Classica Sinica Medica

導氣 简体 导气

dǎo qì

Guiding the qi · dao qi

Also rendered: Guiding the qi (keeps the sense of leading) · Conducting the qi (clinical, and it is the same idea) · Directing the qi (plain, and it suggests command)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
dǎo qì
Simplified
导气
Literal
導 dǎo — to lead, to show the way; 氣 qì — qi. The needle neither adds nor removes here; it conducts.
Shuowen
《說文》：導，導引也。「導氣」本篇1見，與「補寫」「同精」並舉，為亂氣之治法。

In brief

The name for what the needle does when there is nothing to supplement and nothing to drain. In the five disorders the qi is not in excess or deficit but out of order, so the technique is neither: enter slowly and withdraw slowly, and the qi is led back to its course. The chapter sets the three names in one sentence — guiding the qi, the formless supplementing and draining, and making the essence the same — and the distinction is its quiet conclusion: where the disease is disorder rather than quantity, the instrument is direction, not force.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The name 謂之導氣
叫作导气
It is called guiding the qi.
謂之導氣 — 靈樞·五亂
2
The method 徐入徐出
缓缓进针，缓缓出针
Enter slowly and withdraw slowly.
徐入徐出 — 靈樞·五亂
3
What it is not 補寫無形
补泻都不着形迹
Neither supplementing nor draining has a visible form.
補寫無形 — 靈樞·五亂
4
The reason 亂氣之相逆也
是乱气相互逆乱
It is disordered qi running counter to itself.
亂氣之相逆也 — 靈樞·五亂

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
靈樞·五亂 Read in context →
歧伯曰：徐入徐出，謂之導氣；補寫無形，謂之同精。是非有餘不足也，亂氣之相逆也。 歧伯曰：徐入徐出，谓之导气；补写无形，谓之同精。是非有余不足也，乱气之相逆也。
Qí Bó yuē: xú rù xú chū, wèi zhī dǎo qì; bǔ xiè wú xíng, wèi zhī tóng jīng. shì fēi yǒu yú bù zú yě, luàn qì zhī xiāng nì yě.
Qi Bo said: Slow entry and slow exit is called guiding the qi; supplementing and draining without visible form is called uniting the essence. This is neither excess nor deficiency, but disordered qi opposing itself.
「導氣」本篇1見，與補寫、同精同句而三：亂氣非有餘不足，故徐入徐出以導之。
靈樞·邪客 Read in context →
歧伯曰：持鍼之道，欲端以正，安以静，先知虚實，而行疾徐。左手執骨，右手循之，無與肉果。寫欲端以正，補必閉膚，輔鍼導氣，邪得淫泆，真氣得居。 歧伯曰：持针之道，欲端以正，安以静，先知虚实，而行疾徐。左手执骨，右手循之，无与肉果。写欲端以正，补必闭肤，辅针导气，邪得淫泆，真气得居。
Qí Bó yuē: chí zhēn zhī dào, yù duān yǐ zhèng, ān yǐ jìng, xiān zhī xū shí, ér xíng jí xú. zuǒ shǒu zhí gǔ, yòu shǒu xún zhī, wú yǔ ròu guǒ. xiè yù duān yǐ zhèng, bǔ bì bì fū, fǔ zhēn dǎo qì, xié dé yín yì, zhēn qì dé jū.
Qi Bo said: The way of holding the needle is to be upright and correct, calm and still, knowing emptiness and fullness beforehand and then moving fast or slow. The left hand holds the bone, the right hand follows it, not letting the flesh wrap the needle. In draining be upright and correct; in tonifying you must close the skin. Assist the needle and guide the qi, and the evil will flow away while true qi finds its place.
「導氣」邪客第26段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

徐入徐出
xú rù xú chū
slow in, slow out
導氣之法
同精
tóng jīng
making the essence the same
與導氣並舉

How it has been translated

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

This siteguiding the qithe text's own gloss
Literalleading the qiexact, and it is a little thin
Clinicalrestoring the qi's directionclear, and it is an explanation

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

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