Classica Sinica Medica

郄中

xī zhōng

The cleft centre · xi zhong

Also rendered: Xi zhong (transliteration only; used by translations that decline to identify the point) · The popliteal centre (identifying readings; commits to Bladder 40, which this site does not)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
xī zhōng
Simplified
郄中
Literal
郄中 xī zhōng — 郄 is the cleft, the gap, and 中 is the middle, so the name is simply 'the middle of the cleft'. What cleft is meant is where the commentators part company: some take it for the popliteal fossa behind the knee, the point known as Bladder 40; others take it for a cleft point of a channel. This site does not choose. The name occurs three times in this chapter and once earlier in chapter 22, and in every case it is a place to let blood, never a place to tonify — which is the one thing all the readings agree on.
Shuowen
《說文解字》無「郄」字，「郄」即「隙」之或體——**隙者，壁際之孔也，引申為空隙、為郄穴**。「郄」讀 xī，本篇3見，**皆在「郄中」一詞**；「中」讀 zhōng，本篇7見。**本站第二十二篇已收此字（「其變病，刺郄中血者」），讀 xī，通「隙」**：**舊注或以郄中即委中，或以即陰郄，所主不一**，茲各存其疑，不為強定。**本篇三見「郄中」，皆為出血之地**：篇首太陽之瘧「剌郄中出血」、篇中「剌郄中盛經出血」、篇末「先腰脊痛者，先剌郄中出血」——**三處皆言出血，無一處言補**。「出」讀 chū；「血」讀 xuè。

In brief

A locus for letting blood, named ‘the middle of the cleft’. The chapter uses it three times — at the head of the greater yang malaria, in the escalation of the ‘if it does not end’ sequence, and for pain that begins in the lower back and spine. Which exact point it is has been argued since the commentaries; the one thing every reading agrees on is that it is a place to bleed.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the name says 郄中
郄即隙，空隙；中，其中
剌郄中出血 — Suwen 36
2
A place to let blood 郄中
本篇三見皆言出血
剌郄中出血 — Suwen 36
3
For the greater yang malaria 郄中
太陽之瘧，寒從背起
熱止汗出難已，剌郄中出血 — Suwen 36
4
For what will not end 郄中盛經
不已，刺其充盛之經
不已，剌郄中盛經出血 — Suwen 36
5
For pain that starts in the back 郄中
先腰脊痛者先取之
先腰脊痛者，先剌郄中出血 — Suwen 36
6
Kin: the earlier occurrence 郄中
本站第二十二篇已見
剌郄中出血 — Suwen 36

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
Suwen 36 Suwen 36 · 剌瘧 Read in context →
足太陽之瘧，令人腰痛頭重，寒從背起，先寒後熱，熇熇暍暍然，熱止汗出難已，剌郄中出血。 足太阳之疟，令人腰痛头重，寒从背起，先寒后热，熇熇暍暍然，热止汗出难已，刺郄中出血。
Zú tài yáng zhī nüè, lìng rén yāo tòng tóu zhòng, hán cóng bèi qǐ, xiān hán hòu rè, hè hè yē yē rán, rè zhǐ hàn chū nán yǐ, cì xī zhōng chū xuè.
Malaria of the foot greater yang makes the lower back ache and the head feel heavy; the cold rises from the back, cold first and heat after, blazing and sweltering. When the heat stops, sweat breaks out and the illness is hard to bring to an end. Needle the cleft centre and let blood.
**「剌郄中出血」五字，是本篇六經之瘧的第一個刺法**——太陽之瘧「令人腰痛頭重，寒從背起」，而其治則在「郄中」。**與本站第二十二篇「其變病，刺郄中血者」互為前後**：**彼以郄中治變病，此以郄中治瘧**，**同穴而異病，皆取其出血**——**郄中主腰脊，故前後二篇皆於腰脊之證取之**。**本篇三見郄中，正與「腰脊」三見相配**：篇首「腰痛」、篇中「腰脊痛」、篇末「先腰脊痛者」，**三處皆歸於郄中**，是本篇取穴之例。
素問·刺腰痛 Suwen 41 · 刺腰痛 Read in context →
足太陽脉，令人腰痛，引項脊凥背如重狀，刺其郄中，太陽正經出血，春無見血。 足太阳脉，令人腰痛，引项脊凥背如重状，刺其郄中，太阳正经出血，春无见血。
Zú tài yáng mài, lìng rén yāo tòng, yǐn xiàng jǐ jū bèi rú zhòng zhuàng, cì qí xì zhōng, tài yáng zhèng jīng chū xuè, chūn wú xiàn xuè.
When the foot greater yang vessel is affected, it gives a person pain in the lower back that draws up into the nape, the spine and the seat, as though one were carrying a weight. Needle the cleft centre and let blood from the greater yang main conduit. In spring, do not bring blood to view.
**「刺其郄中，太陽正經出血」**——**郄中為本篇最頻之穴**：**本篇「郄」8見**（郄中四、郄外廉一、郄陽一、上郄一、郄下一），**「郄中」4見**。「郄」讀 xì；「中」讀 zhōng。**與第三十六篇「剌郄中出血」同穴同法**：**彼治太陽之瘧，此治太陽之腰痛**——**一穴而二用，郄中主腰脊，故前後相應**。
素問·刺禁論 Suwen 52 · 刺禁論 Read in context →
刺郄中大脉，令人仆脫色； 刺郄中大脉，令人仆脱色；
Cì xī zhòng dà mài, lìng rén pū tuō sè;
To needle the cleft and strike a large vessel: it makes the person fall and lose colour;
「刺「郄」讀 xī中大脉，令人仆「脫」讀 tuō色」——**本篇「郄中」1見，讀 xī zhōng，與第二十二、三十六篇同讀**；「仆」讀 pū、**本篇1見，讀 pū；與「僕」（鼠僕，讀 pú）異字**；「色」讀 sè、**本篇1見；脫色者面色脫失**；**郄中為部位之名，本篇一見；中大脉則仆而脫色**。

Compounds built on this term

郄中出血
xī zhōng chū xuè
letting blood at the cleft centre
本篇三見，皆為此用
郄中盛經
xī zhōng shèng jīng
the replete channel at the cleft centre
本篇「不已」之第二層治法
郄穴
xī xué
the cleft points
後世針灸承用之目，與此名同源
委中
wěi zhōng
Bladder 40
舊注或以郄中即此，姑存其一說

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe cleft centrekept deliberately unlocalised, following the base text rather than one commentator
UnschuldXi zhongtransliterates and notes the ambiguity
Wiseman(the) cleft centersimilar literal rendering

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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