Classica Sinica Medica

六元

liù yuán

The six origins · liu yuan

Also rendered: The six origins (this site; literal — 元 is source, and the chapter's own word for what the six are to the three yin and three yang is 本, the root) · The six qi (the term later medicine settled on; the same six, and it drops the point that this chapter is naming what the six are the source of)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-05

At a glance

Pinyin
liù yuán
Simplified
六元
Literal
六 liù — six; 元 yuán — the head, and so the beginning, the source. 《說文》 has 元，始也. The six origins are the six qi, named at the close of the chapter's last movement and named as what the three yin and three yang come from: 厥陰之上，風氣主之；少陰之上，熱氣主之；太陰之上，濕氣主之；少陽之上，相火主之；陽明之上，燥氣主之；太陽之上，寒氣主之；所謂本也，是謂六元. The sentence gives them twice over — first as the six qi that preside, then as the 本, the root, and finally as 元, the source. It is the only occurrence in the chapter, and it is the chapter's last word on what the six are.
Shuowen
**「六」讀 liù，本篇6見：「天以六爲節」「六期爲一備」「六期而環會」「五六相合」之屬**；**「元」讀 yuán，本篇5見：化元、坤元、天元二見、六元**；**《說文》：元，始也，从一从兀**；**「本」讀 běn，本篇2見，即「所謂本也」之「本」**；**「是謂六元」本篇1見**；**六元之目：風氣、熱氣、濕氣、相火、燥氣、寒氣，本篇「主之」6見，即此六者各主其三陰三陽**

In brief

The name the chapter gives, in its last sentence, to the six qi that stand above the three yin and three yang — wind, heat, damp, minister fire, dryness, cold. 所謂本也，是謂六元: what has just been called the root is called the six origins. The two words are the point of the line. Earlier in the chapter the same six were listed as 天之陰陽, the yin and yang of heaven, with the three yin and three yang serving them (三陰三陽，上奉之); here the relation is turned the other way up, and the six are what the three yin and three yang are the branches of. 《說文》 has 元，始也, which is why 本 and 元 — root and source — can be said of the same six in one sentence.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 六元
六者風、熱、濕、火、燥、寒；元者始也
是謂六元 — Suwen 66
2
What the six are 風氣主之……寒氣主之
六氣各主三陰三陽之一
厥陰之上，風氣主之 — Suwen 66
3
Why they are called the root 所謂本也
三陰三陽為標，六氣為本
所謂本也，是謂六元。 — Suwen 66
4
Their place in this chapter 三陰三陽，上奉之
天之陰陽三陰三陽上奉之，地之陰陽生長化收藏下應之
寒、暑、燥、濕、風、火，天之陰陽也，三陰三陽，上奉之。 — Suwen 66
5
Why there are six 天以六爲節
天之氣六期為一備，與地之五歲為一周相對
天以六爲節，地以五爲制。 — Suwen 66
6
One of the six is doubled 君火以明，相火以位
五運而六氣者，火分為二
君火以明，相火以位。 — Suwen 66

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 66 Suwen 66 · 天元紀大論 Read in context →
厥陰之上，風氣主之；少陰之上，熱氣主之；太陰之上，濕氣主之；少陽之上，相火主之；陽明之上，燥氣主之；太陽之上，寒氣主之；所謂本也，是謂六元。 厥阴之上，风气主之；少阴之上，热气主之；太阴之上，湿气主之；少阳之上，相火主之；阳明之上，燥气主之；太阳之上，寒气主之；所谓本也，是谓六元。
Jué yīn zhī shàng, fēng qì zhǔ zhī; shào yīn zhī shàng, rè qì zhǔ zhī; tài yīn zhī shàng, shī qì zhǔ zhī; shào yáng zhī shàng, xiàng huǒ zhǔ zhī; yáng míng zhī shàng, zào qì zhǔ zhī; tài yáng zhī shàng, hán qì zhǔ zhī; suǒ wèi běn yě, shì wèi liù yuán.
Above ceasing yin wind qi presides; above lesser yin heat qi presides; above greater yin damp qi presides; above lesser yang the minister fire presides; above yang brightness dryness qi presides; above greater yang cold qi presides. These are what is called the root, and together they are called the six origins.
**「六元」本篇1見，在第二十七段之末，為本篇言六氣之結句**；**「元」讀 yuán，本篇5見：化元、坤元、天元二見與此**；**「本」讀 běn，本篇2見，「所謂本也」與「是謂六元」同指一事**；**六氣之目：風氣、熱氣、濕氣、相火、燥氣、寒氣，本篇各一見**；**此段以三陰三陽為上，六氣為其所主，與第十五段「三陰三陽，上奉之」互見**；**「相火」讀 xiàng huǒ，本篇2見**

Compounds built on this term

三陰三陽
sān yīn sān yáng
three yin and three yang
本篇3見；六元為其本，三陰三陽為其標
相火
xiàng huǒ
minister fire
本篇2見；六元之一，少陽之上所主
風氣
fēng qì
wind qi
本篇1見；六元之首，厥陰之上所主
寒氣
hán qì
cold qi
本篇1見；六元之末，太陽之上所主

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe six originsliteral from 元, source or beginning; kept because the chapter's own word for what the six are to the three yin and three yang is 本, the root, and 元 is the same metaphor seen from the other end
Later usageliu yuan, the six qihow the phrase is glossed in writing on the 運氣 chapters; right about the referent, and it loses the pair 本 and 元 that the sentence sets up
Descriptivethe six root qiwhat 本 and 元 together come to; faithful, and it reads like a gloss rather than a name

Entry status

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2026-10-05

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