Visualization analysis of research in the field of five circuits and six qi from 2018 to 2023 based on CiteSpace

Objective: To systematically analyze research progress, hotspots, and frontier trends in China’s five circuits and six qi field over the past 6 years, providing bibliometric evidence for refining theoretical frameworks, facilitating clinical translation, and exploring interdisciplinary collaboration pathways. Methods: Literature related to the five circuits and six qi published on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) platform was retrieved from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2023, and underwent visual analysis utilizing CiteSpace 6.4.R1 software. Results: A total of 1012 publications were retrieved, with 966 included after screening (743 journal articles). The most productive author was Shu Lu, and the core journal was China Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy . Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine emerged as leading institutions. Keyword analysis identified the top 5 high-frequency terms with high betweenness centrality as Huangdi Neijing, date of birth, epidemic diseases, six qi, and disease incidence pattern. The term “plague” demonstrated the strongest citation burst (strength: 3.16, emerging in 2020), while “beihua decoction” and “climatic conditions and disease trends of the year” maintained burst persistence through 2023. Conclusions: The current research mainly focuses on the correlation between five circuits and six qi with various diseases, as well as five circuits and six qi with epidemic diseases. As the epidemic ends, the diseases studied gradually change from epidemic diseases to common clinical diseases. Therefore, it is predicted that future research hotspots concentrate on the correlation between five circuits and six qi with assorted common clinical diseases, and meanwhile, it is recommended to pay attention to the interpretation of the theoretical connotation of five circuits and six qi. Future work should integrate multisource literature to explore field trajectories through combined qualitative research, clinical trials, and interdisciplinary collaboration.