Classica Sinica Medica

同氣 简体 同气

tóng qì

Kindred qi · tong qi

Also rendered: Kindred qi (this site; literal from the two graphs, and it keeps 同 as belonging rather than as agreement) · The body's own qi (馬蒔's reading, made explicit; clearer, and it commits to one of the two commentaries)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-05

At a glance

Pinyin
tóng qì
Simplified
同气
Literal
同 tóng — the same, shared; 氣 qì — qi. Kindred qi is the qi that is of a piece with the person it belongs to, and the chapter names it once, set against the qi that visits: 人有客氣，有同氣. The pair is one of the short cruxes of the chapter, because the sentence that follows is about the passages and neither word is explained. The two readings follow the two readings of 客氣. On the first, 同氣 is a person's own qi — what one is born with, what is native — set against the evil that arrives from outside. On the second, which is 張介賓's, both words belong to the doctrine of the circuit qi: 同氣 is the seasonal qi that comes round the same every year, against 客氣, the qi of the year that moves and never repeats. Nothing in the chapter decides between them.
Shuowen
**「同」讀 tóng，本篇1見**；**「氣」讀 qì，本篇2見，皆在「客氣」「同氣」之内**；**「同氣」本篇1見，與「客氣」1見對舉**；**《說文》：同，合會也，从𠔼从口**；**一說同氣為人身固有之正氣，與外來之客氣對（馬蒔）**；**一說同氣為歲歲相同之主氣，與往來無常之客氣對（張介賓）**；**二說並存，本篇之文不足以定其一，故並錄之**；**「人」讀 rén、「有」讀 yǒu；「同氣」之「同」與「不同」之同同讀**

In brief

Kindred qi — 同 tóng, the same; 氣 qì, qi — the qi that is of a piece with what it belongs to. 《說文》 has 同，合會也, brought together, which is close enough: this is the qi that belongs, against the qi that is only lodging. The chapter uses it once, in 人有客氣，有同氣, and never again, and it does not say what it means. 馬蒔 takes it as a person’s own qi against invading evil; 張介賓 takes both words from the doctrine of the circuit qi, so that 同氣 is the seasonal qi that repeats year after year against the qi of the year that never does. The chapter moves straight on to the rule about the passages, so both readings are left standing. The word has not appeared in any chapter transcribed on this site before.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 同氣
同者，合會也；氣者，人身之氣
人有客氣，有同氣。 — Suwen 65
2
What it is set against 客氣
同氣與客氣對舉，一主一客，一常一變
人有客氣，有同氣。 — Suwen 65
3
The first reading 人身固有之氣
馬蒔：客氣者，外來之邪氣也；同氣者，吾身之正氣也
人有客氣，有同氣。 — Suwen 65
4
The second reading 歲歲相同之主氣
張介賓以運氣言之，主氣歲歲相同，客氣往來無常
人有客氣，有同氣。 — Suwen 65
5
The rule that follows 小大不利治其標
次句即分標本，與上文二氣之辨相承
小大不利治其標，小大利治其本。 — Suwen 65
6
The chapter's general claim 言一而知百
本篇自謂言一而知百病之害，由小而大，由少而多
小而大，言一而知百病之害 — Suwen 65

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 65 Suwen 65 · 標本病傳論 Read in context →
人有客氣，有同氣。小大不利治其標，小大利治其本。 人有客气，有同气。小大不利治其标，小大利治其本。
Rén yǒu kè qì, yǒu tóng qì. Xiǎo dà bù lì zhì qí biāo, xiǎo dà lì zhì qí běn.
A person has visiting qi and has kindred qi. When the lesser and the greater do not flow freely, treat the branch; when the lesser and the greater do flow freely, treat the root.
**「同氣」本篇1見，與「客氣」1見對舉於「人有客氣，有同氣」一句**；**「同」讀 tóng，本篇1見；「氣」讀 qì，本篇2見**；**《說文》：同，合會也**；**一說同氣為人身固有之正氣（馬蒔），一說為歲歲相同之主氣（張介賓）**；**二說並存，本篇之文不足以定其一**；**次句「小大不利治其標，小大利治其本」即承此而言**

Compounds built on this term

客氣
kè qì
visiting qi
本篇1見，與「同氣」對舉；一說為外來之邪氣，一說為往來無常之氣
小大利
xiǎo dà lì
the lesser and the greater flow freely
本篇3見「小大」，其利者治其本
治其本
zhì qí běn
to treat the root
本篇12見
治其標
zhì qí biāo
to treat the branch
本篇5見

How it has been translated

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

This sitekindred qiliteral from the graphs — 同 the same, 氣 qi — and kept rather than replaced, because the word says only that this qi is of a piece with what it belongs to, and the chapter does not say what that is
Later usagetong qi, same qihow the word travels in English writing on Chinese medicine, transliterated with a gloss; serviceable, and it does not say what the qi is the same as
Commentarythe body's own qi馬蒔's reading, spelled out; right if the pair is about inside and outside, and it rules out the calendar reading, which is 張介賓's and is about the year rather than the person

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-05

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Reading path

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