Classica Sinica Medica

筋痿

jīn wěi

Sinew flaccidity

Also rendered: Sinew flaccidity (this site; 筋 is sinew throughout the site) · Tendon flaccidity (where 筋 is rendered by the modern anatomical word)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-29

At a glance

Pinyin
jīn wěi
Simplified
筋痿
Literal
筋痿 jīn wěi — the flaccidity of the liver's tissue, and the one the chapter traces twice to the chamber. Liver qi hot, the gallbladder discharges and the mouth is bitter; the sinew membranes dry, the sinews tighten and cramp — and later, thinking without end and an overused chamber slacken the ancestral sinews, so that sinew flaccidity develops, or else white discharge.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：筋，肉之力也，从力从肉从竹。「筋」、**本篇14見**；「痿」讀 wěi、**全篇之題**。**「筋膜乾」之乾讀 gān**，**「宗筋弛縱」之縱讀 zòng**。

In brief

The flaccidity of the sinews, laid to heat in the liver and, in the chapter’s second account, to desire unmet and sexual excess. The Lower Classic is quoted for the summary: sinew flaccidity arises in the liver and comes of sexual excess. It is the one of the five whose cause the chapter gives twice.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 筋、痿
筋者肝之所主，痿者弛而不用
發爲筋痿 — Suwen 44
2
How liver heat does it 膽泄口苦，筋膜乾
肝熱則膽泄而口苦，筋膜失潤而乾
肝氣熱，則膽泄口苦 — Suwen 44
3
What the drying does 筋急而攣
筋膜既乾，則筋急而攣縮
筋膜乾則筋急而攣 — Suwen 44
4
The second cause 思想無窮，入房太甚，宗筋弛縱
意淫於外、入房太甚，則宗筋弛縱而發
思想無窮，所願不得 — Suwen 44
5
What the Lower Classic says 筋痿者，生於肝，使内也
使内者，入房之謂；筋痿之原在肝而發於房事
故下經曰：筋痿者，生於肝，使内也 — Suwen 44
6
Its place among the five 筋痿
五痿之一，肝與筋當之
發爲筋痿 — Suwen 44

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
Suwen 44 Suwen 44 · 痿論 Read in context →
肝氣熱，則膽泄口苦，筋膜乾，筋膜乾則筋急而攣，發爲筋痿。 肝气热，则胆泄口苦，筋膜干，筋膜干则筋急而挛，发为筋痿。
Gān qì rè, zé dǎn xiè kǒu kǔ, jīn mó gān, jīn mó gān zé jīn jí ér luán, fā wéi jīn wěi.
When the liver qi is hot, the gallbladder discharges and the mouth is bitter; the sinew membranes dry, and once they dry the sinews tighten and cramp — this becomes sinew flaccidity.
**「發爲筋痿」——**「筋」，**本篇14見**；「攣」讀 luán、**「筋急而攣」之攣，拘攣也**；「膜」讀 mó、**「筋膜」之膜，與 ch29 脾胃相連之膜別為一義**。
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
陽明司天，燥氣下臨，肝氣上從，蒼起木用而立，土乃眚，淒滄數至，木伐草萎。脅痛目赤，掉振鼓慄，筋痿不能久立。暴熱至，土乃暑，陽氣鬱發，小便變，寒熱如瘧，甚則心痛。火行于槁，流水不冰，蟄蟲乃見。 阳明司天，燥气下临，肝气上从，苍起木用而立，土乃眚，凄沧数至，木伐草萎。胁痛目赤，掉振鼓栗，筋痿不能久立。暴热至，土乃暑，阳气郁发，小便变，寒热如疟，甚则心痛。火行于槁，流水不冰，蛰虫乃见。
Yáng míng sī tiān, zào qì xià lín, gān qì shàng cóng, cāng qǐ mù yòng ér lì, tǔ nǎi shěng, qī cāng shuò zhì, mù fá cǎo wěi. Xié tòng mù chì, diào zhèn gǔ lì, jīn wěi bù néng jiǔ lì. Bào rè zhì, tǔ nǎi shǔ, yáng qì yù fā, xiǎo biàn biàn, hán rè rú nüè, shèn zé xīn tòng. Huǒ xíng yú gǎo, liú shuǐ bù bīng, zhé chóng nǎi xiàn.
When yang brightness governs the heaven the qi of dryness descends upon it and the qi of the liver follows upward; blue-green arises and wood comes into use and stands, and earth then suffers calamity; chill bleakness comes again and again, wood is felled and grass withers. The illness is pain in the flanks, red eyes, shaking and trembling, drumming and shivering, and flaccid sinews that cannot stand long. Fierce heat arrives and earth turns to summer heat; the yang qi bursts forth pent up, the urine changes, cold and heat come like malaria, and in the extreme there is pain in the heart. Fire moves over the parched, running water does not freeze, and burrowing insects appear.
**「筋痿」本篇1見，止在陽明司天「筋痿不能久立」**；**燥氣下臨而肝氣上從，故筋痿而不可久立**

Compounds built on this term

筋痿
jīn wěi
sinew flaccidity
本篇肝氣熱之所發
筋膜
jīn mó
sinew membrane
肝之所主，乾則筋攣
宗筋弛縱
zōng jīn chí zòng
the ancestral sinews slacken and go lax
入房太甚之果
白淫
bái yín
white discharge
筋痿之兼證

How it has been translated

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

This sitesinew flaccidity筋 is sinew on this site, as in the entries for 筋痺 and 宗筋
Unschuldsinew witheringhe keeps the plant image of 痿
Wisemansinew wilting痿 is wilting in his system

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-29

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Reading path

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