Classica Sinica Medica

天壽 简体 天寿

tiān shòu

The span of heaven · tian shou

Also rendered: The span of heaven (this site; it keeps 壽 as a span rather than as an age, because the chapter is measuring) · Tian shou (transliteration; used where the word is being read with 天年 and the other allotted measures)

Life stages

Reviewed · 2026-10-08

At a glance

Pinyin
tiān shòu
Simplified
天寿
Literal
天 tiān — heaven (《說文》: 天，顛也，至高無上); 壽 shòu — long life, a full span (《說文》: 壽，久也). 天壽 is the span heaven allots — the years a life is given, as distinct from the years it manages. The chapter uses it once, to explain the old man who still has children: his span has passed beyond the measure, his qi and vessels stay open, and his kidney qi has something left over. It is the one place in the chapter where the bound is said to be exceeded — and the very next sentence takes it back.
Shuowen
**「天」讀 tiān，本篇16見**；**「壽」讀 shòu，本篇5見**；**「天壽」本篇1見**；**《說文》：天，顛也；壽，久也**；**「過度」本篇1見，謂過於常度**

In brief

The span of years heaven allots. Suwen 1 uses it for the case that tests its own count: a man already old who yet has children. His span, Qi Bo says, has passed beyond the measure, his qi and vessels stay open and his kidney qi has something left over — but even so, the sentence that follows says, a man does not go past sixty-four and a woman not past forty-nine, because by then the essence qi of heaven and earth is spent. The exception is real and it is bounded.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 天壽
天者顛也，壽者久也；天壽謂天所賦之壽
此其天壽過度 — Suwen 1
2
The allotted span 天壽過度
天所賦之壽過於常度
此其天壽過度，氣脉常通 — Suwen 1
3
The old man with children 有其年已老而有子者
年老而有子，由其天壽過度
有其年已老而有子者，何也 — Suwen 1
4
What comes with it 氣脉常通，而腎氣有餘也
天壽過度者，氣脉常通而腎氣有餘
氣脉常通，而腎氣有餘也 — Suwen 1
5
And yet bounded 男不過盡八八，女不過盡七七
雖過度，而終不過八八七七之數
男不過盡八八，女不過盡七七 — Suwen 1
6
Beyond it, the way 夫道者，能卻老而全形
惟得道者能卻老全形，雖壽而有子
夫道者，能卻老而全形 — 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：有其年已老而有子者，何也？歧伯曰：此其天壽過度，氣脉常通，而腎氣有餘也。此雖有子，男不過盡八八，女不過盡七七，而天地之精氣皆竭矣。帝曰：夫道者，年皆百數，能有子乎？歧伯曰：夫道者，能卻老而全形，身年雖壽，能生子也。 帝曰：有其年已老而有子者，何也？歧伯曰：此其天寿过度，气脉常通，而肾气有余也。此虽有子，男不过尽八八，女不过尽七七，而天地之精气皆竭矣。帝曰：夫道者，年皆百数，能有子乎？歧伯曰：夫道者，能却老而全形，身年虽寿，能生子也。
Dì yuē: yǒu qí nián yǐ lǎo ér yǒu zǐ zhě, hé yě? Qí Bó yuē: cǐ qí tiān shòu guò dù, qì mài cháng tōng, ér shèn qì yǒu yú yě. cǐ suī yǒu zǐ, nán bù guò jìn bā bā, nǚ bù guò jìn qī qī, ér tiān dì zhī jīng qì jiē jié yǐ. Dì yuē: fú dào zhě, nián jiē bǎi shù, néng yǒu zǐ hū? Qí Bó yuē: fú dào zhě, néng què lǎo ér quán xíng, shēn nián suī shòu, néng shēng zǐ yě.
Huang Di said: there are those already old in years who yet have children — how is that? Qi Bo said: the span allotted them by heaven has passed beyond the measure, the qi and the vessels stay open, and the kidney qi has something left over. Even so, for a man it does not go past sixty-four and for a woman not past forty-nine, for by then the essence qi of heaven and earth is spent. Huang Di said: as for one who has the way — he may be a hundred in years, can he still have children? Qi Bo said: one who has the way can push back age and keep the body whole; though his years be long, he can still beget children.
**「天壽」本篇1見**；**「男不過盡八八，女不過盡七七」是本篇定限之語，與上文「過度」相折**；**「夫道者」之夫讀 fú，發語詞，與「丈夫」之 fū 本篇二讀**；**「卻老」讀 què lǎo**

Compounds built on this term

天數
tiān shù
the number of heaven
本篇1見
天年
tiān nián
the allotted years
本篇1見
腎氣
shèn qì
kidney qi
本篇7見；有餘則有子
卻老
què lǎo
pushing back age
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 siteThe span of heavenliteral, and it keeps the passivity of the phrase: what is given, not what is achieved
Transliterationtian shouright about the referent, and it hides that 壽 is the ordinary word for a long life
Descriptivethe allotted lifespanwhat it functions as; it loses the graph 天, and the chapter's whole vocabulary is 天 plus a measure

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-08

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