Classica Sinica Medica

脾不主時 简体 脾不主时

pí bù zhǔ shí

The spleen rules no season · pi bu zhu shi

Also rendered: the spleen rules no season (Keeps 主 as rule/preside, matching the chapter's verb) · the spleen has no season of its own (Plainer; loses the sense of presiding)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
pí bù zhǔ shí
Simplified
脾不主时
Literal
脾 is the spleen, 不 is not, 主 is to govern or preside, 時 is a season. The phrase is the question the Emperor asks halfway through chapter 29: every other depot has a season it answers for — the liver spring, the heart summer and so on — so why does the spleen have none? The answer the chapter gives is the important part. The spleen is earth, it rules the centre, and it is present in all four seasons rather than owning one: eighteen days at the turn of each. It cannot preside over a single season because it is what makes the seasons productive at all.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：主，鐙中火主也，引申為主宰、主領之義；時，四時也。「脾」讀 pí；「不」讀 bù；「主」讀 zhǔ，本篇五見；「時」讀 shí，本篇六見，底本作「時」，不作「时」。「不主時」謂不專主一時，非謂與四時無涉——下文「常以四時長四藏，各十八日寄治」正申此義。

In brief

The doctrine that the spleen, unlike the other four depots, presides over no single season. Chapter 29 asks the question directly and answers it in two steps. First, the spleen is earth and rules the centre. Second, because earth grows the ten thousand things, the spleen is present throughout the year rather than in one quarter of it — governing by delegation for eighteen days at the turn of each season, seventy-two days in all. The doctrine became standard: the spleen is present at the hinges of the year, and that is why it has no season of its own.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The question 脾不主時，何也
四藏各有其時，脾獨無，故問
帝曰：脾不主時，何也 — Suwen 29
2
The first answer: it is earth 脾者，土也
脾配土，為五行之一
歧伯曰：脾者，土也，治中央 — Suwen 29
3
The second answer: it rules the centre 治中央
中央者，四方之所稟
治中央 — Suwen 29
4
How it is present in all four 常以四時長四藏
脾不專一時，而於四時皆長養四藏
常以四時長四藏 — Suwen 29
5
The eighteen days 各十八日寄治
每時之末寄治十八日，四時共七十二日
各十八日寄治 — Suwen 29
6
The reason it cannot own one 土者，生萬物而法天地
土無所不生，故不專一時
土者，生萬物而法天地，故上下至頭足，不得主時也 — Suwen 29

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·太陰陽明論 Suwen 29 · 太陰陽明論 Read in context →
帝曰：脾不主時，何也？歧伯曰：脾者，土也，治中央，常以四時長四藏，各十八日寄治，不得獨主於時也。 帝曰：脾不主时，何也？歧伯曰：脾者，土也，治中央，常以四时长四藏，各十八日寄治，不得独主于时也。
Dì yuē: pí bù zhǔ shí, hé yě?Qí bó yuē: pí zhě, tǔ yě, zhì zhōng yāng, cháng yǐ sì shí zhǎng sì zàng, gè shí bā rì jì zhì, bù dé dú zhǔ yú shí yě.
The Emperor says: the spleen does not govern a season. Why is that? Qibo says: the spleen is earth. It rules the centre, and constantly, through the four seasons, it grows the four depots — governing by delegation for eighteen days in each. It cannot govern a season by itself.
此問答是《內經》論脾與四時關係之關鍵。「帝」讀 dì；「曰」讀 yuē；「脾」讀 pí；「不」讀 bù；「主」讀 zhǔ；「時」讀 shí；「何」讀 hé；「也」讀 yě；「歧」讀 qí，底本作「歧」，不作「岐」；「伯」讀 bó；「者」讀 zhě；「土」讀 tǔ；**「治」讀 zhì，本篇四見，主也、司也**——與「主」義近而別：「主」言其專，「治」言其所司之位；「中」讀 zhōng；「央」讀 yāng；「常」讀 cháng；「以」讀 yǐ；「四」讀 sì；**「長」此處讀 zhǎng，長養、滋長也**，不讀 cháng（長短），本篇「長」惟此一見；「藏」讀 zàng；「各」讀 gè；「十」讀 shí；「八」讀 bā；「日」讀 rì；「寄」讀 jì；**「獨」讀 dú，底本作「獨」，不作「独」**；「於」讀 yú。**「各十八日寄治」是本篇最有名之一說**：四時各九十日，脾不專主一時，而於每時之末各寄治十八日，四十八日共七十二日，合三百六十日之數；後世「脾主四季之末各十八日」「脾旺四季」之說皆本於此。

Compounds built on this term

脾不主時
pí bù zhǔ shí
the spleen rules no season
本篇一見，開出下文一大段議論
治中央
zhì zhōng yāng
ruling the centre
本篇一見，脾位居中央
寄治
jì zhì
governing by delegation
本篇一見，各十八日寄治
長四藏
zhǎng sì zàng
growing the four depots
本篇一見，「長」讀 zhǎng

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Fengspleen… does not govern a seasonThey keep govern for 主, which preserves the political metaphor — a depot presiding over its quarter — that the chapter relies on.
Unschuldspleen is not associated with a seasonUnschuld renders the doctrine as association rather than rule, which is accurate but softer than the Chinese verb.
This sitethe spleen rules no seasonWe keep rule: 主 is preside, and the chapter's answer — that the spleen rules the centre and is delegated eighteen days in each quarter — is an argument about jurisdiction, not about correspondence.

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2026-09

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