Classica Sinica Medica

肉苛

ròu kē

Numb heavy flesh · rou ke

Also rendered: flesh numbness (Accurate but drops the heaviness that 苛 carries here) · heavy flesh (Captures the weight and loses the numbness)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
ròu kē
Simplified
肉苛
Literal
肉 ròu, the flesh; 苛 kē — a graph the commentators have argued over, read here as numb, heavy, unresponsive. The chapter's question is precise: the person is wrapped in clothing and wadding and is still numb. The answer separates two failures that usually travel together — not feeling, and not being able to move — and then notes the detail that makes the diagnosis: the flesh itself looks exactly as it always did.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：苛，小艸也，从艸，可聲——引申為煩苛、為苛細；醫書中用為頑麻沉重之貌。「苛」讀 kē，本篇 2 見（肉苛、尚苛）——**舊注於此字多歧**：一說讀 kē，苛重頑麻之貌；一說當作「痾」，病也；一說讀 hē，苛癢之苛。**本篇二見皆作「苛」，各從底本，讀從 kē**，而以「頑麻沉重」為長——下文「雖近衣絮，猶尚苛也」正狀其不減。「肉」讀 ròu，本篇 3 見（肉苛、肉爍、肉如故）；「人」讀 rén；「之」讀 zhī；「雖」讀 suī，本篇惟此一見，不作「虽」（「虽」）；「近」讀 jìn，本篇惟此一見；「衣」讀 yī，本篇 3 見；「絮」讀 xù，本篇惟此一見；「猶」讀 yóu，本篇惟此一見，不作「犹」（「犹」）；「尚」讀 shàng，本篇惟此一見；**「猶尚」二字同義連用**，加重言之；「是」讀 shì；「謂」讀 wèi，本篇 2 見；「何」讀 hé，本篇 6 見；「疾」讀 jí，本篇惟此一見。**「是謂何疾」之「疾」與上文「是爲何病」之「病」微別**：病言其證之已成，疾言其患之在身；故下文答以「不仁」「不用」而不徑言其名——**本篇四問，惟骨痺得名，肉苛不得名**。

In brief

Flesh that has stopped answering: it does not feel, and later it cannot be used, while looking entirely unchanged. The chapter attributes the numbness to construction qi and the loss of use to defence qi, and adds the line that makes the whole passage a diagnosis rather than a description — when body and will no longer have one another, it is called death.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The name of the complaint 人之肉苛者
苛者頑麻沉重
人之肉苛者 — Suwen 34
2
Wrapping does not help 雖近衣絮，猶尚苛也
外加之溫不能解，則病在榮衛
雖近衣絮，猶尚苛也 — Suwen 34
3
Not feeling 榮氣虚則不仁
不仁者，肌膚不知痛癢寒熱
榮氣虚則不仁 — Suwen 34
4
Not being able to use 衛氣虚，則不用
不用者，肢體不能舉動
衛氣虚，則不用 — Suwen 34
5
Both at once 榮衛俱虚，則不仁且不用
不知與不能並見
則不仁且不用 — Suwen 34
6
The flesh unchanged 肉如故也
形不病而用病，是苛之為苛
肉如故也 — Suwen 34

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·逆調論 Suwen 34 · 逆調論 Read in context →
帝曰：人之肉苛者，雖近衣絮，猶尚苛也，是謂何疾？ 帝曰：人之肉苛者，虽近衣絮，犹尚苛也，是谓何疾？
Dì yuē: rén zhī ròu kē zhě, suī jìn yī xù, yóu shàng kē yě, shì wèi hé jí?
The Emperor asks: a person whose flesh is numb and heavy — though wrapped in clothing and wadding, it remains numb and heavy. What illness is this called?
第四問之發端。「人」讀 rén；「之」讀 zhī；「肉」讀 ròu；「苛」讀 kē；「者」讀 zhě；「雖」讀 suī；「近」讀 jìn；「衣」讀 yī；「絮」讀 xù；「猶」讀 yóu；「尚」讀 shàng；「也」讀 yě；「是」讀 shì；「謂」讀 wèi；「何」讀 hé；「疾」讀 jí。**「雖近衣絮，猶尚苛也」八字最見「苛」之為苛**：常人得衣絮則溫而安，此人得之而苛自若——**是病不在寒，而在不知寒**。與上問「湯火不能熱，厚衣不能温」之以「不能」言者相對：**彼是不得其溫，此是不得其知**；一在氣之溫，一在榮衛之知覺運行。
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
太陽司天，寒氣下臨，心氣上從，而火且明，丹起金乃眚，寒清時舉，勝則水冰，火氣高明。心熱煩，嗌乾善渴，鼽嚏，喜悲數欠。熱氣妄行，寒乃復，霜不時降，善忘，甚則心痛。土乃潤，水豐衍，寒客至，沈陰化，濕氣變物，水飲内蓄，中滿不食，皮𤸷肉苛，筋脉不利，甚則胕腫，身後癰。 太阳司天，寒气下临，心气上从，而火且明，丹起金乃眚，寒清时举，胜则水冰，火气高明。心热烦，嗌干善渴，鼽嚏，喜悲数欠。热气妄行，寒乃复，霜不时降，善忘，甚则心痛。土乃润，水丰衍，寒客至，沉阴化，湿气变物，水饮内蓄，中满不食，皮𤸷肉苛，筋脉不利，甚则胕肿，身后痈。
Tài yáng sī tiān, hán qì xià lín, xīn qì shàng cóng, ér huǒ qiě míng, dān qǐ jīn nǎi shěng, hán qīng shí jǔ, shèng zé shuǐ bīng, huǒ qì gāo míng. Xīn rè fán, yì gān shàn kě, qiú tì, xǐ bēi shuò qiàn. Rè qì wàng xíng, hán nǎi fù, shuāng bù shí jiàng, shàn wàng, shèn zé xīn tòng. Tǔ nǎi rùn, shuǐ fēng yǎn, hán kè zhì, chén yīn huà, shī qì biàn wù, shuǐ yǐn nèi xù, zhōng mǎn bù shí, pí rún ròu kē, jīn mài bù lì, shèn zé fū zhǒng, shēn hòu yōng.
When greater yang governs the heaven the qi of cold descends upon it and the qi of the heart follows upward; fire then is bright and vermilion arises, and metal suffers calamity; cold and clear rise again and again, and where cold prevails the water freezes, so that the qi of fire is bright and high. The illness is heat and oppression in the heart, a dry throat and much thirst, snivelling and sneezing, a tendency to grief and many yawns. The hot qi moves recklessly and cold returns; frost falls out of season; there is much forgetting, and in the extreme pain in the heart. Earth then is moist, water abundant and spreading, cold comes as a guest, heavy cloud transforms, damp qi alters beings, water and drink store within, there is fullness in the middle and no eating, the skin is numb and the flesh callous, the sinews and vessels are not free, and in the extreme water swelling and a boil behind the body.
**「肉苛」本篇1見，止在太陽司天「皮𤸷肉苛」**；**本站原引他篇之「肉苛」；此篇與「皮𤸷」連言，其下接「筋脉不利」**

Compounds built on this term

肉苛
ròu kē
numb heavy flesh
本篇第四問之主詞
不仁
bù rén
numbness, not sensing
肌膚不知痛癢，非仁義之仁
不用
bù yòng
loss of use
肢體不能舉動，與不仁對
肉如故
ròu rú gù
the flesh as before
形色不變而用已廢，最見診斷之精

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & FengnumbnessThey reduce 苛 to the sensory loss, which is the half the chapter explains first.
Unschuldthe flesh is unresponsiveUnschuld keeps both halves — nothing felt, nothing done — by choosing a word that covers both.
This sitenumb heavy fleshWe keep both halves and both words. The chapter is careful to separate not sensing from not using, then to say they can arrive together, then to add that the flesh looks unchanged: three statements that need a rendering with room in it.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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