Classica Sinica Medica

天數 简体 天数

tiān shù

The number of heaven · tian shu

Also rendered: The number of heaven (this site; it keeps 數 as a count, and the chapter answers the question with a count) · Tian shu (transliteration; used where the word is being read as the allotted measure of the 運氣 chapters)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-08

At a glance

Pinyin
tiān shù
Simplified
天数
Literal
天 tiān — heaven, the sky above (《說文》: 天，顛也，至高無上); 數 shù — a number, a count, and so a measure apportioned (《說文》: 數，計也). 天數 is the number heaven sets: not a fate written out in advance but a measure, like the seven and the eight by which the chapter counts the body. Huang Di's question at the middle of the chapter is whether childlessness in old age is a spending of strength or simply this number — and the answer that follows is a count, which is a way of saying: both, and the count is what tells them apart.
Shuowen
**「天」讀 tiān，本篇16見**；**「數」讀 shù，本篇4見，皆讀 shù，非 shuò**；**「天數」本篇1見**；**《說文》：天，顛也；數，計也**；**本篇天字之屬：天師、天癸、天年、天壽、天數，皆以天為量**

In brief

The number or measure heaven apportions — the chapter’s word for the bound set on a life, as distinct from what a person does with it. Huang Di asks whether an old man without children has spent his material strength or whether it is simply the number of heaven; the answer is a count by sevens and eights, which treats the two as one question. The same measure reappears at the close of the counts, where even those whose span exceeds its measure still may not pass the bound.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 天數
天者顛也，數者計也；天數謂天所定之數
將天數然也 — Suwen 1
2
Heaven's measure 將天數然也
老而無子，抑天數使之然
人年老而無子者，材力盡邪，將天數然也 — Suwen 1
3
Asked against 材力 材力盡邪，將天數然也
一問材力之竭，一問天數之定
材力盡邪，將天數然也 — Suwen 1
4
Answered by a count 女子七歲，腎氣盛
不以空言答之，而以七歲八歲之數答之
帝曰：人年老而無子者 — Suwen 1
5
Beyond the measure 此其天壽過度
天壽過度者，其數過於常
此其天壽過度，氣脉常通 — Suwen 1
6
Not passed even so 男不過盡八八，女不過盡七七
雖過度而終不過其數
男不過盡八八，女不過盡七七 — Suwen 1

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·上古天真論 Suwen 1 · 上古天真論 Read in context →
帝曰：人年老而無子者，材力盡邪，將天數然也？ 帝曰：人年老而无子者，材力尽邪，将天数然也？
Dì yuē: rén nián lǎo ér wú zǐ zhě, cái lì jìn xié, jiāng tiān shù rán yě?
Huang Di said: when a person is old and has no children, is it that his material strength is spent, or is it simply the number apportioned by heaven?
**「天數」本篇1見**；**此問為本篇中段之樞，以下七七八八之數皆由此問而生**；**「材力盡邪」之邪讀 xié，此為疑問語氣詞，一說讀 yé**；**「將」讀 jiāng，非 jiàng**

Compounds built on this term

天壽
tiān shòu
the span of heaven
本篇1見
天年
tiān nián
the allotted years
本篇1見
天癸
tiān guǐ
heavenly water
本篇5見
材力
cái lì
material strength
本篇1見；與天數對舉

How it has been translated

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

This siteThe number of heavenliteral, and it keeps the indefiniteness of 數: a measure, not a destiny written out
Transliterationtian shuright about the referent, and it costs the reader the pun the chapter is built on — that the answer to a question about number is a count
Descriptivethe allotted measurewhat it functions as in the chapter; it loses the graph 天, which is the point

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-08

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