Classica Sinica Medica

胃脉

wèi mài

The stomach conduit

Also rendered: The stomach conduit (this site; 脉 read as the vessel that carries the stomach's qi) · The stomach vessel (where 脉 is taken as a blood vessel rather than as one of the conduits)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
wèi mài
Simplified
胃脉
Literal
胃脉 wèi mài — the conduit the physician is told to read, and the one the chapter then identifies with the pulse at the neck. The instruction is to feel for it; the surprise is where it turns out to be.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：胃，榖府也，从肉𡇒，象形。「胃」讀 wèi、**本篇5見**；「脉」讀 mài、**本篇12見**，**底本作「脉」，無一作「脈」者**；**「當𠉀胃脉」之𠉀為「候」之異體，讀 hòu**。

In brief

The conduit of the stomach, which chapter 46 reads to diagnose an abscess of the gastric duct, and which it then says is the pulse at the neck: 人迎者，胃脉也. When that pulse counterflows and is exceedingly full, heat has collected at the mouth of the stomach and cannot move on — and that damming is the abscess. The chapter thus ties the wrist’s 胃脉 to the neck’s 人迎 in one sentence.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The two graphs 胃、脉
胃者榖府，脉者血氣之府
當𠉀胃脉 — Suwen 46
2
The instruction 當𠉀胃脉
𠉀讀 hòu，診候也
診此者，當𠉀胃脉 — Suwen 46
3
What it should be 沈細
沈讀 chén，細讀 xì
其脉當沈細 — Suwen 46
4
What that means 沈細者氣逆
不見胃氣之和，而見氣逆
沈細者氣逆 — Suwen 46
5
Where it is found 人迎者，胃脉也
胃脉卽頸側之人迎
人迎者，胃脉也 — Suwen 46
6
What fullness there means 逆而盛則熱聚
熱聚胃口不行，故為癰
逆而盛，則熱聚於胃口而不行 — Suwen 46

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 46 Suwen 46 · 病能論 Read in context →
人迎者，胃脉也，逆而盛，則熱聚於胃口而不行，故胃脘爲癰也。 人迎者，胃脉也，逆而盛，则热聚于胃口而不行，故胃脘为痈也。
Rén yíng zhě, wèi mài yě, nì ér shèng, zé rè jù yú wèi kǒu ér bù xíng, gù wèi wǎn wéi yōng yě.
The ren ying pulse is the stomach conduit. When it counterflows and is full, heat gathers at the mouth of the stomach and does not move on; that is why the gastric duct becomes an abscess.
**「人迎者，胃脉也，逆而盛，則熱聚於胃口而不行」——**「胃」讀 wèi、**本篇5見**；「脉」讀 mài、**本篇12見**；**「逆而盛」之盛讀 shèng**；**「熱聚於胃口而不行」一句，為胃脘成癰之由**。
素問·大奇論 Suwen 48 · 大奇論 Read in context →
胃脉沈鼓濇，胃外鼓大，心脉小堅急，皆鬲偏枯。男子發左，女子發右，不瘖舌轉，可治，三十日起。 胃脉沉鼓涩，胃外鼓大，心脉小坚急，皆鬲偏枯。男子发左，女子发右，不瘖舌转，可治，三十日起。
Wèi mài chén gǔ sè, wèi wài gǔ dà, xīn mài xiǎo jiān jí, jiē gé piān kū. Nán zǐ fā zuǒ, nǚ zǐ fā yòu, bù yīn shé zhuǎn, kě zhì, sān shí rì qǐ.
A stomach vessel sunken, beating up and rough, or beating up large on the outside, and a heart vessel small, hard and hurried, all give one-sided withering with blockage at the diaphragm. In men it appears on the left, in women on the right. If the person is not voiceless and the tongue still turns, it can be treated and he rises in thirty days.
「「胃」讀 wèi脉沈鼓濇，胃外鼓大」——**本篇「胃脉」1見**；「鬲」讀 gé、**本篇惟此一見，讀 gé，膈也**；「堅」讀 jiān、**本篇2見**；**「男子發左，女子發右」以左右分男女，本篇之特筆**。
素問·脉要精微論 Suwen 17 · 脉要精微論 Read in context →
帝曰：診得胃脉，病形何如？歧伯曰：胃脉實則脹，虚則泄。 帝曰：诊得胃脉，病形何如？岐伯曰：胃脉实则胀，虚则泄。
dì yuē: zhěn dé wèi mài, bìng xíng hé rú? qí bó yuē: wèi mài shí zé zhàng, xū zé xiè.
The Emperor says: If the stomach pulse is examined, what is the form of the illness? Qibo says: If the stomach pulse is replete there is distension; if empty, there is diarrhoea.
「胃脉實則脹」，胃脉實則脹、虚則泄；本篇又見「胃脉搏堅而長」「診得胃脉」，皆以胃脉候中土之病。

Compounds built on this term

胃脉
wèi mài
the stomach conduit
本篇診癰之所候
人迎
rén yíng
renying, the neck pulse
已見本站第三八二目
胃脘
wèi wǎn
the stomach duct
已見本站第一〇〇九目
沈細
chén xì
sunken and fine
胃脉之當見者

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe stomach conduit胃脉 follows the site's reading of 脉 as conduit
Unschuldthe stomach vesselhe renders 脉 as vessel
Wisemanthe stomach vessel胃脉 in his system

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-30

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Reading path

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