三虚

sān xū

The three emptinesses · san xu

Also rendered: The three deficiencies (plain, and it loses the calendrical frame) · The three voids (literary, and it is not the chapter's word) · The three emptinesses (the site's convention, paired with 三實)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-26

At a glance

Pinyin: sān xū
Simplified: 三虚
Literal: 三 sān — three; 虚 xū — empty, wanting. Together: the three ways in which the year, the month and the hour can all be wanting at once, so that an ordinary evil becomes a killing one.
Shuowen: 《說文》：三，天地人之道也。虚，大丘也，引申爲空。此篇三虚與三實對舉，皆就年、月、時三者言之，非藏氣之虚。

In brief

The three emptinesses are the three deficiencies of time. 乘年之衰，逢月之空，失時之和，因爲賊風所傷，是謂三虚 — to ride a year of decline, meet a month whose moon is empty, and lose the harmony of the season, and then be hurt by a thieving wind: that is the three emptinesses. The chapter’s claim is that they decide death: 三虚者，其死暴疾也, and that a physician who does not know them 工反爲麤 — turns crude. The set has two uses. In chapter 77 it explains why the same wind kills one man and not another: 三虚相摶，則爲暴病卒死. In chapter 79 it explains why the same wind kills in one year and not the next. Against it stands 三實, the same three in their favour, which the chapter seals in the golden casket.

Senses in the classical corpus

名目乘年之衰，逢月之空，失時之和

趁年氣衰、遇月空、失時之和

Riding a declining year, meeting an empty moon, losing the season's harmony.

乘年之衰 — 靈樞·歲露論

斷語是謂三虚

這就叫三虚

That is what is called the three emptinesses.

是謂三虚 — 靈樞·歲露論

其死三虚者，其死暴疾也

三虚的人，死得突然

With the three emptinesses, death comes sudden and violent.

三虚者，其死暴疾也 — 靈樞·歲露論

相摶三虚相摶，則爲暴病卒死

三虚相合，就暴病猝死

In chapter 77 the three joining together produce sudden death.

三虚相摶 — 靈樞·九宫八風

Occurrences in the classics

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

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2 passages

靈樞·歲露論 Read in context →

少師答曰：三虚者，其死暴疾也。得三實者，邪不能傷人也。黃帝曰：願聞三虚。少師曰：乘年之衰，逢月之空，失時之和，因爲賊風所傷，是謂三虚。故論不知三虚，工反爲麤。帝曰：願聞三實。少師曰：逢年之盛，遇月之滿，得時之和，雖有賊風邪氣，不能危之也。黃帝曰：善乎哉論！明乎哉道！請藏之金匱，命曰三實。然此一夫之論也。少师答曰：三虚者，其死暴疾也。得三实者，邪不能伤人也。黄帝曰：愿闻三虚。少师曰：乘年之衰，逢月之空，失时之和，因为贼风所伤，是谓三虚。故论不知三虚，工反为麤。帝曰：愿闻三实。少师曰：逢年之盛，遇月之满，得时之和，虽有贼风邪气，不能危之也。黄帝曰：善乎哉论！明乎哉道！请藏之金匮，命曰三实。然此一夫之论也。

shào shī dá yuē: sān xū zhě, qí sǐ bào jí yě. dé sān shí zhě, xié bù néng shāng rén yě. Huáng Dì yuē: yuàn wén sān xū. shào shī yuē: chéng nián zhī shuāi, féng yuè zhī kōng, shī shí zhī hé, yīn wéi zéi fēng suǒ shāng, shì wèi sān xū. gù lùn bù zhī sān xū, gōng fǎn wéi cū. dì yuē: yuàn wén sān shí. shào shī yuē: féng nián zhī shèng, yù yuè zhī mǎn, dé shí zhī hé, suī yǒu zéi fēng xié qì, bù néng wēi zhī yě. Huáng Dì yuē: shàn hū zāi lùn! míng hū zāi dào! qǐng cáng zhī jīn kuì, mìng yuē sān shí. rán cǐ yī fū zhī lùn yě.

Shao Shi answered: With three empties death is sudden and swift; with three solids evil cannot injure a man. The Emperor said: I wish to hear of the three empties. Shao Shi said: To ride the year’s decline, meet the moon’s emptiness and lose the season’s harmony, and so be injured by thieving wind — this is called the three empties. Hence one who discusses illness without knowing the three empties is a coarse worker instead. The Emperor said: I wish to hear the three solids. Shao Shi said: To meet the year’s abundance, encounter the moon’s fullness and attain the season’s harmony, then though there be thieving wind and evil qi, they cannot endanger him. The Emperor said: How fine the discourse! How clear the way! Pray keep it in the golden coffer and name it the three solids. Yet this is the teaching of one man.

「三虚」本篇4見，少師以乘年之衰、逢月之空、失時之和爲三虚，又以逢年之盛、遇月之滿、得時之和爲三實，二者對舉，故引二段。

靈樞·九宫八風 Read in context →

此八風皆從其虚之鄉來，乃能病人。三虚相摶，則爲暴病卒死；兩實一虚，病則爲淋露寒𤍠，犯其雨濕之地，則爲痿。故聖人避風，如避矢石焉。其有三虚而偏中於邪風，則爲擊仆偏枯矣。此八风皆从其虚之乡来，乃能病人。三虚相抟，则为暴病卒死；两实一虚，病则为淋露寒𤍠，犯其雨湿之地，则为痿。故圣人避风，如避矢石焉。其有三虚而偏中于邪风，则为击仆偏枯矣。

cǐ bā fēng jiē cóng qí xū zhī xiāng lái, nǎi néng bìng rén. sān xū xiāng tuán, zé wéi bào bìng cù sǐ; liǎng shí yī xū, bìng zé wéi lín lù hán rè, fàn qí yǔ shī zhī dì, zé wéi wěi. gù shèng rén bì fēng, rú bì shǐ shí yān. qí yǒu sān xū ér piān zhòng yú xié fēng, zé wéi jī pū piān kū yǐ.

These eight winds can sicken a man only when they come from the quarter of his emptiness. When three empties strike each other there is sudden illness and sudden death; with two solids and one empty the illness is dripping dew, cold and heat; to trespass in rain and damp makes weakness. Hence the sage avoids wind as he would arrows and stones. If with three empties one is struck on one side by evil wind, there is falling down and withered half-body.

「三虚」九宫八風第9段見，三虚相摶則暴病卒死，與歲露論三虚名同義同，故並引。

Compounds built on this term

三實

sān shí

the three fullnesses

逢年之盛，遇月之滿，得時之和

年之衰

nián zhī shuāi

a year of decline

三虚之首

月之空

yuè zhī kōng

the empty moon

月郭空則血氣虚

How it has been translated

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

This site	the three emptinesses	the set as a name
Literal	three empties	exact, and clipped
Clinical	the three unfavourable times	clear, and it explains the use

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2026-10-26

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