Classica Sinica Medica

按蹻 简体 按跷

àn qiāo

Pressing and treading · an qiao

Also rendered: Pressing and treading (this site; 蹻 is kept as treading so that the feet stay in the word alongside the hands) · An qiao (transliteration; used when the term is cited as the name of the art rather than as an act)

Cultivation

Reviewed · 2026-10-10

At a glance

Pinyin
àn qiāo
Simplified
按跷
Literal
按 àn — to press, to press down with the hand (《說文》: 按，下也：to bear down); 蹻 qiāo — to lift the foot, to walk high on the toes (《說文》: 蹻，舉足行高也：raising the foot and walking high). 按蹻 is the hands' work and the feet's work named in one word, which is what later ages call 按摩 and 導引. Wang Bing glosses it exactly so: 按謂按摩，蹻謂如蹻捷者之舉動手足，是所謂導引也. Suwen 4 names it once, and what it does with the name is forbid it for a season — 冬不按蹻: do not press and tread in winter, and the spring that follows brings no 鼽衄.
Shuowen
**「按」讀 àn，本篇1見**；**「蹻」讀 qiāo，本篇1見**；**「按蹻」本篇1見**；**《說文》：按，下也；蹻，舉足行高也**；**王冰注：按謂按摩，蹻謂如蹻捷者之舉動手足，是所謂導引也**

In brief

Pressing and treading — the hands’ art and the feet’s art in a single word, what later ages separate into 按摩 and 導引. Suwen 4 names it once and makes the name a rule: 故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄. The point is the season, not the technique. Winter stores, and this chapter’s whole argument is that what is stored must not be scattered; 按蹻 is named because it scatters. Kept, the winter hands on a spring with no snivelling nosebleed and no disease of the nape — which is the same promise the chapter makes about 精 two paragraphs later, when it says that the one who stores the essence does not fall ill of warmth in spring.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 按蹻
按者按摩，蹻者導引，後世分為二事
故冬不按蹻 — Suwen 4
2
What 按 is 按
《說文》：按，下也；以手按之
故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄 — Suwen 4
3
What 蹻 is 蹻
《說文》：蹻，舉足行高也；舉動手足之謂
冬不按蹻 — Suwen 4
4
The season it belongs to 冬
冬主藏，按蹻則散其所藏
故冬不按蹻 — Suwen 4
5
What keeping it buys 春不鼽衄，春不病頸項
冬藏不散，則春不病鼽衄、不病頸項
故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄，春不病頸項 — Suwen 4
6
The reason the chapter gives 夫精者，身之本也
精者身之本，藏之則春不病温
夫精者，身之本也。故藏於精者，春不病温 — Suwen 4

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·金匱真言論 Suwen 4 · 金匱真言論 Read in context →
故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄，春不病頸項，仲夏不病胸脅，長夏不病洞泄寒中，秋不病風瘧，冬不病痺厥、飱泄而汗出也。 故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄，春不病颈项，仲夏不病胸胁，长夏不病洞泄寒中，秋不病风疟，冬不病痹厥、飧泄而汗出也。
gù dōng bù àn qiāo, chūn bù qiú nǜ, chūn bù bìng jǐng xiàng, zhòng xià bù bìng xiōng xié, cháng xià bù bìng dòng xiè hán zhōng, qiū bù bìng fēng nüè, dōng bù bìng bì jué, sūn xiè ér hàn chū yě.
Therefore if in winter one does not press and tread, then in spring there is no snivelling and nosebleed and no disease of the nape; in midsummer no disease of the chest and flanks; in late summer no pouring diarrhoea with cold within; in autumn no wind malaria; in winter no impediment inversion, no sloppy diarrhoea, and no sweating that will not stop.
**「按蹻」本篇1見**；**「鼽衄」本篇2見，見本站新目**；**「痺厥」本篇2見，見本站新目**；**「飱泄」本篇1見，見本站第五九一條**；**「長夏」本篇4見，讀 cháng xià，見本站第三八〇條**

Compounds built on this term

故冬不按蹻
gù dōng bù àn qiāo
therefore in winter do not press and tread
本篇1見
春不鼽衄
chūn bù qiú nǜ
in spring no snivelling and nosebleed
本篇1見
藏於精者
cáng yú jīng zhě
one who stores the essence
本篇1見
春不病温
chūn bù bìng wēn
in spring no illness from warmth
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 sitePressing and treading · an qiaokeeps both halves: 按 is the hand, 蹻 is the foot
Literalpressing and treadingplain, and it keeps the two movements distinct
Descriptivemassage and guiding-and-pullingwhat later ages call it; right about the practice, but it drops both graphs

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-10

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