Classica Sinica Medica

年忌

nián jì

The yearly taboo · nian ji

Also rendered: The yearly taboo (literal, and it keeps the ritual word) · The age taboo (clear, and it says what is counted) · The years of taboo (plainer, and it loses the singular)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
nián jì
Simplified
年忌
Literal
年 nián — a year, and the year of a man's age; 忌 jì — what is to be avoided, a taboo. Together: the ages at which a life is most exposed.
Shuowen
《說文》：忌，憎惡也。从心己聲。年忌者，年之所當戒，非鬼神之忌。

In brief

The age taboo of the twenty-five types: from seven, every ninth year — sixteen, twenty-five, thirty-four, forty-three, fifty-two, sixty-one — is a great taboo for those whose form and colour overcome one another, and they should take care of themselves. The interval is nine because the reckoning is by the phases, and the reason is stated in the previous paragraph: at the year when the overcoming phase is added, feeling the outside world brings illness on. It is not divination; it is the five phases turned into a scale of age.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The sequence 凡年忌
凡是年忌
The yearly taboo: the rule opens with it.
凡年忌 — 靈樞·陰陽二十五人
2
The years 大忌常加七歲、十六歲
大忌常加七歲、十六歲
From seven, adding nine: seven, sixteen, twenty-five …
大忌常加七歲、十六歲 — 靈樞·陰陽二十五人
3
Why it comes 至其勝時年加
到了所勝之時，年歲加之
At the time of overcoming, when the years add to it.
至其勝時年加 — 靈樞·陰陽二十五人
4
The counsel 不可不自安也
不可不自安
A man cannot but keep himself at ease — the advice the rule ends on.
不可不自安也 — 靈樞·陰陽二十五人

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·陰陽二十五人 Read in context →
歧伯曰：凡年忌，下上之人，大忌常加七歲、十六歲、二十五歲、三十四歲、四十三歲、五十二歲、六十一歲，皆人之大忌，不可不自安也。感則病行，失則憂矣。當此之時，無爲姦事，是謂年忌。 歧伯曰：凡年忌，下上之人，大忌常加七岁、十六岁、二十五岁、三十四岁、四十三岁、五十二岁、六十一岁，皆人之大忌，不可不自安也。感则病行，失则忧矣。当此之时，无为奸事，是谓年忌。
Qí Bó yuē: fán nián jì, xià shàng zhī rén, dà jì cháng jiā qī suì, shí liù suì, èr shí wǔ suì, sān shí sì suì, sì shí sān suì, wǔ shí èr suì, liù shí yī suì, jiē rén zhī dà jì, bù kě bù zì ān yě. gǎn zé bìng xíng, shī zé yōu yǐ. dāng cǐ zhī shí, wú wéi jiān shì, shì wèi nián jì.
Qi Bo said: As for the year taboos, for people above and below the great taboo always adds at seven years, sixteen, twenty-five, thirty-four, forty-three, fifty-two, and sixty-one. These are the great taboos of man, and one must not fail to keep oneself at ease. Touched, disease proceeds; failing, sorrow follows. At such times do no wicked deed: this is called the year taboo.
「年忌」本篇2見，自七歲起每九歲一加，至六十一而止。其故在「至其勝時年加」，形色相勝者逢之則病，非星命之說。

Compounds built on this term

形勝色
xíng shèng sè
form overcoming colour
形之五行勝色之五行
大忌
dà jì
the great taboo
尤當戒之年

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe yearly taboothe text's word
Literalyear avoidancesexact, and it sounds calendrical
Clinicalthe nine-year risk agesclear, and it is an interpretation

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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