Classica Sinica Medica

導引 简体 导引

dǎo yǐn

Guiding and pulling · dao yin

Also rendered: Guiding and pulling (this site; 導 guides the qi and 引 draws the body, and both halves are kept) · Dao yin (the pinyin, where the word is being named as the practice it became)

Cultivation

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
dǎo yǐn
Simplified
导引
Literal
導引 dǎo yǐn — guiding the qi and pulling the body, and the only treatment chapter 47 will allow for the breath accumulation. The chapter sets it against two things at once: it is what is used instead of cautery and puncture, and it is what medicine on its own cannot replace.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：導，導引也，从寸道聲；引，開弓也，从弓丨。「導」讀 dǎo、「引」讀 yǐn、**各本篇惟此一見**；**底本「導」从寸不从「导」之省**。

In brief

Guiding the qi and drawing out the body — the exercise therapy the Suwen names where the needle is forbidden. Chapter 47 gives it as the treatment of the breath accumulation, and pairs it with medicine in a way that makes the division plain: the exercises move what drugs cannot, and drugs alone will not do.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graph 導引
導者導氣令和，引者引體令柔
積爲導引服藥 — Suwen 47
2
What it is for here 息積
息積之治在導引，非鍼灸可及
病名曰息積 — Suwen 47
3
What it replaces 不可灸刺
積不在經，故禁灸刺而以導引代之
不可灸刺 — Suwen 47
4
Why it is paired with drugs 藥不能獨治
單服藥不能獨治其積
藥不能獨治也 — Suwen 47
5
What the illness spares 不妨於食
積不妨食，故可緩圖以導引
此不妨於食 — Suwen 47
6
How often it is named 本篇惟此一見
全篇言治者多，言導引者止此
積爲導引服藥 — 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.
**「積爲導引服藥」——**「導」讀 dǎo、「引」讀 yǐn、**各本篇惟此一見**；「灸」讀 jiǔ、**本篇惟此一見**；**「不可灸刺」「藥不能獨治也」二句，為導引之所以必需**。

Compounds built on this term

導引
dǎo yǐn
guiding and pulling
治息積之法
導引服藥
dǎo yǐn fú yào
guiding and pulling with medicines
本篇並舉二法
息積
xī jī
breath accumulation
導引之所治
灸刺
jiǔ cì
cautery and puncture
本篇所禁（本站第七百六十八目）

How it has been translated

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

This siteguiding and pulling導 and 引 are rendered separately so that the two halves of the practice stay visible
Unschuldguiding and pullinghe keeps the two graphs apart
Wisemanguiding and pullinghis system uses the same rendering

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-30

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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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