Classica Sinica Medica

天綱 简体 天纲

tiān gāng

Heavenly framework · tian gang

Also rendered: The framework of heaven (this site; 綱 as the great rope of a net, which is what 《說文》 glosses) · The guiding cord of heaven (closer to the image, and it keeps the difference between 綱 the cord and 紀 the arrangement of the mesh)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-06

At a glance

Pinyin
tiān gāng
Simplified
天纲
Literal
天 tiān — heaven; 綱 gāng — the great rope of a net, the one cord that gathers all the others, and so the framework or governing principle of anything. 《說文》 has 綱，維紘繩也. 始正天綱: to begin by setting right the framework of heaven. One occurrence, in the chapter's first line, and it is one of the four things the chapter says are done before the question is asked.
Shuowen
**「天」讀 tiān，本篇26見**；**「綱」讀 gāng，本篇止此一見，是全站首見之字**；**《說文》：綱，維紘繩也，网之大繩**；**「天綱」本篇1見，在第一段，與明堂、八極、五常同句**

In brief

The great rope of heaven — the one cord by which the rest is gathered — and the first thing this chapter’s emperor sets right before he asks anything. The image is a net: 綱 is not a law but the cord you take hold of in order to gather the net, which is why the verb is 正, to straighten, rather than 立, to establish. It is the chapter’s opening claim about method: before there can be a question about two orders failing to agree, the one order has to be got straight.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 天綱
天之綱紀，網之大繩
始正天綱 — Suwen 67
2
What is done to it 始正天綱
正者使之直，非創立之謂
黄帝坐明堂，始正天綱 — Suwen 67
3
Its companion in the sentence 考建五常
綱則正之，常則考建之
臨觀八極，考建五常 — Suwen 67
4
Why a rope and not a rule 綱，維紘繩也
綱是所執之大繩，舉之則網畢張
始正天綱 — Suwen 67
5
What the chapter then asks 不合陰陽，其故何也
綱既正而後問二序之不合
不合陰陽，其故何也？ — Suwen 67
6
The answer, in one line 不以數推，以象之謂也
天之綱非數之可推，乃象之所謂
天地陰陽者，不以數推，以象之謂也。 — Suwen 67

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 67 Suwen 67 · 五運行大論 Read in context →
黄帝坐明堂，始正天綱，臨觀八極，考建五常，請天師而問之曰：論言天地之動靜，神明爲之紀；陰陽之升降，寒暑彰其兆。余聞五運之數於夫子，夫子之所言，正五氣之各主歲爾，首甲定運，余因論之。 黄帝坐明堂，始正天纲，临观八极，考建五常，请天师而问之曰：论言天地之动静，神明为之纪；阴阳之升降，寒暑彰其兆。余闻五运之数于夫子，夫子之所言，正五气之各主岁尔，首甲定运，余因论之。
Huáng dì zuò míng táng, shǐ zhèng tiān gāng, lín guān bā jí, kǎo jiàn wǔ cháng, qǐng tiān shī ér wèn zhī yuē: lùn yán tiān dì zhī dòng jìng, shén míng wéi zhī jì; yīn yáng zhī shēng jiàng, hán shǔ zhāng qí zhào. Yú wén wǔ yùn zhī shù yú fū zǐ, fū zǐ zhī suǒ yán, zhèng wǔ qì zhī gè zhǔ suì ěr, shǒu jiǎ dìng yùn, yú yīn lùn zhī.
Huang Di sat in the Bright Hall, set right the framework of heaven, looked out over the eight extremes, examined and established the five constants, and then called the heavenly teacher to ask: the treatises say that the movement and stillness of heaven and earth take spirit brightness as their framework, and that the rising and falling of yin and yang show their signs in cold and summer heat. I have heard the numbers of the five circuits from you, master, but what you spoke of was only that each of the five qi governs a year — that the first jia settles the circuit — and I have reasoned on from there.
**「天綱」本篇1見，在第一段**；**「綱」讀 gāng，是全站首見之字**；**《說文》：綱，維紘繩也**；**「正」讀 zhèng，本篇3見：始正天綱、正五氣之各主歲、當其位則正**；**四事之序：坐明堂 → 正天綱 → 觀八極 → 建五常，而後請天師**

Compounds built on this term

五常
wǔ cháng
the five constants
本篇1見；與天綱同在第一段
明堂
míng táng
bright hall
本篇1見；正天綱之地
天師
tiān shī
heavenly master
本篇1見；正天綱既畢，乃請天師而問之
五運
wǔ yùn
the five circuits
本篇1見；帝所聞於夫子者即此

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe framework of heavenfrom 綱, the great rope of a net; kept because the verb is 正, to straighten — one straightens a cord, one does not straighten a law
Abstractthe governing principle of heavenhow 綱 usually gets rendered once it has been generalised; loses the net, and with it the reason 正 is the verb
Descriptivewhat holds heaven togetherfaithful to the image, and it reads like a gloss rather than a name

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-06

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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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