將軍之官 简体 将军之官

jiāng jūn zhī guān

The office of the general

Also rendered: office of the commander (將 as commander) · office of the military leader (Descriptive)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
jiāng jūn zhī guān
Simplified
将军之官
Literal
將 to lead, to take out; 軍 the host. 將軍 the general — the one who leads the army out.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:將,帥也;軍,圜圍也(四千人為軍)。肝者,將軍之官,謀慮出焉。

In brief

The liver’s office, and the pairing that makes it intelligible: what issues from the liver is 謀慮, planning and deliberation — the general’s business is counsel before it is force. The gallbladder that follows is where the counsel becomes a verdict. Read together, the two offices are one movement: the liver weighs, the gallbladder decides.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The liver as general 將軍之官
Third of the twelve
肝者,將軍之官 — Suwen 8
2
What issues from it 謀慮
Planning and deliberation — what a general is for before he is for fighting
謀慮出焉 — Suwen 8

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·靈蘭秘典論 Suwen 8 · 靈蘭秘典論 Read in context →
肝者,將軍之官,謀慮出焉。 肝者,将军之官,谋虑出焉。
gān zhě, jiāng jūn zhī guān, móu lǜ chū yān.
The liver is the office of the general. Planning and deliberation issue from it.
王冰:「勇而能斷,故曰將軍;潛發未萌,故謀慮出焉。」「潜發未萌」四字最得肝之用:謀慮是未形之時的籌畫。

Compounds built on this term

謀慮
móu lǜ
planning and deliberation
謀謂籌畫,慮謂思慮
決斷
jué duàn
decision
What issues from the gallbladder; the next step after 謀慮

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishoffice of the generalStandard and adequate.
This siteoffice of the generalKept as it is, with the gloss carrying the weight: the point of the office is 謀慮, so the reader is told that the general here plans rather than strikes.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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