Classica Sinica Medica

所勝日 简体 所胜日

suǒ shèng rì

The day on which it prevails · suo sheng ri

Also rendered: the day of victory (Too martial; 勝 here means prevailing over the disease, not winning a battle) · the conquering day (Ambiguous in English — conquering what?)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
suǒ shèng rì
Simplified
所胜日
Literal
所 suǒ, that which; 勝 shèng, to overcome, to prevail; 日 rì, day. The phrase is compact and the commentaries divide over it. On one reading it is the day of the phase that the depot conquers; on the other, the day on which the depot itself prevails over the evil. Chapter 32's own arithmetic settles it: every depot sweats on the day of its own phase, so 所勝日 must be the day on which the depot prevails.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：勝，任也，从力朕聲——「所」讀 suǒ，本篇三見；**「勝」讀 shèng，本篇二見**（皆在「所勝日」一語中）；「日」讀 rì，本篇五見。**「所勝日」本篇二見**：「諸汗者，至其所勝日，汗出也」、「諸當汗者，至其所勝日，汗大出也」——一篇之中兩提此語，是本篇論汗之要。**舊注二說**：一以為本藏所剋行之日（王冰一派），一以為本藏自旺而能勝邪之日（後世多從之）。**以本篇五藏之例驗之**：肝木大汗於甲乙（木日）、心火大汗於丙丁（火日）、脾土大汗於戊巳（土日）、肺金大汗於庚辛（金日）、腎水大汗於壬癸（水日），**無一例外皆本藏自旺之日，則「所勝」當從後一說**——即藏氣當旺而足以勝邪之日，非所剋行之日。「諸」讀 zhū，本篇三見；「至」讀 zhì；「其」讀 qí；「出」讀 chū；「也」讀 yě。**本站別有「所勝所不勝」（id 537）一條**，言五行相剋之常（如肝木之所勝為土、所不勝為金），與此「所勝日」之指日者**同名而異義，勿混**。

In brief

The day on which a depot’s own phase is at its height and so prevails over the disease — the day on which the sweat is due. Chapter 32 uses the phrase twice, both times as a general rule that gathers up the five depot cases it has just set out, and the five cases show what the phrase means: each depot sweats on the day of its own phase, not on the day of the phase it conquers. The phrase is distinct from the 所勝 of the ordinary five-phase conquest cycle.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The day the depot prevails 至其所勝日
所勝日者，藏氣當旺而勝邪之日
至其所勝日 — Suwen 32
2
The day the sweat is due 諸汗者，至其所勝日，汗出也
凡當汗者，皆至其日而汗
諸汗者，至其所勝日，汗出也 — Suwen 32
3
Restated with the measure 諸當汗者，至其所勝日，汗大出也
二句重言而申之，詳略互見
諸當汗者，至其所勝日，汗大出也 — Suwen 32
4
Settled by the chapter's own arithmetic 甲乙大汗
肝木大汗於木日，則所勝為自旺而非所剋
甲乙大汗 — Suwen 32
5
Distinct from the conquest cycle 所勝所不勝
彼言五行相剋之常，此指發汗之期
所勝日 — Suwen 32
6
Part of a dated prognosis 庚辛甚，甲乙大汗
甚與汗各有其日，本篇之綱
庚辛甚，甲乙大汗 — Suwen 32

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·剌熱 Suwen 32 · 剌熱 Read in context →
諸汗者，至其所勝日，汗出也。 诸汗者，至其所胜日，汗出也。
Zhū hàn zhě, zhì qí suǒ shèng rì, hàn chū yě.
In every case where sweating is to come, the sweat appears when the day arrives on which that phase prevails.
本篇論汗之第一凡例。「諸」讀 zhū，本篇三見（諸汗者、諸當汗者、諸治熱病），皆總括之辭；「汗」讀 hàn；「者」讀 zhě，本篇二十三見；「至」讀 zhì；「其」讀 qí；「所」讀 suǒ；「勝」讀 shèng；「日」讀 rì；「出」讀 chū，本篇七見；「也」讀 yě，本篇十見。**此句承上五藏熱病而言**：上文言肝甲乙大汗、心丙丁大汗、脾戊巳大汗、肺庚辛大汗、腎壬癸大汗，此則括其例曰「至其所勝日」，下文「諸當汗者」一句又重言之。**一篇兩提「所勝日」而不憚其複**，見本篇視汗期為熱病愈否之樞。

Compounds built on this term

所勝日
suǒ shèng rì
the day on which it prevails
本篇二見
所勝所不勝
suǒ shèng suǒ bù shèng
what conquers and what does not
本站已立目（id 537），指五行相剋之常，與此別
大汗
dà hàn
great sweating
本站本批已立目，所勝日即大汗之期
至期而已
zhì qī ér yǐ
it ends when the term is reached
本篇一見，與所勝日義近而所指略別

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Fengthe day it conquersThey render 勝 as 'conquer', taking the five-phase sense, which leaves the reader to work out what is conquered.
Unschuldthe day of its dominationUnschuld's 'domination' points the same way but is vaguer about who dominates whom.
This sitethe day on which it prevailsWe say who prevails. The chapter's own five cases show that the depot prevails over the evil on the day of its own phase, and the English should carry that subject.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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