Classica Sinica Medica

容色

róng sè

The complexion · rong se

Also rendered: the complexion (Standard; the colour of the face as a clinical object) · the facial colour (Anatomical and plainer) · countenance and colour (Splits the compound)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
róng sè
Simplified
容色
Literal
容 the countenance, what a face holds (《說文》: 盛也 — to hold, to contain); 色 colour, and the expression that shows in the face (《說文》: 顏气也). Together: the colour the face carries.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：容，盛也（段注：引申為容受、容貌）；色，顏气也（段注：顏者兩眉之間，心達於气氣達於眉間是之謂色）。

In brief

The chapter’s subject for its central passage: the colour of the face, read by position and by depth. Depth tells you the remedy and the number of days; position tells you whether the case is rebellion or compliance — and the sides are reversed for men and women. It is the second of the two things 揆度 is applied to in this chapter, after the pulse, and chapter 13 had already paired them as 色脉, colour and pulse.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The colour the face carries 容色見上下左右
王冰以色見於面之上下左右為言
容色見上下左右，各在其要 — Suwen 15
2
Depth gives the remedy and the term 其色見淺者……百日已
淺者湯液十日、深者必齊二十一日、大深者醪酒百日
其色見淺者，湯液主治，十日已 — Suwen 15
3
Position gives rebellion and compliance 上爲逆，下爲從
色上行曰逆、下行曰從；男女左右各異
上爲逆，下爲從 — Suwen 15
4
Beyond treatment 色夭面脱，不治
色枯槁、肌消脫者不治，百日盡已
色夭面脱，不治，百日盡已 — Suwen 15

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·玉版論要 Suwen 15 · 玉版論要 Read in context →
容色見上下左右，各在其要。其色見淺者，湯液主治，十日已。其見深者，必齊主治，二十一日已。其見大深者，醪酒主治，百日已。色夭面脱，不治，百日盡已。 容色见上下左右，各在其要。其色见浅者，汤液主治，十日已。其见深者，必齐主治，二十一日已。其见大深者，醪酒主治，百日已。色夭面脱，不治，百日尽已。
róng sè jiàn shàng xià zuǒ yòu, gè zài qí yào. qí sè jiàn qiǎn zhě, tāng yè zhǔ zhì, shí rì yǐ. qí jiàn shēn zhě, bì jì zhǔ zhì, èr shí yī rì yǐ. qí jiàn dà shēn zhě, láo jiǔ zhǔ zhì, bǎi rì yǐ. sè yāo miàn tuō, bù zhì, bǎi rì jìn yǐ.
The complexion appears above, below, left and right, each in its own place. Where the colour shows shallow, decoctions govern the treatment and it ends in ten days. Where it shows deep, compounded preparations must govern and it ends in twenty-one days. Where it shows very deep, fermented wine governs and it ends in a hundred days. When the colour is withered and the face fallen, it cannot be treated, and in a hundred days it is finished.
本篇「容色見上下左右，各在其要」，以色之淺深定湯液、齊、醪酒與十日、二十一日、百日之期，以色之夭脫決其不治。王冰以色之上下左右分部位。與第十三篇「色脉」、第十篇「五色」同條：本篇則合色與脉而一之——「五色脉變，揆度奇𢘆，道在於一」。

Compounds built on this term

容
róng
the countenance; to hold
說文：盛也
色
sè
colour, expression
說文：顏气也
五色
wǔ sè
the five colours
第十篇；本篇「五色脉變」
色脉
sè mài
colour and pulse
第十三篇；本篇合二者以為揆度
夭
yāo
withered
本篇「色夭」，謂色枯槁無澤

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishcomplexion, or facial colourBoth are common; the second is more literal.
This sitethe complexion容色 is not a patch of colour, it is what the face carries — 容 is also the verb for holding. Complexion in English carries the same double sense: the colour of the face and, in older usage, the state it shows. Facial colour would make it a datum to be measured, and the chapter is reading something the face says.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

Search the glossary

Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

See all reading paths