Classica Sinica Medica

鎮星 简体 镇星

zhèn xīng

Saturn · zhen xing

Also rendered: The settling star (this site; literal, and it keeps 鎮 as pressing down rather than as garrisoning) · Zhen xing (transliteration; how the name appears in writing on the 運氣 method, where the graph is pressed into service for earth)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-08

At a glance

Pinyin
zhèn xīng
Simplified
镇星
Literal
鎮 zhèn — to press down, to settle, to hold in place (《說文》: 鎮，博壓也); 星 xīng — a star. 鎮星 is the star that presses down and settles: the planet of earth and of the centre, Saturn, which the tradition gave to the phase that holds the other four in their places, one to each quarter of the year. Twenty-eight years to the circuit, and a motion slow enough to look like standing still — which is what 鎮 says. The name is also written 填星, and the two are one word.
Shuowen
**「鎮」讀 zhèn，本篇7見，皆在「鎮星」一詞內**；**「星」讀 xīng，本篇36見**；**《說文》：鎮，博壓也；鎮壓之義**；**「鎮星」本篇7見**；**字又作「填星」，與「鎮星」同詞，本篇不取「填」形**

In brief

The planet Saturn, the star of earth and of the centre, and the one this chapter names whenever the earth circuit moves or the water circuit fails. Its name is what earth does: to press down and settle, holding the other four to their seasons. Earth in surplus answers to it (歲土太過…上應鎮星), and so does water falling short, because when water is short it is damp that rises (歲水不及，濕乃大行…上應鎮星); and it comes back a third time for the flood that follows (大雨至，埃霧朦鬱，上應鎮星).

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 鎮星
鎮者壓也，星者列星；土性鎮壓，故名
上應鎮星 — Suwen 69
2
The planet 鎮星
土之精，二十八年一周天，即今之土星
歲土太過，雨濕流行 — Suwen 69
3
Earth in surplus 歲土太過，雨濕流行，腎水受邪
土運太過，則鎮星應之
上應鎮星 — Suwen 69
4
Water falling short 歲水不及，濕乃大行
水不及則土來乘之，鎮星見焉
上應鎮星 — Suwen 69
5
The flood 大雨至，埃霧朦鬱
土氣橫行，鎮星又一度見
上應鎮星 — Suwen 69
6
Revenge 復則埃鬱，大雨且至
復氣之發，鎮星與辰星並見
上應鎮星、辰星 — Suwen 69

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
Suwen 69 Suwen 69 · 氣交變大論 Read in context →
歲土太過，雨濕流行，腎水受邪。民病腹痛，清厥意不樂，體重煩冤。上應鎮星。甚則肌肉萎，足痿不收，行善瘈，腳下痛，飲發，中滿食減，四支不舉。變生得位，藏氣伏，化氣獨治之，泉涌河衍，涸澤生魚，風雨大至，土崩潰，鱗見于陸。病腹滿溏泄，腸鳴，反下甚而太谿絶者，死不治。上應歲星。 岁土太过，雨湿流行，肾水受邪。民病腹痛，清厥意不乐，体重烦冤。上应镇星。甚则肌肉萎，足痿不收，行善瘈，脚下痛，饮发，中满食减，四支不举。变生得位，藏气伏，化气独治之，泉涌河衍，涸泽生鱼，风雨大至，土崩溃，鳞见于陆。病腹满溏泄，肠鸣，反下甚而太溪绝者，死不治。上应岁星。
Suì tǔ tài guò, yǔ shī liú xíng, shèn shuǐ shòu xié. Mín bìng fù tòng, qīng jué yì bù lè, tǐ zhòng fán yuān. Shàng yìng zhèn xīng. Shèn zé jī ròu wěi, zú wěi bù shōu, xíng shàn chì, jiǎo xià tòng, yǐn fā, zhōng mǎn shí jiǎn, sì zhī bù jǔ. Biàn shēng dé wèi, zàng qì fú, huà qì dú zhì zhī, quán yǒng hé yǎn, hé zé shēng yú, fēng yǔ dà zhì, tǔ bēng kuì, lín xiàn yú lù. Bìng fù mǎn táng xiè, cháng míng, fǎn xià shèn ér tài xī jué zhě, sǐ bù zhì. Shàng yìng suì xīng.
In a year of earth in surplus, rain and dampness spread and move and the water of the kidney receives evil. The people are ill with pain in the abdomen, clear counterflow and a mind that takes no pleasure, a heavy body and freting oppression; it answers above to Saturn. If it is severe, the flesh wastes, the feet are limp and cannot be drawn up, walking brings twitching, there is pain under the foot, rheum breaks out, the centre is full and eating diminishes, and the four limbs cannot be lifted. Change arises when it holds its place: the qi of storage lies hidden and the qi of transformation governs alone, springs gush and rivers overflow, dried-up marshes bring forth fish, wind and rain arrive in force, the earth crumbles and collapses, and scaled creatures are seen on land. The illness is fullness of the abdomen, sloppy diarrhoea and rumbling in the bowels; if it turns worse below and Taixi is cut off, there is death and no cure; it answers above to Jupiter.
**「鎮星」本篇7見，此段有其1**；**「歲土太過」是五運太過之第三表**；**「太谿絶者，死不治」是本篇五脈之第三脈，水受邪故取腎脈**；**「鱗見于陸」之「見」讀 xiàn，本篇「見」5見皆讀 xiàn**；**「腳下痛」之「腳」底本作「腳」，本篇2見，來稿作簡體「脚」，已還原**
素問·金匱真言論 Suwen 4 · 金匱真言論 Read in context →
中央黃色，入通於脾，開竅於口，藏精於脾，故病在舌本。其味甘，其類土，其畜牛，其榖稷。其應四時，上爲鎮星，是以知病之在肉也。其音宮，其數五，其臭香。 中央黄色，入通于脾，开窍于口，藏精于脾，故病在舌本。其味甘，其类土，其畜牛，其谷稷。其应四时，上为镇星，是以知病之在肉也。其音宫，其数五，其臭香。
zhōng yāng huáng sè, rù tōng yú pí, kāi qiào yú kǒu, cáng jīng yú pí, gù bìng zài shé běn. qí wèi gān, qí lèi tǔ, qí chù niú, qí gǔ jì. qí yìng sì shí, shàng wéi zhèn xīng, shì yǐ zhī bìng zhī zài ròu yě. qí yīn gōng, qí shù wǔ, qí xiù xiāng.
The centre is the yellow colour; it enters and communicates with the spleen. It opens into the mouth and stores its essence in the spleen; hence the disease is at the root of the tongue. Its flavour is sweet, its class earth, its domestic animal the ox, its grain panicled millet. Answering to the four seasons, above it is the Guarding Star; hence one knows the disease is in the flesh. Its note is gong, its number five. Its odour is fragrant.
「上爲鎮星」——中央黃色，通於脾，其類土；鎮星為土星，中央之星；**「鎮星」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

歲土
suì tǔ
the year of earth
本篇2見；歲土太過、歲土不及
雨濕
yǔ shī
rain and damp
本篇1見；雨濕流行、雨濕之復
黅榖
jīn gǔ
the yellow grain
本篇2見；土之榖也
五星
wǔ xīng
the five planets
本篇1見；歲候不及其太過而上應五星

How it has been translated

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

This siteSaturnliteral from the planet named; the chapter needs a star that answers to earth, and 鎮星 is that star
Transliterationzhen xinghow the name is written in discussions of the five circuits; right about the referent, and it loses the settling
Descriptivethe planet of earthexact, and it gives the phase rather than the body; the chapter's own name says what earth does to the rest

Entry status

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2026-10-08

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