發陳简体发陈

fā chén

Issuing the stored · fa chen

Also rendered: Bringing forth the old (this site; it keeps 陳 as what was laid up, so that spring is read as a spending of what winter saved) · Fa chen (transliteration; used when the four season names are quoted together as a set)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-09

At a glance

Pinyin: fā chén
Simplified: 发陈
Literal: 發 fā — to send out, to open (《說文》: 發，射發也：the releasing of a drawn bow); 陳 chén — what is old, what has been laid up (《說文》: 陳，宛丘也；引申為陳列、陳舊). 發陳 is therefore the bringing out of what was stored: what the winter laid up, the spring sends out. Zhang Jiebin glosses it 發，啟也；陳，故也 — 發 is to open, 陳 is the old, and the spring yang rises and brings everything out from what was, so it is called 發陳.
Shuowen: **「發」讀 fā，本篇2見**；**「陳」讀 chén，本篇1見**；**「發陳」本篇1見**；**《說文》：發，射發也；陳，宛丘也，引申為陳舊**；**張介賓《類經》注：發，啟也；陳，故也。春陽上升，發育庶物，啟故從新，故曰發陳**

In brief

The name Suwen 2 gives to the three months of spring, and the first of the four season names that structure the chapter. What the winter stored, the spring sends out. The rule the chapter draws from it is the rule for spring: sleep at night and rise early, walk in the courtyard, let the hair down and slacken the body, let things live and do not kill them — and if you do not, the liver is harmed and summer brings a cold change.

Senses in the classical corpus

The graphs 發陳

發者啟也，陳者故也；發陳謂啟其故者而出之

春三月，此謂發陳 — Suwen 2

What spring does 天地俱生

天與地同生，故萬物以榮

春三月，此謂發陳，天地俱生，萬物以榮 — Suwen 2

The rule for the body 夜卧早起，廣步於庭

卧起寬步，以應生發之氣

夜卧早起，廣步於庭，被髮緩形，以使志生 — Suwen 2

The rule for the will 以使志生

志亦當生，不可束縛

被髮緩形，以使志生 — Suwen 2

The rule for conduct 生而勿殺，予而勿奪，賞而勿罰

三者皆順生而逆殺

生而勿殺，予而勿奪，賞而勿罰 — Suwen 2

What breaking it costs 逆之則傷肝，夏爲寒變

逆春氣則肝傷，至夏而為寒變，奉長者少

逆之則傷肝，夏爲寒變，奉長者少 — Suwen 2

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

1 passages

素問·四氣調神大論 Suwen 2 · 四氣調神大論 Read in context →

春三月，此謂發陳，天地俱生，萬物以榮。夜卧早起，廣步於庭，被髮緩形，以使志生。生而勿殺，予而勿奪，賞而勿罰，此春氣之應，養生之道也。逆之則傷肝，夏爲寒變，奉長者少。春三月，此谓发陈，天地俱生，万物以荣。夜卧早起，广步于庭，被发缓形，以使志生。生而勿杀，予而勿夺，赏而勿罚，此春气之应，养生之道也。逆之则伤肝，夏为寒变，奉长者少。

Chūn sān yuè, cǐ wèi fā chén, tiān dì jù shēng, wàn wù yǐ róng. yè wò zǎo qǐ, guǎng bù yú tíng, pī fà huǎn xíng, yǐ shǐ zhì shēng. shēng ér wù shā, yǔ ér wù duó, shǎng ér wù fá, cǐ chūn qì zhī yìng, yǎng shēng zhī dào yě. nì zhī zé shāng gān, xià wéi hán biàn, fèng zhǎng zhě shǎo.

The three months of spring are called the bringing forth of what was stored. Heaven and earth are both giving birth; the ten thousand things are in bloom. Sleep at night and rise early, walk with a wide stride in the courtyard, let the hair down and slacken the body, so that the will comes to life. Let things live and do not kill; give and do not take away; reward and do not punish. This is the answer to the qi of spring, and it is the way of nourishing life. Going against it harms the liver; in summer there is a cold change, and there is little to hand on to what must grow.

**「發陳」本篇1見**；**「此謂發陳」四字，是本篇定四時之名之式，下三時並同**；**「奉長者少」之奉，謂供給於後，本篇四見**

Compounds built on this term

天地俱生

tiān dì jù shēng

heaven and earth giving birth together

本篇1見

被髮緩形

pī fà huǎn xíng

hair let down and body slackened

本篇1見

養生之道

yǎng shēng zhī dào

the way of nourishing life

本篇1見；四時各有其道，此為春之道

奉長者少

fèng zhǎng zhě shǎo

little to hand on to what grows

本篇1見

How it has been translated

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

This site	Issuing the stored · fa chen	發 is kept as a verb: the season is something the year does, not a quality it has
Literal	the bringing forth of what is stored	exact, and it lets 陳 carry both senses — the old and the laid up
Descriptive	renewal	the usual rendering in seasonal writing; it loses the stored half, which is the half the chapter argues from

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-09

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