Classica Sinica Medica

初中

chū zhōng

Initial and middle · chu zhong

Also rendered: The initial and the middle (this site; literal, and it keeps 初 as a first cutting rather than as merely the first) · Chu zhong (transliteration; used where the pair is being listed with the step and the standing of the year)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-06

At a glance

Pinyin
chū zhōng
Simplified
初中
Literal
初 chū — the beginning, and in these texts the first cutting of cloth (《說文》: 初，始也，从刀从衣 — the knife at the cloth); 中 zhōng — the middle. In this chapter a position is not one thing but two: 位有終始，氣有初中 — positions have end and beginning, the qi has an initial and a middle. Three occurrences. The initial is thirty degrees and a remainder, the middle follows the same rule, and the pair is what divides heaven from earth: 初者，地氣也，中者，天氣也.
Shuowen
**「初」讀 chū，本篇11見**；**「中」讀 zhōng，本篇18見（中見、初中之屬；邪之中也之屬讀 zhòng，別見）**；**《說文》：初，始也，从刀从衣**；**「初中」本篇3見**

In brief

The two halves of a single position of the qi: an initial thirty degrees and a remainder, and a middle that follows the same rule. They exist to divide heaven from earth — the initial is the qi of earth, the middle the qi of heaven — and they are why above and below are sought differently: 上下不同，求之亦異也. The chapter raises them in the middle of its measuring, between the step of sixty degrees and the standing of the year, and they are the smallest of the units it builds with.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 初中
初者始也，中者內也；一位而分初中
位有終始，氣有初中 — Suwen 68
2
How big the initial is 初凡三十度而有奇
初者三十度而有零餘
初凡三十度而有奇，中氣同法 — Suwen 68
3
How big the middle is 中氣同法
中氣之度，與初同法
初凡三十度而有奇，中氣同法 — Suwen 68
4
What they are for 所以分天地也
初中者，所以分天地之氣
帝曰：初中何也？歧伯曰：所以分天地也。 — Suwen 68
5
Which is which 初者地氣也，中者天氣也
初屬地，中屬天
初者，地氣也，中者，天氣也。 — Suwen 68
6
Why they matter for method 上下不同，求之亦異也
上下之求各異，以有初中之分
位有終始，氣有初中，上下不同，求之亦異也。 — Suwen 68

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 68 Suwen 68 · 六微㫖大論 Read in context →
帝曰：何謂初中？歧伯曰：初凡三十度而有奇，中氣同法。帝曰：初中何也？歧伯曰：所以分天地也。帝曰：願卒聞之。歧伯曰：初者，地氣也，中者，天氣也。帝曰：其升降，何如？歧伯曰：氣之升降，天地之更用也。 帝曰：何谓初中？歧伯曰：初凡三十度而有奇，中气同法。帝曰：初中何也？歧伯曰：所以分天地也。帝曰：愿卒闻之。歧伯曰：初者，地气也，中者，天气也。帝曰：其升降，何如？歧伯曰：气之升降，天地之更用也。
Dì yuē: hé wèi chū zhōng? Qí bó yuē: chū fán sān shí dù ér yǒu jī, zhōng qì tóng fǎ. Dì yuē: chū zhōng hé yě? Qí bó yuē: suǒ yǐ fēn tiān dì yě. Dì yuē: yuàn zú wén zhī. Qí bó yuē: chū zhě, dì qì yě, zhōng zhě, tiān qì yě. Dì yuē: qí shēng jiàng, hé rú? Qí bó yuē: qì zhī shēng jiàng, tiān dì zhī gēng yòng yě.
Huang Di said: what are the initial and the middle? Qi Bo said: the initial is thirty degrees and a remainder, and the middle qi follows the same rule. Huang Di said: what are they for? Qi Bo said: they divide heaven from earth. Huang Di said: I wish to hear it through. Qi Bo said: the initial is the qi of earth; the middle is the qi of heaven. Huang Di said: how is it with the rising and falling of the qi? Qi Bo said: the rising and falling of the qi is heaven and earth taking turns in their use.
**「初中」本篇3見，此二段有其三**；**「初」讀 chū，本篇11見；初之氣、初凡三十度、初者地氣也**；**「中」此讀 zhōng，本篇「中」18見，其中四見讀 zhòng**；**「度」讀 dù，本篇2見；六十度、三十度**；**「奇」此讀 jī，本篇2見，皆零餘之義**

Compounds built on this term

氣位
qì wèi
the position of the qi
本篇1見；六節氣位，一位而分初中
步
bù
the step
本篇9見；六十度而有奇為一步，初中半之
上下
shàng xià
above and below
本篇3見；上下不同，求之亦異
地氣
dì qì
the qi of earth
本篇4見；初者，地氣也

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe initial and the middleliteral from 初 and 中; each position of the qi is two, and the two are what tell heaven from earth
Transliterationchu zhonghow the phrase appears in writing on the 運氣 method; right about the referent, and it drops the division
Descriptivethe first and second halves of a qi positionexact, and it is a gloss: the chapter's own words are 初 and 中, and it defines them by what they belong to

Entry status

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2026-10-06

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