四塞

sì sài

The four blockages · si sai

Also rendered: The four blockages (this site; 塞 is stopped up, and the four seasons no longer run into one another) · The four obstructions (the same sense, and 塞 in this chapter is always something blocked rather than something blocking)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

At a glance

Pinyin: sì sài
Simplified: 四塞
Literal: 四 sì — four; 塞 sài — stopped up, blocked (《說文》: 塞，隔也). 四塞 is what the chapter calls the state in which the four seasons no longer run through one another: 王冰's note reads it as 天地四時之氣，閉塞而無所運行也.
Shuowen: **《說文》：塞，隔也**。**「四塞」本篇一見**；**「塞」字本篇6見，餘皆「塞因塞用」之屬**；**此語在本篇所引《脈要》之内**；**其下四句「沈甚曰病、弦甚曰病、濇甚曰病、數甚曰病」，即四塞之太過者**；**「弦」字本篇3見，「沈」4見，「濇」3見，「數」13見**

In brief

The four blockages. The chapter quotes 《脈要》 for the words and then uses them: 《脈要》曰：春不沈，夏不弦，冬不濇，秋不數，是謂四塞 — in spring the pulse is not to be 沈, in summer not 弦, in winter not 濇, in autumn not 數; to lose the season’s own quality and take another’s is for the year to run shut. 王冰 glosses it 天地四時之氣，閉塞而無所運行也, and 馬蒔 reads the sentence as the season cutting itself off from the qi that bore it — 四塞而不交通. What follows is the grading of the same four faults when they are excessive — 沈甚曰病，弦甚曰病，濇甚曰病，數甚曰病 — and then the faults of number and time, 參見曰病，復見曰病，未去而去曰病，去而不去曰病，反者死. The passage closes by naming the principle the four measure: 氣之相守司也，如權衡之不得相失也.

Senses in the classical corpus

The word 四塞

四時之氣閉塞不通

是謂四塞 — Suwen 74

Spring and summer 春不沈，夏不弦

各不當見他季之脉

春不沈，夏不弦 — Suwen 74

Winter and autumn 冬不濇，秋不數

二句底本次序如此

冬不濇，秋不數 — Suwen 74

The excessive ones 沈甚、弦甚、濇甚、數甚皆曰病

不惟不當有，亦不當甚

沈甚，曰病 — Suwen 74

The rest of the faults 參見、復見、未去而去、去而不去

四者皆脉與時不相守

參見，曰病 — Suwen 74

The worst 反者死

見勝己之脉，違天故死

反者死 — Suwen 74

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

Suwen 74 Suwen 74 · 至真要大論 Read in context →

帝曰：差有數乎？歧伯曰：又凡三十度也。帝曰：其脉應皆何如？歧伯曰：差同正法，待時而去也。脉要曰：春不沈，夏不弦，冬不濇，秋不數，是謂四塞。沈甚，曰病；弦甚，曰病；濇甚，曰病；數甚，曰病；參見，曰病；復見，曰病，未去而去曰病；去而不去曰病，反者死。故曰：氣之相守司也，如權衡之不得相失也。夫陰陽之氣，清靜則生化治，動則苛疾起。此之謂也。帝曰：幽明何如？帝曰：差有数乎？歧伯曰：又凡三十度也。帝曰：其脉应皆何如？歧伯曰：差同正法，待时而去也。脉要曰：春不沉，夏不弦，冬不涩，秋不数，是谓四塞。沉甚，曰病；弦甚，曰病；涩甚，曰病；数甚，曰病；参见，曰病；复见，曰病，未去而去曰病；去而不去曰病，反者死。故曰：气之相守司也，如权衡之不得相失也。夫阴阳之气，清静则生化治，动则苛疾起。此之谓也。帝曰：幽明何如？

Dì yuē: chài yǒu shù hū? Qí bó yuē: yòu fán sān shí dù yě. Dì yuē: qí mài yìng jiē hé rú? Qí bó yuē: chài tóng zhèng fǎ, dài shí ér qù yě. Mài yào yuē: chūn bù chén, xià bù xián, dōng bù sè, qiū bù shuò, shì wèi sì sè. Chén shèn, yuē bìng; xián shèn, yuē bìng; sè shèn, yuē bìng; shuò shèn, yuē bìng; cēn xiàn, yuē bìng; fù xiàn, yuē bìng, wèi qù ér qù yuē bìng; qù ér bù qù yuē bìng, fǎn zhě sǐ. Gù yuē: qì zhī xiāng shǒu sī yě, rú quán héng zhī bù dé xiāng shī yě. Fú yīn yáng zhī qì, qīng jìng zé shēng huà zhì, dòng zé kē jí qǐ. Cǐ zhī wèi yě. Dì yuē: yōu míng hé rú?

Huang Di said: does the degree have a number? Qi Bo said: about thirty degrees in all. Huang Di said: what of the responses of the pulse? Qi Bo said: the degree is the same as the upright law, waiting for the season to go. The Pulse Essentials says: in spring not sunken, in summer not taut, in winter not rough, in autumn not frequent — this is called the four blockings. If it is sunken in excess, it is illness; taut in excess, illness; rough in excess, illness; frequent in excess, illness; if it appears mixed, illness; if it appears again, illness; to go before going is illness; to go and not go is illness; if it reverses, death. Hence it is said: the qi keeps watch over one another, as the balance-beam cannot lose the other. The qi of yin and yang, when clear and still, generates and transforms and is governed; when moved, severe illness arises. This is what is meant. Huang Di said: what of the dark and the bright?

**「四塞」本篇一見，即此句**；**此句為本篇所引《脈要》之文**；**底本次序作「冬不濇，秋不數」，與他本「秋不數，冬不濇」之次不同，已入校勘**；**王冰注：「四塞者，天地四時之氣，閉塞而無所運行也」**

Compounds built on this term

權衡

quán héng

the steelyard

本篇一見；氣之相守如此器之兩端

差同正法

chà tóng zhèng fǎ

the lag agrees with the regular rule

本篇一見；四塞所由起

待時而去

dài shí ér qù

wait for the season and depart

本篇一見；脉之去留以此為準

脉要

mài yào

the Essentials of the Pulse

本篇一見；四塞之語所出

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 four blockages	the seasonal pulses out of season, which shuts the year up and is graded from 甚 to 反者死
Literal	four blockings	exact, and it does not say of what
Descriptive	the four seasons shut off from one another	clear, and long for a two-graph name that opens a quoted verse

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-14

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