Classica Sinica Medica

息積 简体 息积

xī jī

Breath accumulation

Also rendered: Breath accumulation (this site; 息 is breath at rest, and the name says what has stopped rather than only what has gathered) · Accumulation of breath (where the emphasis falls on the gathering rather than on the stillness)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
xī jī
Simplified
息积
Literal
息積 xī jī — the name the chapter gives to a fullness under the ribs that has not shifted for two or three years. 息 is breath coming to rest, and the name says what has stopped rather than only what has collected: the patient breathes, eats and goes on, and the accumulation sits beside all of it. What is striking is the instruction that follows — no cautery, no needle, and medicine alone will not do it.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：息，喘也，从心从自；積，聚也，从禾責聲。「息」讀 xī、「積」讀 jī、**各本篇惟此一見**；**底本「息積」二字不从「积」之省**。

In brief

A long-standing accumulation under the ribs, named for the breath that has stopped moving rather than for the mass itself, and defined in chapter 47 as much by what cannot be done to it as by what it is: it does not hinder eating, it is not to be cauterised or needled, and drugs alone will not disperse it. The treatment the chapter names is guiding-and-pulling together with medicine.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graph 息積
息者氣之止息，積者聚而不散
病名曰息積 — Suwen 47
2
Where it lies 脅下滿，氣逆
脅下脹滿而氣上逆，二三年不已
病脅下滿，氣逆，二三歲不已 — Suwen 47
3
What it spares 不妨於食
病在脅下而不礙飲食
此不妨於食 — Suwen 47
4
What must not be done 不可灸刺
積不在經，灸刺無所施
不可灸刺 — Suwen 47
5
How it is treated 導引服藥
積當以導引行氣，兼服藥餌
積爲導引服藥 — Suwen 47
6
Why medicine alone fails 藥不能獨治
藥力止於氣血，不能導其積
藥不能獨治也 — Suwen 47

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 47 Suwen 47 · 奇病論 Read in context →
帝曰：病脅下滿，氣逆，二三歲不已，是爲何病？歧伯曰：病名曰息積。此不妨於食，不可灸刺，積爲導引服藥，藥不能獨治也。 帝曰：病胁下满，气逆，二三岁不已，是为何病？歧伯曰：病名曰息积。此不妨于食，不可灸刺，积为导引服药，药不能独治也。
Dì yuē: bìng xié xià mǎn, qì nì, èr sān suì bù yǐ, shì wéi hé bìng? Qí bó yuē: bìng míng yuē xī jī. Cǐ bù fáng yú shí, bù kě jiǔ cì, jī wéi dǎo yǐn fú yào, yào bù néng dú zhì yě.
The Emperor asks: an illness of fullness below the ribs, with counterflowing qi, that has not let up for two or three years — what illness is this? Qi Bo answers: the illness is named breath accumulation. It does not interfere with eating. It must not be cauterised or needled; for accumulation one uses guiding-and-pulling and takes medicines, for medicine alone cannot cure it.
**「病名曰息積」——**「息」讀 xī、「積」讀 jī、**各本篇惟此一見**；「脅」讀 xié、**本篇惟此一見**；**「不可灸刺」「積爲導引服藥」二句，一禁一治，為本篇論積之要**。

Compounds built on this term

息積
xī jī
breath accumulation
本篇之病名
脅下滿
xié xià mǎn
fullness below the ribs
息積之證
導引服藥
dǎo yǐn fú yào
guiding and pulling with medicines
治積之法（導引另立專目）
二三歲不已
èr sān suì bù yǐ
not letting up for two or three years
言其久

How it has been translated

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

This sitebreath accumulation息 is kept as breath, so the name says what stopped, not only what collected
Unschuldbreath accumulationthe two graphs are kept separate in his rendering, as they are here
Wisemanaccumulation of breathhis system keeps one rendering for 息 and one for 積 throughout

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-30

Search the glossary

Reading path

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

See all reading paths