

Following and counterflow · cong ni

Also rendered: following and counterflow (Keeps the literal motion of both graphs) · favourable and unfavourable (The clinical sense, but loses the physical picture)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: cóng nì
Simplified: 从逆
Literal: 從 is to follow, to go along with — and 逆 is to go against, the graph made of movement going the wrong way. In chapter 28 they are not two diseases but two verdicts, and the chapter asks outright what they mean: that which follows is hands and feet warm, that which is counterflow is hands and feet cold. Everything else in the chapter's prognoses reduces to this. A pulse that agrees with the season of the year follows; a pulse that opposes it is counterflow. Qi that still reaches the extremities follows; qi that has withdrawn from them is counterflow.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：從，隨行也，从辵从，引申為順從、隨順之義；逆，迎也，从辵屰聲，引申為不順、相背之義。本篇「從」七見讀 cóng，一讀 zòng（同縱），本篇不取；「逆」九見讀 nì。本篇之目：所謂從者，手足温也；所謂逆者，手足寒也。

In brief

The chapter’s two verdicts, and in the end its only two. Following means the case is going with the grain of things — the pulse agrees with the season, the qi still reaches the hands and feet. Counterflow means it is going against: the pulse opposes the year, the extremities have gone cold. Chapter 28 is explicit about the physical test, and it uses it again and again — for the swollen body, for the nursing infant with fever — because it is the one thing that can be checked without argument.

Senses in the classical corpus

The pair 從逆

順曰從，背曰逆，本篇之二斷

從則生，逆則死 — Suwen 28

What following is 手足温也

陽氣達於四末則温

所謂從者，手足温也 — Suwen 28

What counterflow is 手足寒也

陽氣不達四末則寒

所謂逆者，手足寒也 — Suwen 28

Applied to the swollen body 故從則生，逆則死

形盡滿者亦以此斷

如是者，故從則生，逆則死 — Suwen 28

Applied to the infant 手足温則生，寒則死

嬰兒熱病不復言從逆，徑以温寒斷

手足温則生，寒則死 — Suwen 28

The same word for the pulse 滑則從，濇則逆

脉滑為從、脉濇為逆，全篇通例

故曰：滑則從，濇則逆也 — Suwen 28

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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2 passages

素問·通評虚實論 Suwen 28 · 通評虚實論 Read in context →

帝曰：何謂從則生，逆則死？歧伯曰：所謂從者，手足温也；所謂逆者，手足寒也。帝曰：何谓从则生，逆则死？歧伯曰：所谓从者，手足温也；所谓逆者，手足寒也。

Dì yuē: hé wèi cóng zé shēng, nì zé sǐ?Qí bó yuē: suǒ wèi cóng zhě, shǒu zú wēn yě; suǒ wèi nì zhě, shǒu zú hán yě.

The Emperor says: what is meant by following means life and counterflow means death? Qibo says: what is called following is hands and feet warm; what is called counterflow is hands and feet cold.

此問答把全篇的斷法落到最簡明處：以手足之温寒驗陽氣之存亡——陽氣達於四末則温（從、生），陽氣不達四末則寒（逆、死）。**「從」讀 cóng，本篇七見**，皆「順」義，一讀 zòng（同縱），本篇不取；「逆」讀 nì，本篇九見；「温」讀 wēn，本篇二見，底本作「温」，不作「溫」；「寒」讀 hán，本篇九見。此與開卷「氣逆者，足寒也」、下文「手足温則生，寒則死」（乳子節）同一以四末驗陽氣之法，是本篇一貫之脈絡。上文「滑則從，濇則逆」則是從逆在脉上之驗。

Suwen 71 Suwen 71 · 六元正紀大論 Read in context →

黄帝問曰：六化六變，勝復淫治，甘苦辛鹹酸淡先後，余知之矣。夫五運之化，或從五氣，或逆天氣；或從天氣，而逆地氣；或從地氣，而逆天氣；或相得，或不相得，余未能明其事。欲通天之紀，從地之理，和其運，調其化，使上下合德，無相奪倫，天地升降，不失其宜，五運宣行，勿乖其政，調之正味，從逆奈何？黄帝问曰：六化六变，胜复淫治，甘苦辛咸酸淡先后，余知之矣。夫五运之化，或从五气，或逆天气；或从天气，而逆地气；或从地气，而逆天气；或相得，或不相得，余未能明其事。欲通天之纪，从地之理，和其运，调其化，使上下合德，无相夺伦，天地升降，不失其宜，五运宣行，勿乖其政，调之正味，从逆奈何？

Huáng dì wèn yuē: liù huà liù biàn, shèng fù yín zhì, gān kǔ xīn xián suān dàn xiān hòu, yú zhī zhī yǐ. Fú wǔ yùn zhī huà, huò cóng wǔ qì, huò nì tiān qì; huò cóng tiān qì, ér nì dì qì; huò cóng dì qì, ér nì tiān qì; huò xiāng dé, huò bù xiāng dé, yú wèi néng míng qí shì. Yù tōng tiān zhī jì, cóng dì zhī lǐ, hé qí yùn, tiáo qí huà, shǐ shàng xià hé dé, wú xiāng duó lún, tiān dì shēng jiàng, bù shī qí yí, wǔ yùn xuān xíng, wù guāi qí zhèng, tiáo zhī zhèng wèi, cóng nì nài hé?

Huang Di asked: the six transformations and six changes, prevalence and revenge, excess and governance, and the order of sweet, bitter, pungent, salty, sour and bland — I know them already. But as to the transformations of the five circuits: some follow the five qi, some oppose the qi of heaven; some follow the qi of heaven and oppose the qi of earth; some follow the qi of earth and oppose the qi of heaven; some are in accord and some are not in accord — I have not been able to make these matters clear. I wish to thread the order of heaven, follow the pattern of earth, harmonise the circuits and tune the transformations, so that above and below join in virtue and do not steal one another’s order, so that the rising and falling of heaven and earth lose nothing of what is fitting and the five circuits spread and move without thwarting their governance. When one adjusts them with the correct flavours, what of following and opposing?

**「從逆」本篇1見，止在此句**；**此段「調之正味，從逆奈何」，為全篇發端之問**

Compounds built on this term

從逆

cóng nì

following and counterflow

本篇之二斷，開卷至篇末貫穿全篇

手足温

shǒu zú wēn

hands and feet warm

陽氣達於四末之驗

手足寒

shǒu zú hán

hands and feet cold

陽氣不達四末之驗

滑濇

huá sè

slippery and rough

本站本篇新立目，從逆在脉上之驗

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	conformity and counterflow	Wiseman uses conformity for 從 to keep the sense of going along with what the body is doing, paired with counterflow for 逆.
Unschuld	compliance and opposition	Unschuld spells out the relation more abstractly, treating the pair as a general rule about prognosis rather than as two directions of movement.
This site	following and counterflow	We keep the motion in both words because chapter 28 defines them by direction — a pulse going with the season, qi going out to the hands and feet — and because the chapter's own test is a physical one. Favourable and unfavourable would be accurate but would lose why hands and feet are the evidence.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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