Classica Sinica Medica

從革 简体 从革

cóng gé

Following Change · cong ge

Also rendered: Following Change (this site; 從 is going along with and 革 is altering a thing, and a short metal takes the shape of what presses it) · Cong ge (transliteration; the pairing of the 尚書's 金曰從革 with this chapter's short reading of it)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-13

At a glance

Pinyin
cóng gé
Simplified
从革
Literal
從 cóng — to follow, to go along with (《說文》: 從，隨行也); 革 gé — to change a thing's hide, to alter (《說文》: 革，獸皮治去其毛，革更之; the received sense is change). 從革 is metal that has stopped judging and taken to following: a metal that no longer holds its own shape but takes the shape of whatever presses it. The chapter's 紀 name for it is 折收, the harvest broken off, and the name is the one the 尚書 uses of metal — 金曰從革 — taken here in its short sense.
Shuowen
**「從革」本篇2見：一在「金曰從革」，一在「從革之紀」**；**《說文》：從，隨行也；革，獸皮治去其毛，革更之**；**「折收」本篇1見，即從革之紀之名**；**「從火化也」本篇1見、「邪傷肺也」本篇2見，皆從革之文**；**「其動鏗禁瞀厥」本篇1見，從革之文**

In brief

Metal falling short. 金曰從革 — metal is called following change — and its 紀 is 折收: 從革之紀，是謂折收。收氣乃後，生氣乃揚，長化合德，火政乃宣，庶類以蕃. The gathering comes late; the qi that gives birth is the one that spreads; growing and transforming join their work; fire’s governance is the one that is proclaimed; and every kind comes up thick. It reads like a good year, and the chapter lets it read so — a metal that has given up its own work lets fire’s work through. Then the attributes: 其氣揚，其用躁切，其動鏗禁瞀厥，其發欬喘…其病嚏、欬、鼽、衄. Its 從 is fire, 從火化也; its harm falls on the lung, and its 眚 on the west. 審平 is metal weighing and reaping; 從革 is metal that has handed the reaping over.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graph 從革
從者隨行，革者更改
金曰從革 — Suwen 70
2
Its 紀 name 折收
收者金之事，折者斷也，收氣乃後故曰折收
從革之紀，是謂折收 — Suwen 70
3
Its disorder 收氣乃後，生氣乃揚
當收者後，當生者揚
收氣乃後，生氣乃揚 — Suwen 70
4
What is seen 長化合德，庶類以蕃
長與化並行，萬類反蕃
長化合德，火政乃宣 — Suwen 70
5
What it turns into 從火化也
金不及則火乘之，故從火化
從火化也 — Suwen 70
6
Where the harm falls 邪傷肺也
金之藏為肺，不及則肺受邪
邪傷肺也 — Suwen 70

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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1 passages
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
從革之紀，是謂折收。收氣乃後，生氣乃揚，長化合德，火政乃宣，庶類以蕃。其氣揚，其用躁切，其動鏗禁瞀厥，其發欬喘，其藏肺，其果李、杏，其實殻絡，其榖麻、麥，其味苦、辛，其色白丹，其畜雞、羊，其蟲介羽，其主明曜炎爍，其聲商徴，其病嚏、欬、鼽、衄，從火化也。 从革之纪，是谓折收。收气乃后，生气乃扬，长化合德，火政乃宣，庶类以蕃。其气扬，其用躁切，其动铿禁瞀厥，其发咳喘，其藏肺，其果李、杏，其实壳络，其谷麻、麦，其味苦、辛，其色白丹，其畜鸡、羊，其虫介羽，其主明曜炎烁，其声商徵，其病嚏、咳、鼽、衄，从火化也。
Cóng gé zhī jì, shì wèi zhé shōu. Shōu qì nǎi hòu, shēng qì nǎi yáng, zhǎng huà hé dé, huǒ zhèng nǎi xuān, shù lèi yǐ fán. Qí qì yáng, qí yòng zào qiè, qí dòng kēng jìn mào jué, qí fā kài chuǎn, qí zàng fèi, qí guǒ lǐ, xìng, qí shí qiào luò, qí gǔ má, mài, qí wèi kǔ, xīn, qí sè bái dān, qí chù jī, yáng, qí chóng jiè yǔ, qí zhǔ míng yào yán shuò, qí shēng shāng zhǐ, qí bìng tì, kài, qiú, nǜ, cóng huǒ huà yě.
The era of Following Change is called broken harvest: the qi of harvest comes late, the qi of growth is instead raised, growth and transformation join virtue, the governance of fire is proclaimed, and the many kinds flourish. Its qi raised, its use restless and sharp, its movement clanging, retention, dimness and counterflow, its outbreak cough and panting, its viscus the lung, its fruit the plum and the apricot, its kernel husk and network, its grain hemp and wheat, its flavour bitter and acrid, its colour white and vermilion, its domestic animal the fowl and the sheep, its creature the shelled and the feathered, its charge bright shining, blazing and scorching, its sound shang and zhi, its illness sneezing, cough, snivelling and nosebleed; for it follows the transformation of fire.
**「從革」本篇2見：一在「金曰從革」，一在「從革之紀」**；**此段以「折收」名其紀，五句狀其亂：收氣乃後、生氣乃揚、長化合德、火政乃宣、庶類以蕃**；**五不及之中，惟此段所狀似豐年，以金退而其化反蕃也**；**「其動鏗禁瞀厥」本篇1見；次段「從火化也」，眚於西方之七**

Compounds built on this term

審平
shěn píng
even judgement
本篇2見；金之平氣，與從革對
堅成
jiān chéng
hard completion
本篇2見；金太過之名，其紀曰收引
折收
zhé shōu
the harvest broken off
本篇1見；從革之紀之名，與收引相對
瞀
mào
dizziness and confusion
本篇1見；其動鏗禁瞀厥

How it has been translated

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

This sitefollowing changemetal that has handed its work over; the rendering keeps 從 as following, which is what 折收 makes of it
Transliterationcong geright about the referent, and it says nothing about following or changing
Descriptivemetal falling shortexact, and it loses the phrase the chapter borrows from the 尚書

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-13

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Reading path

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