Classica Sinica Medica

正氣 简体 正气

zhèng qì

Upright qi

Also rendered: Upright qi (this site; 'upright' keeps 正's sense of straight and proper) · Correct qi (literal, but sounds as though another qi were mistaken)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
zhèng qì
Simplified
正气
Literal
正氣 zhèng qì — upright qi, the qi that is properly a person's own. The Suwen usually names it against an invader, and that is how most readers meet it: the upright qi and the evil qi, and the outcome decided between them. Chapter 39 takes the word out of that pairing and does something quieter with it. It appears once, in the last line of the chapter, and it is not being attacked by anything: 思則心有所存，神有所歸，正氣留而不行，故氣結矣 — in thought the mind holds on to something, the spirit goes back to it, and the upright qi stays where it is instead of moving. The enemy here is not an evil from outside but the person's own attention. It is the only one of the nine qi whose explanation is entirely internal, and it is the one the chapter ends on.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：正，是也——**本義為直、為是**；**引申為一身本然、不偏不倚之氣**。「正」讀 zhèng，**本篇1見**；「正」「氣」，**本篇1見**，**在全篇最末一節，為九氣之殿**。**本站「氣」（「氣」讀 qì，#147）已立目**，**「正氣」則本篇始見**——**九氣之中，惟此一條不由於外**：**寒、炅自外至，怒、喜、悲、恐、驚、勞自內動，而「思」之一條則心有所存、神有所歸，正氣自留而不行**。**「留」非留滯於邪，乃止而不往**——**氣本當行，止而不行則結**，**此結非他物所結，乃其人自結之**。

In brief

A person’s own proper qi. Chapter 39 names it once, at the very end: in thought the mind holds and the spirit returns to it, and the upright qi stays put instead of moving — the only one of the nine qi with no cause from outside.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the graphs say 正氣
正，是也；正氣者，人身本然之氣
正氣留而不行 — Suwen 39
2
Named once 正氣
本篇惟一見，在九氣之末、全篇之末
正氣留而不行 — Suwen 39
3
What stops it 思
心有所存，神有所歸，而正氣留
思則心有所存 — Suwen 39
4
The knot 氣結
正氣留而不行，故氣結
故氣結矣 — Suwen 39
5
No invader 不由於外
九氣之中，惟此一條無外邪、無寒熱
正氣留而不行 — Suwen 39
6
Where it sits 心
心有所存則神有所歸，神歸則氣留
神有所歸 — Suwen 39

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
Suwen 39 Suwen 39 · 舉痛論 Read in context →
思則心有所存，神有所歸，正氣留而不行，故氣結矣。 思则心有所存，神有所归，正气留而不行，故气结矣。
Sī zé xīn yǒu suǒ cún, shén yǒu suǒ guī, zhèng qì liú ér bù xíng, gù qì jié yǐ.
Thought gives the heart something it holds to and the spirit somewhere to gather; the correct qi lodges there instead of moving on — hence qi is knotted.
**「思則心有所存，神有所歸，正氣留而不行，故氣結矣」是全篇之末句，亦九氣之末條**——**與上一條「驚則心無所倚，神無所歸，慮無所定，故氣亂矣」正反相對**：**驚則心無所倚而神無所歸，思則心有所存而神有所歸**——**一無所歸而亂，一有所歸而結**。**「正」（「正」讀 zhèng）本篇1見**，**「正氣」1見**；**「存」（「存」讀 cún）、「歸」（「歸」讀 guī）二字本篇各1見、2見**。**「思」之為病，不在外感而在自留**——**前人謂「思則氣結」，此句即其出處**。
素問·四時刺逆從論 Suwen 64 · 四時刺逆從論 Read in context →
故刺不知四時之經，病之所生，以從爲逆，正氣内亂，與精相薄。 故刺不知四时之经，病之所生，以从为逆，正气内乱，与精相薄。
Gù cì bù zhī sì shí zhī jīng, bìng zhī suǒ shēng, yǐ cóng wéi nì, zhèng qì nèi luàn, yǔ jīng xiāng bó.
Thus when needling is done without knowing the channels of the four seasons and where the illness arises from, taking compliance for counterflow, the correct qi is disordered within and presses against the essence.
「以從爲逆，正氣内亂，與精相薄」——**「正氣」本篇2見**；**刺不知四時之經、病之所生，則以從為逆，正氣內亂而與精相薄**；**下文「必審九𠉀，正氣不亂，精氣不轉」是其正法**；**「薄」讀 bó，通「搏」，相搏擊之義，與第三十九、四十五、四十九篇同讀**

Compounds built on this term

正氣留而不行
zhèng qì liú ér bù xíng
the upright qi stays and does not move
思則氣結之由
心有所存
xīn yǒu suǒ cún
the heart holds on to something
九氣之末，「存」讀 cún
神有所歸
shén yǒu suǒ guī
the spirit has somewhere it returns to
與「驚則神無所歸」正反相對
氣結
qì jié
the qi knotted
九氣之第九，亦全篇之末

How it has been translated

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

This siteupright qithe traditional rendering, kept because 正 is doing moral and physical work at once
Unschuldproper qirenders 正氣 as 'proper qi' in the nine qi passage
Wisemanupright qithe same; Wiseman notes the term's usual pairing with 邪氣, which this chapter does not use

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

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