Nourishing yang in spring and summer

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: chūn xià yǎng yáng, qiū dōng yǎng yīn
Simplified: 春夏养阳，秋冬养阴
Literal: Nourish yang in spring and summer; nourish yin in autumn and winter.

In brief

The line that set the pattern for seasonal therapy, and one of the most argued-over sentences in the corpus. Read simply, it says: work with the season’s own movement instead of against it.

Taken at face value the instruction looks backwards — why nourish yang when yang is already abundant? That is precisely why the line has attracted so much commentary. The plainest reading is the one the chapter supports: follow the movement of the season rather than counteracting it, and the year’s growth and storage will take care of themselves.

What matters for a reader is the grammar. 以從其根 — by following the root. The season is the root; the regimen is what follows from it.

Senses in the classical corpus

Seasonal regimen 春夏養陽，秋冬養陰

Follow the season's own movement

所以聖人春夏養陽 — 素問·四氣調神大論

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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2 passages

素問·診要經終論 Read in context →

歧伯對曰：正月、二月，天氣始方，地氣始發，人氣在肝。三月、四月，天氣正方，地氣定發，人氣在脾。五月、六月，天氣盛，地氣高，人氣在頭。七月、八月，陰氣始殺，人氣在肺。九月、十月，陰氣始冰，地氣始閉，人氣在心。十一月、十二月，冰復，地氣合，人氣在腎。岐伯对曰：正月、二月，天气始方，地气始发，人气在肝。三月、四月，天气正方，地气定发，人气在脾。五月、六月，天气盛，地气高，人气在头。七月、八月，阴气始杀，人气在肺。九月、十月，阴气始冰，地气始闭，人气在心。十一月、十二月，冰复，地气合，人气在肾。

qí bó duì yuē: zhēng yuè, èr yuè, tiān qì shǐ fāng, dì qì shǐ fā, rén qì zài gān. sān yuè, sì yuè, tiān qì zhèng fāng, dì qì dìng fā, rén qì zài pí. wǔ yuè, liù yuè, tiān qì shèng, dì qì gāo, rén qì zài tóu. qī yuè, bā yuè, yīn qì shǐ shā, rén qì zài fèi. jiǔ yuè, shí yuè, yīn qì shǐ bīng, dì qì shǐ bì, rén qì zài xīn. shí yī yuè, shí èr yuè, bīng fù, dì qì hé, rén qì zài shèn.

Qibo replies: In the first and second months the heavenly qi begins to spread squarely and the earthly qi begins to issue forth, and the human qi is in the liver. In the third and fourth months the heavenly qi is squarely in place and the earthly qi issues in earnest, and the human qi is in the spleen. In the fifth and sixth months the heavenly qi is at its height and the earthly qi is high, and the human qi is in the head. In the seventh and eighth months the yin qi begins to kill, and the human qi is in the lung. In the ninth and tenth months the yin qi begins to freeze and the earthly qi begins to close, and the human qi is in the heart. In the eleventh and twelfth months the ice thickens and the earthly qi closes up, and the human qi is in the kidney.

「正月、二月，天氣始方，地氣始發，人氣在肝……十一月、十二月，冰復，地氣合，人氣在腎」：第二篇立「春夏養陽，秋冬養陰」之綱而未實指其處，本篇則以十二月人氣之所在實之——春氣在肝而主生，冬氣在腎而主藏。刺法因之而有淺深之別：春刺散俞、及與分理，冬刺俞竅於分理而甚者直下。

素問·四氣調神大論 Read in context →

夫四時陰陽者，萬物之根本也。所以聖人春夏養陽，秋冬養陰，以從其根，故與萬物沈浮於生長之門。逆其根，則伐其本，壞其真矣。夫四时阴阳者，万物之根本也。所以圣人春夏养阳，秋冬养阴，以从其根，故与万物沉浮于生长之门。逆其根，则伐其本，坏其真矣。

Fú sì shí yīn yáng zhě, wàn wù zhī gēn běn yě. suǒ yǐ shèng rén chūn xià yǎng yáng, qiū dōng yǎng yīn, yǐ cóng qí gēn, gù yǔ wàn wù chén fú yú shēng zhǎng zhī mén. nì qí gēn, zé fá qí běn, huài qí zhēn yǐ.

The yin and yang of the four seasons are the root of the ten thousand things. So the sage nourishes yang in spring and summer and nourishes yin in autumn and winter, following the root; and therefore he rises and sinks with the ten thousand things at the gate of growth. To go against the root is to fell the trunk and ruin the true.

「所以聖人春夏養陽，秋冬養陰」——以從其根，是本篇養四氣之要；「春夏養陽」本篇1見

Compounds built on this term

養陽

yǎng yáng

nourish yang

The spring–summer half of the instruction

養陰

yǎng yīn

nourish yin

The autumn–winter half

從其根

cóng qí gēn

follow the root

The reason the chapter gives

How it has been translated

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

This site	nourishing yang / nourishing yin	Keeps both verbs and both nouns.
Common English	support yang, support yin	"Support" softens 養, which is closer to tending.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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