Classica Sinica Medica

著痺 简体 着痹

zhuó bì

Fixed obstruction

Also rendered: Fixed obstruction (this site; 著 rendered by what it does) · Settling obstruction (where the emphasis is on heaviness rather than on staying)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
zhuó bì
Simplified
着痹
Literal
著痺 zhuó bì — the third of the three, and the one the chapter leaves to a single graph. 著 is to stick fast, and the damp that prevails here is heavy and settling: the obstruction does not travel as wind's does and does not announce itself with cold's pain, but stays where it has lodged.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：痺，濕病也，从疒畀聲。「著」，《說文》作「箸」，飯攲也；附著之義後起，讀 zhuó。「著」讀 zhuó、**本篇1見**；「濕」讀 shī、**本篇7見**。**「濕氣勝者，爲著痺也」——****濕性重濁黏滯，故著而不移**；**與行痺之「行」、痛痺之「痛」，三名而三義**。

In brief

The obstruction in which damp qi prevails. Damp is heavy and clinging, and the name says what that produces: an obstruction that settles in one place and will not move. The chapter gives it no further explanation, because the graph already carries it — 著 is what stays.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 著、痺
著者附著也，痺者濕病也；著痺者，留而不去
濕氣勝者，爲著痺也 — Suwen 43
2
Why damp settles 濕性重濁
重则不移，濁则黏滯
風寒濕三氣雜至，合而爲痺也 — Suwen 43
3
Its place among the three 行、痛、著
三名皆言其態：走者、痛者、著者
其風氣勝者，爲行痺 — Suwen 43
4
What the chapter does with it 濕氣勝者，爲著痺也
三痺之中惟此句著「也」字，為三句之結
濕氣勝者，爲著痺也 — Suwen 43
5
The damp that is not mixed 其多汗而濡者
逢濕甚則汗出而濡，濕勝之為病
此其逢濕甚也 — Suwen 43
6
What it is set against 行痺
一著一行，即濕與風之性
其風氣勝者，爲行痺 — Suwen 43

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 43 Suwen 43 · 痺論 Read in context →
其風氣勝者，爲行痺，寒氣勝者，爲痛痺，濕氣勝者，爲著痺也。 其风气胜者，为行痹，寒气胜者，为痛痹，湿气胜者，为著痹也。
Qí fēng qì shèng zhě, wéi xíng bì, hán qì shèng zhě, wéi tòng bì, shī qì shèng zhě, wéi zhuó bì yě.
Where wind qi prevails it is travelling obstruction; where cold qi prevails, painful obstruction; where dampness prevails, fixed obstruction — zhuó, settling, the evil lodging in one place.
**「濕氣勝者，爲著痺也」——**「著」讀 zhuó，**附著不去之義，本站不从「着」之俗寫而定讀 zhuó**；「濕」讀 shī、**本篇7見**——**「風寒濕」4見、「或濕」（痺或痛……或濕）1見、「逢濕甚」1見**；**三句之末獨此句有「也」字**，**為三痺分名之結語**。

Compounds built on this term

著痺
zhuó bì
fixed obstruction
本篇三痺之末
濕氣勝
shī qì shèng
damp qi prevailing
著痺得名之由
重濁
zhòng zhuó
heavy and turbid
濕之性，故著而不移
逢濕甚
féng shī shèn
meeting damp in excess
本篇「此其逢濕甚也」

How it has been translated

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

This sitefixed obstructionfixed keeps the sense of 著 without importing the modern medical word chronic
Unschuldresting blockagehe renders the contrast with 行 as one of movement and rest
Wisemanfixed impedimentthe common clinical rendering

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

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