諺語 · a single proverb
飲食有節，起居有常
Simplified: 饮食有节，起居有常
What does 飲食有節，起居有常 (yǐn shí yǒu jié, qǐ jū yǒu cháng) mean?
飲食有節，起居有常 (yǐn shí yǒu jié, qǐ jū yǒu cháng) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "eat and drink with measure, rise and rest with regularity." In use it means: Health is built on moderation and rhythm: temperate at the table, steady in the hours you keep. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Earth note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Pig.
Literally: "eat and drink with measure, rise and rest with regularity."
The reading
The body keeps no secrets; it silently tallies every late night and every meal you didn't need. Feed it within its measure and let it wake and sleep by a rhythm it can trust, and it will spend those saved years back on you.
The story
From the Huangdi Neijing, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, in the opening discourse on the people of high antiquity who lived out their full span. Their secret, the text says, was no secret at all: they ate and drank with measure and rose and rested with regularity, and so kept body and spirit whole into old age.
Give the body a rhythm it can trust, eating within its measure and keeping steady hours of waking and sleep. It keeps no secrets and quietly tallies every excess, so feed it well and it will spend the saved years back on you.
What kind of proverb it is
Source 《黃帝內經·素問·上古天真論》 (Huangdi Neijing / Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon)
Sits beside
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Nature, Seasons & Health, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Pig, Year of the Horse, and Year of the Rabbit.
Questions
Is 飲食有節，起居有常 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 飲食有節，起居有常 (yǐn shí yǒu jié, qǐ jū yǒu cháng) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞), and it comes from 《黃帝內經·素問·上古天真論》 (Huangdi Neijing / Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon). It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 飲食有節，起居有常?
In Mandarin it is yǐn shí yǒu jié, qǐ jū yǒu cháng. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 飲食有節，起居有常 aloud in Mandarin.