Concept

Ascending, descending, floating and sinking

升降浮沉sheng jiang fu chen

2 sources

A property describing the directional tendency traditionally attributed to a medicinal's action — rising, descending, floating outward or sinking inward — conceptually aligned with the direction in which a pattern is thought to need correction.

Source

Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu)卷一·序例上·升降浮沉（李杲曰升降浮沉化）

Full definition

Classical source text (Chinese) — English summary above.

药有升降浮沉化，生长收藏成，以配四时。春升夏浮，秋收冬藏，土居中化。是以味薄者，升而生；气薄者，降而收；气厚者，浮而长；味厚者，沉而藏；气味平者，化而成。

Citations

Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷一·序例上·升降浮沉（李杲曰升降浮沉化）Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its definition.
WHO international standard terminologies on traditional Chinese medicine · World Health Organization · WHO IST-TCM 2022, WGM2 #2653 (§3.3)Cited from WHO international standard terminologies on traditional Chinese medicine for its standardized terminology.