二十七氣简体二十七气

èr shí qī qì

The twenty-seven qi · er shi qi qi

Also rendered: The twenty-seven qi (literal, and it keeps the chapter's own word) · The twenty-seven conduits (clear, and it turns a count of traffic into a count of pipes)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-10-24

At a glance

Pinyin: èr shí qī qì
Simplified: 二十七气
Literal: 二十七 — twenty-seven; 氣 qì — here not a substance but the counted conduits taken by their traffic. Twelve channels and fifteen connecting vessels, twenty-seven in all.
Shuowen: **《說文》：氣，雲氣也**，从气从米，經傳借為氣息之氣。**「二十七氣」本篇2見**，即「凡二十七氣」與「二十七氣所行，皆在五腧也」；**十二加十五為二十七**，此數本篇自定，非後人推衍。

In brief

經脉十二，絡脉十五，凡二十七氣 — twelve channels and fifteen connecting vessels make twenty-seven, and the chapter calls the sum a number of qi rather than of vessels, because it is counting traffic and not pipes. The next sentence is the one that matters: 二十七氣所行，皆在五腧也 — all twenty-seven run through the five transport points. Everything the body has, therefore, can be reached from the forearm, the hand, the leg and the foot.

Senses in the classical corpus

The count 凡二十七氣

十二經加十五絡

Twelve and fifteen make twenty-seven.

經脉十二，絡脉十五，凡二十七氣 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

The twelve 經脉十二

手足三陰三陽

The twelve channels, three yin and three yang in hand and foot.

經脉十二 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

The fifteen 絡脉十五

十二經各一絡，加任督及脾之大絡

Fifteen connecting vessels: one to each channel, plus the two vessels and the spleen's great luo.

絡脉十五 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

Going up and down 以上下

氣行有上下，非一往不返

The qi goes up and down; it does not run one way only.

以上下所出爲井 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

Where they all pass 皆在五腧也

二十七氣所行，盡於五腧

All of them pass through the five transport points.

二十七氣所行，皆在五腧也 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

Why counted as qi 氣

數其氣不數其脉

The sum is called a number of qi because what is counted is traffic, not tubing.

凡二十七氣 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

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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1 passages

靈樞·九鍼十二原 Read in context →

黃帝曰：願聞五藏六府所出之處。歧伯曰：五藏五腧，五五二十五腧；六府六腧，六六三十六腧。經脉十二，絡脉十五，凡二十七氣，以上下所出爲井，所溜爲滎，所注爲腧，所行爲經，所以爲合。二十七氣所行，皆在五腧也。黄帝曰：愿闻五藏六府所出之处。歧伯曰：五藏五腧，五五二十五腧；六府六腧，六六三十六腧。经脉十二，络脉十五，凡二十七气，以上下所出为井，所溜为荥，所注为腧，所行为经，所以为合。二十七气所行，皆在五腧也。

Huáng Dì yuē: yuàn wén wǔ zàng liù fǔ suǒ chū zhī chù. Qí Bó yuē: wǔ zàng wǔ shù, wǔ wǔ èr shí wǔ shù; liù fǔ liù shù, liù liù sān shí liù shù. jīng mài shí èr, luò mài shí wǔ, fán èr shí qī qì, yǐ shàng xià suǒ chū wéi jǐng, suǒ liū wéi yíng, suǒ zhù wéi shù, suǒ xíng wéi jīng, suǒ yǐ wéi hé. èr shí qī qì suǒ xíng, jiē zài wǔ shù yě.

The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear the places from which the five viscera and six bowels issue. Qi Bo said: the five viscera have five transports each, five times five, twenty-five transports; the six bowels have six each, six times six, thirty-six transports. There are twelve channels and fifteen network vessels, in all twenty-seven qi. Where they issue above and below is the well; where they flow is the spring; where they pour is the transport; where they move is the conduit; where they converge is the uniting point. The movement of the twenty-seven qi all lies in the five transports.

**「二十七氣」本篇2見**，一為總數，一為所行；**十二、十五、二十七三數蟬聯而下**，而結以「皆在五腧」，故五腧為全身之會。**十五絡之目，本篇未舉**，後世以十二經各一絡，加任脉之尾翳、督脉之長強、脾之大絡大包，合十五。

Compounds built on this term

二十七氣

èr shí qī qì

the twenty-seven qi

本篇本文

經脉十二

jīng mài shí èr

the twelve channels

其十二

絡脉十五

luò mài shí wǔ

the fifteen connecting vessels

其十五

五腧

wǔ shù

the five transport points

二十七氣所行

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 twenty-seven qi	twelve channels and fifteen connecting vessels, counted as traffic
Literal	twenty-seven breaths	exact for 氣, wrong for the arithmetic
Clinical	the twenty-seven vessels	smooth, and it loses the point that the sum is of qi

Entry status

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2026-10-24

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