聖王简体圣王

shèng wáng

The sage king

Also rendered: the sage king (Literal) · the sage ruler (Same thing; ruler is more abstract than 王) · the holy king (Holy is wrong for 聖 in a Han medical text)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: shèng wáng
Simplified: 圣王
Literal: 聖 sagely — in early writing, one whose hearing is preternaturally good, and so one who understands; 王 king, the one who binds the world together. A sage who also reigns.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：聖，通也（段注：引申為聖哲、聖明）；王，天下所歸往也。

In brief

Not a grade of person in this chapter but a name given for a result: he who can read colour and pulse keeps far from death and near to life, the way of living is lengthened, and he is called a sage king. Wang Bing’s note is dry about who qualifies: the emperors of high antiquity heard the way and practised it diligently, and only a sage king manages to use it constantly. The word is distinct from 聖人 — the sage of Suwen 1 is a private attainment; the sage king of this chapter is a public one, and the chapter’s last movement makes the connection explicit by comparing bad medicine to bad government.

Senses in the classical corpus

The name given for keeping far from death 命曰聖王

王冰：「上帝聞道，勤而行之，生道以長，惟聖王乃爾而常用也。」

所以遠死而近生，生道以長，命曰聖王 — Suwen 13

The reward of colour and pulse 所以遠死而近生

王冰：「能觀色脈之臧否，曉死生之徵兆，故能常遠於死而近於生也。」

所以遠死而近生 — Suwen 13

Distinct from 聖人聖

第一篇之聖人是自修之等，本篇之聖王是治人之稱

命曰聖王 — Suwen 13

Bound up with the government metaphor 亡神失國

王冰：「若使之輔佐君王，亦令國祚不保康寧矣。」

逆從到行，標本不得，亡神失國 — Suwen 13

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

2 passages

素問·移精變氣論 Suwen 13 · 移精變氣論 Read in context →

所以遠死而近生，生道以長，命曰聖王。所以远死而近生，生道以长，命曰圣王。

suǒ yǐ yuǎn sǐ ér jìn shēng, shēng dào yǐ cháng, mìng yuē shèng wáng.

It is by this that one keeps far from death and near to life, and the way of living is lengthened thereby. Such a one is called a sage king.

王冰：「能觀色脈之臧否，曉死生之徵兆，故能常遠於死而近於生也。」又：「上帝聞道，勤而行之，生道以長，惟聖王乃爾而常用也。」按：「聖王」是本篇對他者的稱謂，與第一篇「聖人」「賢人」各是一目，義不同。

Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →

帝曰：其久病者，有氣從不康，病去而瘠，柰何？歧伯曰：昭乎哉，聖人之問也！化不可代，時不可違。夫經絡以通，血氣以從，復其不足，與衆齊同，養之和之，靜以待時，謹守其氣，無使傾移，其形乃彰，生氣以長，命曰聖王。故大要曰：無代化，無違時，必養必和，待其來復，此之謂也。帝曰：善。帝曰：其久病者，有气从不康，病去而瘠，奈何？歧伯曰：昭乎哉，圣人之问也！化不可代，时不可违。夫经络以通，血气以从，复其不足，与众齐同，养之和之，静以待时，谨守其气，无使倾移，其形乃彰，生气以长，命曰圣王。故大要曰：无代化，无违时，必养必和，待其来复，此之谓也。帝曰：善。

Dì yuē: qí jiǔ bìng zhě, yǒu qì cóng bù kāng, bìng qù ér jí, nài hé? Qí bó yuē: zhāo hū zāi, shèng rén zhī wèn yě! Huà bù kě dài, shí bù kě wéi. Fú jīng luò yǐ tōng, xuè qì yǐ cóng, fù qí bù zú, yǔ zhòng qí tóng, yǎng zhī hé zhī, jìng yǐ dài shí, jǐn shǒu qí qì, wú shǐ qīng yí, qí xíng nǎi zhāng, shēng qì yǐ zhǎng, mìng yuē shèng wáng. Gù dà yào yuē: wú dài huà, wú wéi shí, bì yǎng bì hé, dài qí lái fù, cǐ zhī wèi yě. Dì yuē: shàn.

Huang Di said: of those long ill, some have the qi following yet are not at ease, and when the illness has gone they are thin — what then? Qi Bo said: how bright the sage’s question is! Transformation cannot be replaced, the season cannot be opposed. When the channels and networks are freed and blood and qi follow, restore what was lacking and make it equal to the rest; nourish it and harmonise it, wait quietly for the season, guard its qi with care and do not let it lean and shift; then the form is displayed and the qi of growth grows, and this is called the sage king. Therefore the Great Compendium says: do not replace transformation, do not oppose the season; nourish and harmonise and wait for its return. This is what it means. Huang Di said: good.

**「聖王」本篇1見，止在「命曰聖王」**；**「故大要曰：無代化，無違時，必養必和，待其來復」為全篇之結語**

Compounds built on this term

聖

shèng

sagely, one who hears through

說文：通也

王

wáng

king

說文：天下所歸往也

聖人

shèng rén

the sage

別為一目，見 id 178，為自修之等第

上帝

shàng dì

the emperors of high antiquity

王冰：「謂上古之帝。」非後世天帝

生道

shēng dào

the way of living

王冰：「生道以長，惟聖王乃爾而常用也。」

How it has been translated

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

Common English	the sage king	Universal where the compound is translated at all; many versions quietly render it simply as sage.
This site	the sage king	Kept 王 rather than collapsing it into sage. This chapter is the one that compares a physician working by inverted reason to a minister who loses the state; keeping king in view is what makes 亡神失國 land as the same argument rather than a new one.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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