天師 简体 天师

tiān shī

Heavenly Master

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
tiān shī
Simplified
天师
Literal
Teacher of heaven — the title Huangdi gives Qi Bo.

In brief

The form of address the Yellow Emperor uses for Qi Bo. It tells the reader how to take the dialogue: the questions are asked by a sovereign and answered by someone authorised to correct him.

Every doctrine in the Suwen is delivered as an answer, and the title is what makes that possible. Huangdi asks; the Heavenly Master answers, and often corrects the framing of the question as he does so.

No independent record of a person by this name survives. For reading purposes that hardly matters: the title fixes a role, and the role is what the text runs on.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Title of Qi Bo 天師
The form of address used in the Suwen dialogues
乃問於天師曰 — Suwen 1

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
Huangdi Neijing · Suwen Suwen 1 · On Innate Vitality in Antiquity Read in context →
乃問於天師曰:余聞上古之人,春秋皆度百歲,而動作不衰 乃问于天师曰:余闻上古之人,春秋皆度百岁,而动作不衰
nǎi wèn yú tiān shī yuē: yú wén shàng gǔ zhī rén, chūn qiū jiē dù bǎi suì, ér dòng zuò bù shuāi
He asked the Heavenly Master: “I have heard that the people of high antiquity all passed a hundred springs and autumns, and their movements did not weaken.”
The first question in the corpus, and the frame for everything after it.
素問·五運行大論 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.
「請天師而問之曰」——**「天師」本篇1見,在第二段之前,是全篇發端四事之末**;**本篇之天師即歧伯,與第一篇「乃問於天師曰」同例**;**四事之序:坐明堂 → 始正天綱 → 臨觀八極 → 考建五常 → 請天師而問之**
素問·上古天真論 Suwen 1 · 上古天真論 Read in context →
乃問於天師曰:余聞上古之人,春秋皆度百歲,而動作不衰。今時之人,年半百而動作皆衰者,時世異耶?人將失之耶? 乃问于天师曰:余闻上古之人,春秋皆度百岁,而动作不衰。今时之人,年半百而动作皆衰者,时世异耶?人将失之耶?
Nǎi wèn yú Tiān Shī yuē: yú wén shàng gǔ zhī rén, chūn qiū jiē dù bǎi suì, ér dòng zuò bù shuāi. jīn shí zhī rén, nián bàn bǎi ér dòng zuò jiē shuāi zhě, shí shì yì yé? rén jiāng shī zhī yé?
So he asked the Heavenly Master: I have heard that the people of high antiquity all passed their hundred years and yet their actions did not decline. People today are only half a hundred old and their actions have all declined. Is the age different, or are people about to lose this?
「乃問於天師曰」——天師是黃帝對歧伯之稱,**「天師」本篇1見,讀 tiān shī**

Compounds built on this term

天
tiān
heaven
The first element; also sky, and the season's course
師
shī
teacher
The second; one who is followed

How it has been translated

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

This siteHeavenly MasterLiteral, and keeps the register of address.
Unschuld 2011Heavenly TeacherSame sense; the title is rendered rather than transliterated.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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