令行之常

lìng xíng zhī cháng

What is regular in the carrying out of commands · ling xing zhi chang

Also rendered: What is regular in the carrying out of commands (this site; 令 as the qi's order and 行 as its execution) · The regularity of commands carried out (shorter; it makes the commands sound human)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

At a glance

Pinyin: lìng xíng zhī cháng
Simplified: 令行之常
Literal: What is regular in the carrying out of commands. 令 lìng — a command, an order (《說文》: 令，發號也); 行 xíng — to go, to be carried out. 令 is the last of the chapter's four words for a qi's behaviour — 德、化、政、令 — and this paragraph is its execution: what the qi's order looks like once it has taken effect.
Shuowen: **《說文》：令，發號也**。**「令行之常」本篇1見，止在此段之末**；**其句曰「太陽所至，爲剛固，爲堅芒，爲立，令行之常也」**；**「令」本篇20見，多作「其令暴」「其令速」，作「令行」者止此**；**「報令以令」與此目同用一令字**

In brief

The eighth of the eight categories. Its paragraph gives each qi a shape it imposes on things: 厥陰所至，爲撓動，爲迎隨；少陰所至，爲高明、焰、爲曛；太陰所至，爲沈陰，爲白埃，爲晦暝；少陽所至，爲光顯，爲彤雲，爲曛；陽明所至，爲煙埃，爲霜，爲勁切，爲悽鳴；太陽所至，爲剛固，爲堅芒，爲立，令行之常也. Where 布政 said what had been made, 令行 says what has been enforced: bent or straightened, made hard or made to stand. It is the last of the regularities, and the three paragraphs that follow it turn to what all this does to a man.

Senses in the classical corpus

The phrase 令行之常

令出而行之，各有其常

令行之常也 — Suwen 71

Its six shapes 撓動、高明、沈陰、光顯、煙埃、剛固

六氣各繫其令之形

爲剛固，爲堅芒 — Suwen 71

令 elsewhere 其令暴、其令速

六司天之政每段言之

其令暴 — Suwen 71

政與令布政之常、令行之常

政者布之，令者行之

報令以令 — Suwen 71

Its place 十三段之第八段

八常之末

令行之常也 — Suwen 71

What follows 病之常四段

由令行而言其病

病之常也 — Suwen 71

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

Suwen 71 Suwen 71 · 六元正紀大論 Read in context →

厥陰所至，爲撓動，爲迎隨；少陰所至，爲高明、焰、爲曛；太陰所至，爲沈陰，爲白埃，爲晦暝；少陽所至，爲光顯，爲彤雲，爲曛；陽明所至，爲煙埃，爲霜，爲勁切，爲悽鳴；太陽所至，爲剛固，爲堅芒，爲立，令行之常也。厥阴所至，为挠动，为迎随；少阴所至，为高明、焰、为曛；太阴所至，为沉阴，为白埃，为晦暝；少阳所至，为光显，为彤云，为曛；阳明所至，为烟埃，为霜，为劲切，为凄鸣；太阳所至，为刚固，为坚芒，为立，令行之常也。

Jué yīn suǒ zhì, wéi náo dòng, wéi yíng suí; shào yīn suǒ zhì, wéi gāo míng, yàn, wéi xūn; tài yīn suǒ zhì, wéi chén yīn, wéi bái āi, wéi huì míng; shào yáng suǒ zhì, wéi guāng xiǎn, wéi tóng yún, wéi xūn; yáng míng suǒ zhì, wéi yān āi, wéi shuāng, wéi jìng qiè, wéi qī míng; tài yáng suǒ zhì, wéi gāng gù, wéi jiān máng, wéi lì, lìng xíng zhī cháng yě.

Where ceasing yin arrives there is bending and moving, and meeting and following; where lesser yin, bright height, flame and dimness; where greater yin, heavy yin, white dust and darkening; where lesser yang, shining light, red clouds and dimness; where yang brightness, smokey dust, frost, hard pressing and mournful sound; where greater yang, firmness and solidity, hard points and standing — the constant of the moving of commands.

**「令行之常」本篇1見，即此段之末**；**此段以撓動迎隨、高明焰曛、沈陰白埃晦暝、光顯彤雲、煙埃霜勁切悽鳴、剛固堅芒立分繫六氣**；**八常至此而畢，下文四段乃以病之常收之**

Compounds built on this term

氣變之常

qì biàn zhī cháng

what is regular in the qi's changes

本篇一見；十三段之第七

病之常

bìng zhī cháng

what is regular in disease

本篇4見；十三段之第九至第十二

其令

qí lìng

its command

六司天之政皆有，本篇7見

報令以令

bào lìng yǐ lìng

to answer command with command

本篇一見；十二變之總則

How it has been translated

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

This site	what is regular in the carrying out of commands	the last of the eight regularities, and the last of the four words for how a qi behaves
Literal	command execution's regularity	exact and clerical
Gloss	the shape each qi's order imposes on the things it reaches	right, and long

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-14

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