從容简体从容

cóng róng

The Congrong · congrong

Also rendered: The Congrong (this site; kept as a name, since it is both a book and a method) · Unhurried examination (clear as a method, and it drops the ancient canon the chapter names)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-10-17

At a glance

Pinyin: cóng róng
Simplified: 从容
Literal: 從 cóng — to follow; 容 róng — to hold and to bear. The pair does not name slackness. It names an examination that follows the shape of the thing before it instead of forcing it into a name already held: the pulse is let be until it shows which viscus it belongs to.
Shuowen: 《說文》：從，隨行也；容，盛也。王冰注「然從容得之」云「從容，上古經篇名也」，是「從容」本為古經之名；新校正引全元起本，本篇名《從容別白黑》，則全篇所論正由此名而起。「從容」本篇3見：「然從容得之」「夫從容之謂也」「明引比類從容」；「容」字3見，皆在此三處。

In brief

The Congrong is at once a method and a book. As a method it is the unhurried reading that lets a pulse be taken for what it is rather than for what it resembles — and the chapter’s whole first half is a list of resemblances: a deficient spleen that floats like the lung, a small floating kidney that looks like the spleen, a tight sinking and scattering liver that looks like the kidney. As a book it is the ancient canon Wang Bing names 上古經篇名, and the Quan Yuanqi recension of this very chapter was titled 從容別白黑, distinguishing white from black by the Congrong. The word comes three times, and each time it marks the point where resemblance gives way to distinction: 然從容得之, 夫從容之謂也, and at the close 明引比類從容, where the method is named together with the matching of kinds.

Senses in the classical corpus

The ancient canon 上古經篇名

王冰注：從容，上古經篇名也

Wang Bing: Congrong is the title of a chapter in the ancient canon.

然從容得之 — 素問·示從容論

The unhurried reading 安緩

王冰注：猶宜從容安緩，審比類之

Wang Bing: one should still be unhurried and calm, examining comparisons carefully.

然從容得之 — 素問·示從容論

What the chapter is named for 示從容

全元起本名從容別白黑

Quan Yuanqi's edition titles it 'Congrong Distinguishes White and Black'.

夫從容之謂也 — 素問·示從容論

The method at the close 明引比類從容

比類與從容並舉，為診法之全

Comparison and unhurried care taken together make diagnosis complete.

明引比類從容 — 素問·示從容論

What it separates 別白黑

白與黑相去遠矣，喻分別之明

White and black are far apart: an image for the clarity of discrimination.

白與黑相去遠矣 — 素問·示從容論

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

5 passages

素問·示從容論 Read in context →

明引比類從容，是以名曰診輕。是謂至道也。明引比类从容，是以名曰诊轻。是谓至道也。

Míng yǐn bǐ lèi cóng róng, shì yǐ míng yuē zhěn qīng. Shì wèi zhì dào yě.

To draw plainly on the matching of kinds and the Congrong — this is what is called the light touch in diagnosis. This is the utmost way.

「從容」本篇3見，此為末見；「明引比類從容」一句，比類與從容並舉，為全篇診法之總結；另二見在「然從容得之」「夫從容之謂也」；王冰以「上古經篇名」釋之，而全元起本逕名此篇為《從容別白黑》

素問·疏五過論 Read in context →

善爲脉者，必以比類奇恒，從容知之，爲工而不知道，此診之不足貴，此治之三過也。善为脉者，必以比类奇恒，从容知之，为工而不知道，此诊之不足贵，此治之三过也。

Shàn wéi mài zhě, bì yǐ bǐ lèi qí héng, cóng róng zhī zhī, wéi gōng ér bù zhī dào, cǐ zhěn zhī bù zú guì, cǐ zhì zhī sān guò yě.

One who is skilled at the pulse must know it through the matching of kinds and the extraordinary and the constant, through the Congrong; to be a craftsman and not know the way — such diagnosis is not worth prizing, and this is the third error of treatment.

「從容」本篇2見，一在「從容知之」，一在「從容人事」；此段「必以比類奇恒，從容知之」，與第七十六篇「明引比類從容」同法；三過之案由此而立

素問·徴四失論 Read in context →

治數之道，從容之葆，坐持寸口，診不中五脉，百病所起，始以自怨，遺師其咎。治数之道，从容之葆，坐持寸口，诊不中五脉，百病所起，始以自怨，遗师其咎。

Zhì shù zhī dào, cóng róng zhī bǎo, zuò chí cùn kǒu, zhěn bù zhòng wǔ mài, bǎi bìng suǒ qǐ, shǐ yǐ zì yuàn, yí shī qí jiù.

The way of the numbers of treatment, the treasure of taking things at ease — to sit holding the inch mouth and miss the five vessels, not knowing whence the hundred illnesses arise, and then to blame oneself at first and leave the fault to one’s teacher.

「從容」本篇1見，止此一見；此段「治數之道，從容之葆」，二者對舉，一主法度，一主審察；葆者寶也，從容審察乃治數之可寶者

素問·陰陽類論 Read in context →

雷公曰：臣悉盡意，受傳經脉，頌得從容之道，以合從容，不知陰陽，不知雌雄。雷公曰：臣悉尽意，受传经脉，颂得从容之道，以合从容，不知阴阳，不知雌雄。

Léi gōng yuē: chén xī jìn yì, shòu chuán jīng mài, sòng dé cóng róng zhī dào, yǐ hé cóng róng, bù zhī yīn yáng, bù zhī cí xióng.

Lei Gong said: I have spent all my mind on it; I have received the tradition of the channels and recited the way of the Congrong so as to match it — yet I do not know yin and yang, I do not know female and male.

「從容」本篇3見，與首段「陰陽從容」並見；「頌得從容之道，以合從容」，兩言從容，一為道、一為法；第七十六篇專論從容，此篇再舉之，見其為古診法之通名

素問·解精微論 Read in context →

臣授業傳之行，教以經論，從容形法，陰陽刺灸，湯藥所滋，臣授业传之行，教以经论，从容形法，阴阳刺灸，汤药所滋，

Chén shòu yè chuán zhī xíng, jiào yǐ jīng lùn, cóng róng xíng fǎ, yīn yáng cì jiǔ, tāng yào suǒ zī,

“The learning your servant received is what the master handed down to be put into practice: he instructed me in the classic discourses, set out at leisure the methods of form, the yin and the yang, the needling and the moxa, and what decoctions and medicines nourish,”

「從容」本篇1見，止此一見；「從容形法」，謂從容講論察形之法；此目為第七十六篇所立，彼以從容為診法，此以從容狀講授之態，同一安緩之義

Compounds built on this term

從容得之

cóng róng dé zhī

got by the Congrong

本篇一見；三藏相似之脈由此而辨

從容別白黑

cóng róng bié bái hēi

the Congrong distinguishing white from black

全元起本此篇之篇名

安緩

ān huǎn

unhurried

王冰以安緩釋從容

比類

bǐ lèi

matching kinds

篇末與從容連言，另立一目

How it has been translated

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

This site	the Congrong	the ancient canon and the unhurried reading it teaches, kept as one name
Literal	following and containing	exact as a gloss, and it says nothing a reader can use
Descriptive	the unhurried reading of what resembles	clear, and it loses the title of the canon

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-17

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Reading path

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