高骨

gāo gǔ

The high bones · gao gu

Also rendered: The high bones (this site; 高 is kept as the raised ones rather than as a proper name) · Gao gu (transliteration; used when the three 因而 clauses are quoted together)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-10

At a glance

Pinyin: gāo gǔ
Simplified: 高骨
Literal: 高 gāo — high, raised; 骨 gǔ — bone (《說文》: 骨，肉之覈也：the hard kernel within the flesh). 高骨 is the bone that stands out. In Suwen 3 it is the bone that is broken by exerting strength, and the tradition has usually taken it to be the bones of the lower back — the lumbar vertebrae, which carry the body's weight and which belong to the kidney, the viscus this sentence says has been harmed.
Shuowen: **「高」讀 gāo，本篇2見**；**「骨」讀 gǔ，本篇6見**；**「高骨」本篇1見**；**《說文》：骨，肉之覈也**；**後世多以高骨為腰脊之骨**

In brief

The bones that stand out, and the ones that give way first. Suwen 3 puts the sentence third in a row: eat to repletion and the sinews and vessels part; drink deeply and the qi counterflows; exert strength and the kidney qi is harmed, so that the high bones decay. The tradition reads them as the bones of the lower back, which is where the kidney is taken to reside and where the body’s weight is carried.

Senses in the classical corpus

The graphs 高骨

高起之骨；後世多指腰脊之骨

因而強力，腎氣乃傷，高骨乃壞 — Suwen 3

What breaks them 因而強力

勉強用力，則腎氣傷

因而強力，腎氣乃傷，高骨乃壞 — Suwen 3

The sequence it belongs to 因而大飲，則氣逆

三因而並列：飽食、大飲、強力

因而大飲，則氣逆 — Suwen 3

What comes first 風客淫氣，精乃亡

精亡而後腎傷，骨隨之而壞

風客淫氣，精乃亡，邪傷肝也 — Suwen 3

What the kidney governs 腎氣乃傷

腎藏精而主骨，故腎傷則骨壞

腎氣乃傷，高骨乃壞 — Suwen 3

The counterpart 骨髓堅固

聖人陳陰陽，則骨髓堅固；反之則高骨壞

筋脉和同，骨髓堅固，氣血皆從 — Suwen 3

Occurrences in the classics

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

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1 passages

素問·生氣通天論 Suwen 3 · 生氣通天論 Read in context →

風客淫氣，精乃亡，邪傷肝也。因而飽食，筋脉横解，腸澼爲痔。因而大飲，則氣逆。因而強力，腎氣乃傷，高骨乃壞。风客淫气，精乃亡，邪伤肝也。因而饱食，筋脉横解，肠澼为痔。因而大饮，则气逆。因而强力，肾气乃伤，高骨乃坏。

Fēng kè yín qì, jīng nǎi wáng, xié shāng gān yě. yīn ér bǎo shí, jīn mài héng jiě, cháng pì wéi zhì. yīn ér dà yǐn, zé qì nì. yīn ér qiǎng lì, shèn qì nǎi shāng, gāo gǔ nǎi huài.

When wind lodges and its qi overflows, the jing perishes – the evil has wounded the liver. Then if one eats to repletion the sinews and vessels loosen and part, and the intestinal flux becomes piles; if one drinks deeply, the qi counterflows; if one exerts strength, the kidney qi is harmed and the high bones decay with it.

**「高骨」本篇1見**；**「因而強力」之強讀 qiǎng，勉強用力也**；**「因而」三句連言：飽食、大飲、強力**

Compounds built on this term

因而強力

yīn ér qiǎng lì

then if one exerts strength

本篇1見

腎氣

shèn qì

kidney qi

本篇2見；本站第一五九條

骨髓

gǔ suǐ

bone and marrow

本篇1見；本站第七九八條

腸澼爲痔

cháng pì wéi zhì

the intestinal flux becomes piles

本篇1見

How it has been translated

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

This site	The high bones · gao gu	keeps the adjective: the chapter says 高骨 the way it says 大僂, by what you can see
Literal	the tall bones	literal and misleading in English, where tall is not raised
Descriptive	the lumbar vertebrae	what the tradition usually means; right in place, but it decides a reading the graph does not decide

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-10

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