Classica Sinica Medica

陽絡 简体 阳络

yáng luò

Yang network vessel · yang luo

Also rendered: Yang network vessel (this site; the shallow network vessel, read against the season rather than the viscus) · Superficial collateral (the usual modern acupuncture rendering)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-10-02

At a glance

Pinyin
yáng luò
Simplified
阳络
Literal
陽 yáng — the sunlit side: 《說文》 gives it as 陽，高明也, high and bright, and what the medicine takes from it is the outside and the upper, the thing that shows. 絡 luò — network, 絡，絮也, the crossed floss of silk. So the yang network is the network vessel as it rides near enough the surface to be read with the eye, and Chapter 57 says immediately what follows from that: having no conduit to lie close to, it has no constant colour of its own, it runs with the four seasons. Zhang Jiebin puts it — 浅而在外者，是为阳络，阳络浮显，色不应经，故随四时之气以为进退 — the shallow ones are the yang networks; floating and visible, their colour does not answer to the conduit, and so it advances and retires with the seasonal qi. What that looks like is given in the next two sentences: cold makes the blood congealed and sluggish and it turns blue-green and black; heat makes it wet and smooth and it turns yellow and red. And both are normal.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：「陽，高明也」；「絡，絮也，一曰麻未漚也」。「陽」讀 yáng、**本篇2見**；「絡」讀 luò、**本篇5見**；「之」讀 zhī、**本篇8見**；「色」讀 sè、**本篇8見**；「變」讀 biàn、**本篇2見**；「無」讀 wú、**本篇3見**；「常」讀 cháng、**本篇5見**；「隨」讀 suí、**本篇1見**；「四」讀 sì、「時」讀 shí、**「四時」讀 sì shí**；「而」讀 ér、**本篇2見**；「行」讀 xíng、**本篇1見**；「寒」讀 hán、**本篇2見**；「多」讀 duō、**本篇2見**；「則」讀 zé、**本篇4見**；「凝」讀 níng、**本篇2見**；「泣」讀 sè、**音義同「澀」，本篇2見**；「青」讀 qīng、**本篇3見**；「黑」讀 hēi、**本篇3見**；「熱」讀 rè、**本篇2見**；「淖」讀 nào、**「淖澤」讀 nào zé（王冰「淖，濕也」），本篇2見**；「澤」讀 zé、**本篇2見**；「黄」讀 huáng、**本篇4見**；「赤」讀 chì、**本篇3見**；「此」讀 cǐ、**本篇1見**；「皆」讀 jiē、**本篇2見**；「具」讀 jù、**通「俱」，本篇1見**；「見」讀 jiàn、**「具見」之見讀 jiàn，本篇2見**

In brief

The network vessels as they ride near the surface, and the whole point of Chapter 57 hangs on them: because they are shallow they keep no colour of their own, and instead they run with the four seasons. Cold predominating makes the blood congealed and sluggish, and that reads blue-green and black; heat predominating makes it wet and smooth, and that reads yellow and red. Both are normal, both are called no illness, and illness is named only when all five colours appear together. This is the earliest statement of the rule every later book assumes — read the yang networks against the season, not against the viscus — and the ch56 floating network vessel is the same vessel seen from the other end, inside its skin region rather than inside the colour chart. 陽絡 occurs once in the book, in this sentence.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 陽絡
陽者高明也（《說文》）；絡者絮也，引申為網絡
陽絡之色變無常 — Suwen 57
2
Shallow, not deep 陽絡之色變無常
淺而在外者為陽絡：張介賓「浅而在外者，是为阳络，阳络浮显，色不应经」
陽絡之色變無常 — Suwen 57
3
Why it has no constant colour 隨四時而行也
浮顯在外，故隨四時之氣以為進退；「行」讀 xíng
隨四時而行也 — Suwen 57
4
What cold does to it 寒多則凝泣，凝泣則青黑
寒甚則血凝澀而絡見青黑；「泣」讀 sè，音義同「澀」
寒多則凝泣，凝泣則青黑 — Suwen 57
5
What heat does to it 熱多則淖澤，淖澤則黄赤
熱甚則血淖澤而絡見黄赤；「淖」讀 nào、「澤」讀 zé，本站另有專目（id 845）
熱多則淖澤，淖澤則黄赤 — Suwen 57
6
Both are normal 此皆常色，謂之無病
順四時而變者是為常色；必五色一時具見，乃謂之寒熱
五色具見者，謂之寒熱 — Suwen 57

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 57 Suwen 57 · 經絡論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：陰絡之色應其經，陽絡之色變無常，隨四時而行也。寒多則凝泣，凝泣則青黑。熱多則淖澤，淖澤則黄赤。 歧伯曰：阴络之色应其经，阳络之色变无常，随四时而行也。寒多则凝泣，凝泣则青黑。热多则淖泽，淖泽则黄赤。
Qí bó yuē: yīn luò zhī sè yìng qí jīng, yáng luò zhī sè biàn wú cháng, suí sì shí ér xíng yě. Hán duō zé níng sè, níng sè zé qīng hēi. Rè duō zé nào zé, nào zé zé huáng chì.
Qi Bo says: the colour of the yin networks answers to their conduit; the colour of the yang networks changes without constancy, running with the four seasons. When cold predominates there is congealing and sluggishness; where there is sluggishness the colour is blue-green and black. When heat predominates there is wetness and smoothness; where it is wet and smooth the colour is yellow and red.
**「陽絡」本篇1見——「陽」讀 yáng、**本篇「陽」2見**；「絡」讀 luò、**本篇「絡」5見**；「泣」讀 sè、**「凝泣」之泣讀 sè，本篇2見**；「淖」讀 nào、**「淖澤」之淖讀 nào，本篇2見**；「澤」讀 zé、**本篇2見**；「凝」讀 níng、**本篇2見**；「隨」讀 suí、**本篇1見**；「行」讀 xíng、**「隨四時而行」之行讀 xíng**；**寒多、熱多二句為本篇診法之實：同一陽絡，因時而青黑，因時而黄赤**
素問·調經論 Suwen 62 · 調經論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：形有餘則冩其陽經，不足則𥙷其陽絡。 歧伯曰：形有余则写其阳经，不足则补其阳络。
Qí bó yuē: xíng yǒu yú zé xiè qí yáng jīng, bù zú zé bǔ qí yáng luò.
Qi Bo says: in excess of the body, drain the yang channels; where it is insufficient, supplement the yang network vessels.
「形有餘則冩其陽經，不足則𥙷其陽絡」——**「陽絡」本篇1見，在形之補冩法中**：**形有餘則寫其陽經，不足則補其陽絡——絡淺而經深，寫則取深、補則取淺**；**本目出第五十七篇，謂陽絡浮顯而隨四時；本篇則與陽經對舉，以淺深為別，其為陽之絡則一**；**「𥙷」為「補」之俗省，讀 bǔ，本篇8見**

Compounds built on this term

陽絡
yáng luò
the yang network vessel
本篇一見（陽絡之色變無常）
隨四時而行
suí sì shí ér xíng
running with the four seasons
本篇一見，「行」讀 xíng
凝泣
níng sè
congealed and sluggish
本篇二見，「泣」讀 sè
淖澤
nào zé
wet and smooth
本篇二見，本站另有專目（id 845）

How it has been translated

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

This siteyang network vesselthe network vessel near enough the surface to be seen, whose colour follows the four seasons
Modern acupuncturesuperficial collateralusually counted among the collaterals rather than treated as the one whose colour diagnoses the season
Literalbright networkkeeping 陽 in its 《說文》 sense, though the medicine means surface and visibility rather than brightness

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-02

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