Classica Sinica Medica

恬愉

tián yú

Tranquil and pleased · tian yu

Also rendered: Tranquil and pleased (this site; it keeps both halves, because the chapter wants quiet and gladness at once) · Tian yu (transliteration; used where the word is being read with 恬惔)

Cultivation

Reviewed · 2026-10-08

At a glance

Pinyin
tián yú
Simplified
恬愉
Literal
恬 tián — quiet, at peace (《說文》: 恬，安也); 愉 yú — pleased, easy in oneself (《說文》: 愉，樂也). 恬愉 is being quiet and being pleased — not the absence of feeling but a settled gladness. The chapter gives it to the sage as his task: he makes tranquillity and ease the thing he is about, and counts self-possession his achievement, and so his body is not worn out and his spirit is not scattered.
Shuowen
**「恬」讀 tián，本篇2見**；**「愉」讀 yú，本篇1見**；**「恬愉」本篇1見**；**《說文》：恬，安也；愉，樂也**；**「恬惔」本篇1見，與恬愉並見而各有所指**

In brief

Quiet and pleased: what the sage of Suwen 1 makes his task. It comes at the end of the ladder, after the true person and the ultimate person who have left the world behind; the sage stays in it, measures his appetites among its customs, has no heart of resentment or anger, does not weary the body with affairs or burden the mind with anxious thought, and so is not worn out and not scattered. The chapter’s other tranquillity word, 恬惔, belongs to the teaching the sages gave; this one belongs to the sage’s own practice.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 恬愉
恬者安也，愉者樂也
以恬愉爲務 — Suwen 1
2
The sage's task 以恬愉爲務
恬愉是其所務
以恬愉爲務，以自得爲功 — Suwen 1
3
Paired with self-possession 以自得爲功
務在恬愉，功在自得
以恬愉爲務，以自得爲功 — Suwen 1
4
What it keeps 形體不敝，精神不散
恬愉故形不敝而神不散
形體不敝，精神不散 — Suwen 1
5
Against resentment 无恚嗔之心
無恚嗔，故能恬愉
无恚嗔之心 — Suwen 1
6
Against anxious thought 内无思想之患
内無患，故能愉
内无思想之患 — 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 →
其次有聖人者，處天地之和，從八風之理，適嗜欲於世俗之間，无恚嗔之心，行不欲離於世，被服章舉不欲觀於俗，外不勞形於事，内无思想之患，以恬愉爲務，以自得爲功，形體不敝，精神不散，亦可以百數。 其次有圣人者，处天地之和，从八风之理，适嗜欲于世俗之间，无恚嗔之心，行不欲离于世，被服章举不欲观于俗，外不劳形于事，内无思想之患，以恬愉为务，以自得为功，形体不敝，精神不散，亦可以百数。
Qí cì yǒu shèng rén zhě, chǔ tiān dì zhī hé, cóng bā fēng zhī lǐ, shì shì yù yú shì sú zhī jiān, wú huì chēn zhī xīn, xíng bù yù lí yú shì, bèi fú zhāng jǔ bù yù guān yú sú, wài bù láo xíng yú shì, nèi wú sī xiǎng zhī huàn, yǐ tián yú wéi wù, yǐ zì dé wéi gōng, xíng tǐ bù bì, jīng shén bù sàn, yì kě yǐ bǎi shù.
Next there were the shengren · sages. They dwelt in the harmony of heaven and earth and followed the order of the eight winds; they measured their appetites among the customs of the age, and had no heart of resentment or anger. In their conduct they did not seek to stand apart from the world, and in their dress and bearing they did not seek to be stared at by the common. Outwardly they did not weary the body with affairs, and inwardly they had no affliction of anxious thought. They made tranquillity and ease their task and counted self-possession their achievement; the body was not worn out and the spirit was not scattered. These too could reach their hundred years.
**「恬愉」本篇1見**；**「以恬愉爲務，以自得爲功」與上文「恬惔虚无」各有所指：一為聖人之自修，一為聖人之教下**；**「无恚嗔之心」作无，與篇中「無」字本篇二形並見**；**「處天地之和」之處讀 chǔ**

Compounds built on this term

恬惔
tián dàn
tranquil and detached
本篇1見
自得
zì dé
self-possession
本篇1見
恚嗔
huì chēn
resentment and anger
本篇1見
聖人
shèng rén
the sage
本篇2見

How it has been translated

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

This siteTranquil and pleasedliteral to both graphs; the chapter is describing a settled gladness, not an absence
Transliterationtian yuright about the referent, and it loses both the quiet and the gladness
Descriptivecalm contentmentwhat it amounts to; it flattens the pair into one mood

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-08

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