Classica Sinica Medica

七損八益 简体 七损八益

qī sǔn bā yì

Seven losses and eight gains · qi sun ba yi

Also rendered: The seven losses and the eight gains (this site; both numbers are kept, because the chapter quotes a rule it does not spell out and the numbers are the rule) · Qi sun ba yi (transliteration; used when the phrase is cited as the name of the regimen rather than unpacked)

Cultivation

Reviewed · 2026-10-11

At a glance

Pinyin
qī sǔn bā yì
Simplified
七损八益
Literal
七 qī — seven; 損 sǔn — to take away (《說文》: 損，減也：to lessen); 八 bā — eight; 益 yì — to add (《說文》: 益，饒也：to make plentiful, the graph a vessel with water brimming over). The phrase is a regimen carried in four graphs. Suwen 5 does not spell it out; it names it as the one piece of knowledge without which the two — yin and yang — cannot be brought into order at all. Wang Bing takes 七 as the yin's number and 八 as the yang's, so that the yin is to be drawn down and the yang built up, and the chapter's own arithmetic supports him: it counts the decline by sevens and eights all the way — forty, fifty, sixty — as though the reckoning were the regimen.
Shuowen
**「七損八益」本篇1見**；**「損」讀 sǔn，本篇1見**；**「益」讀 yì，本篇2見**；**《說文》：損，減也；益，饒也**；**王冰注：陰七可損，陽八宜益**

In brief

The rule of taking from the yin and adding to the yang — the one thing the chapter says must be known if the two are to be regulated at all: 能知七損八益，則二者可調；不知用此，則早衰之節也. What follows in the chapter is the accounting. At forty the yin qi is already half and the way a life is lived begins to fall off; at fifty the body grows heavy and the ears and eyes dim; at sixty the yin withers, the qi is greatly spent, the nine orifices no longer run freely, and the lower is empty while the upper is full. Set against that is what the same knowledge buys: ears and eyes clear, body light and strong, the old made young again and the young better governed. Wang Bing reads the numbers as the yin’s seven and the yang’s eight, which is why the phrase is a rule of proportion and not a list.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 七損八益
七為陰數而宜損，八為陽數而宜益
能知七損八益 — Suwen 5
2
What it governs 二者可調
知此則陰陽二者可以調和
能知七損八益，則二者可調 — Suwen 5
3
What ignoring it costs 早衰之節
不知用此，則早衰之節也
不知用此，則早衰之節也 — Suwen 5
4
The decline it measures 年四十而陰氣自半也
四十而陰氣自半，起居衰矣
年四十而陰氣自半也，起居衰矣 — Suwen 5
5
What keeping it buys 有餘則耳目聰明
智者有餘，耳目聰明，身體輕強
有餘則耳目聰明，身體輕強 — Suwen 5
6
Where it ends 壽命无窮，與天地終
聖人无為，樂恬憺，故壽命无窮
故壽命无窮，與天地終 — Suwen 5

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·陰陽應象大論 Suwen 5 · 陰陽應象大論 Read in context →
帝曰：調此二者柰何？歧伯曰：能知七損八益，則二者可調；不知用此，則早衰之節也。年四十而陰氣自半也，起居衰矣。年五十體重，耳目不聰明矣。年六十，陰痿，氣大衰，九竅不利，下虚上實，涕泣俱出矣。 帝曰：调此二者奈何？歧伯曰：能知七损八益，则二者可调；不知用此，则早衰之节也。年四十而阴气自半也，起居衰矣。年五十体重，耳目不聪明矣。年六十，阴痿，气大衰，九窍不利，下虚上实，涕泣俱出矣。
dì yuē: tiáo cǐ èr zhě nài hé? qí bó yuē: néng zhī qī sǔn bā yì, zé èr zhě kě tiáo; bù zhī yòng cǐ, zé zǎo shuāi zhī jié yě. nián sì shí ér yīn qì zì bàn yě, qǐ jū shuāi yǐ. nián wǔ shí tǐ zhòng, ěr mù bù cōng míng yǐ. nián liù shí, yīn wěi, qì dà shuāi, jiǔ qiào bù lì, xià xū shàng shí, tì qì jù chū yǐ.
The Emperor asks: how are these two to be regulated? Qi Bo says: if one can know the seven injuries and the eight benefits, the two can be regulated; not knowing how to use this, one follows the timetable of early decay. At forty the yin qi is already halved of itself and daily living declines. At fifty the body is heavy and the ears and eyes are no longer sharp. At sixty, yin is withered, qi greatly declined, the nine orifices no longer pass freely, the lower is empty and the upper replete, and snivel and tears flow together.
**「七損八益」本篇1見**；**「陰陽」本篇13見，見本站第一四八條**；**「聖人」本篇3見，見本站第一七八條**；**「恬憺」本篇1見（本站第一五五條作「恬惔」）**

Compounds built on this term

能知七損八益
néng zhī qī sǔn bā yì
to know the seven losses and eight gains
本篇1見
二者可調
èr zhě kě tiáo
the two can be brought into order
本篇1見
早衰之節
zǎo shuāi zhī jié
the mark of early decline
本篇1見
樂恬憺之能
lè tián dàn zhī néng
taking joy in tranquil detachment
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 siteSeven losses and eight gains · qi sun ba yikeeps the pair of numbers and the plain verbs, so the accounting stays visible
Literalseven losses, eight gainsplain English; loses the sense that the numbers are the yin's and the yang's
Explanatorythe rules of drawing down and building upwhat the commentators make of it; clearer, but the numbers have gone

Entry status

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2026-10-11

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