原

yuán

The source point · yuan

Also rendered: The source (plain, and it keeps the image of the spring-head) · The yuan point (short, and it asks the reader to learn one word)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-10-24

At a glance

Pinyin: yuán
Simplified: 原
Literal: 原 yuán — the spring-head, water coming out of the ground; the graph the classics use where later texts write 源. A source is not a hole but the place a channel's qi rises from and lingers.
Shuowen: **《說文》：原，水泉本也**，从灥出厂下；經傳多以「源」為之，而底本作原不作源。**「爲原」本篇6見**，六府各一：京骨、丘墟、衝陽、陽池、腕骨、合谷；**「原」字6見**，無一字他用。**五藏無原，六府有原**，此本篇與《九鍼十二原》分途之處。

In brief

The sixth point of a fu channel, inserted between the stream and the river: 過于京骨…爲原. The five zang have five points and no separate source; the six fu have six, and the extra one is the source. The reason is stated nowhere and implied everywhere: a zang stores and its qi is reached at the transport, a fu transmits and its qi must be met where it passes. Later needling solved the asymmetry by taking the transport of a yin channel as its source, which is why the yin channels are said to have a source at all. Chapter One’s twelve sources are a different count of a different thing — two for each viscus plus the fat and the membrane — and the two reckonings should not be merged.

Senses in the classical corpus

The point 爲原

六府經氣所過而留止之處

The place where a fu channel's qi passes and rests.

過于京骨，京骨，足外側大骨之下，爲原 — 靈樞·本輸

The fu alone 是謂五藏六府之腧

五藏五穴，六府六穴，所多者原

Five points to a viscus, six to a fu, and the sixth is the source.

是謂五藏六府之腧，五五二十五腧 — 靈樞·本輸

Counted in 六六三十六腧

原在六穴之中，故六府合三十六

The source is counted inside the thirty-six, not beside them.

六六三十六腧也 — 靈樞·本輸

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

2 passages

靈樞·本輸 Read in context →

膀胱出于至陰。至陰者，足小指之端也，爲井金；溜于通谷，通谷，本節之前，外側也，爲滎；注于朿骨，朿骨，本節之後，陷者中也，爲腧；過于京骨，京骨，足外側大骨之下，爲原；行于崑崙，崑崙，在外踝之後，跟骨之上，爲經；入于委中，委中，膕中央，爲合，委而取之，足太陽也。膀胱出于至阴。至阴者，足小指之端也，为井金；溜于通谷，通谷，本节之前，外侧也，为荥；注于朿骨，朿骨，本节之后，陷者中也，为腧；过于京骨，京骨，足外侧大骨之下，为原；行于昆仑，昆仑，在外踝之后，跟骨之上，为经；入于委中，委中，腘中央，为合，委而取之，足太阳也。

páng guāng chū yú zhì yīn. zhì yīn zhě, zú xiǎo zhǐ zhī duān yě, wéi jǐng jīn; liū yú tōng gǔ, tōng gǔ, běn jié zhī qián, wài cè yě, wéi yíng; zhù yú cì gǔ, cì gǔ, běn jié zhī hòu, xiàn zhě zhōng yě, wéi shù; guò yú jīng gǔ, jīng gǔ, zú wài cè dà gǔ zhī xià, wéi yuán; xíng yú kūn lún, kūn lún, zài wài huái zhī hòu, gēn gǔ zhī shàng, wéi jīng; rù yú wěi zhōng, wěi zhōng, guó zhōng yāng, wéi hé, wěi ér qǔ zhī, zú tài yáng yě.

The bladder emerges at Zhiyin. Zhiyin is at the tip of the little toe, and is the well-metal. It flows to Tonggu; Tonggu is in front of the section, on the outer side, and is the spring. It pours into Shugu; Shugu is behind the section, in the hollow, and is the stream. It passes to Jinggu; Jinggu is below the great bone on the outer side of the foot, and is the source. It moves to Kunlun; Kunlun is behind the outer ankle, above the heel bone, and is the river. It enters Weizhong; Weizhong is in the middle of the popliteal hollow, reached by bending, and is the sea. This is the foot taiyang [channel].

**「爲原」本篇6見**，六府各一，皆在「過于某穴」之後：京骨、丘墟、衝陽、陽池、腕骨、合谷。**五藏之穴止於五，六府之穴終於六**，所多者正是此原；故二十五與三十六之差，不在數目，在藏府之分。**此原與《九鍼十二原》之原同名而異實**：彼以五藏為主，此以六府為主。

靈樞·順氣一日分爲四時 Read in context →

黃帝曰：諸原安合，以致六輸？黄帝曰：诸原安合，以致六输？

Huáng Dì yuē: zhū yuán ān hé, yǐ zhì liù shū?

The Emperor said: How do the source points combine to make six transporting points?

「原」順氣一日分爲四時第19段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

原穴

yuán xué

source point

後世通名

十二原

shí èr yuán

the twelve sources

靈樞·九鍼十二原

所過爲原

suǒ guò wéi yuán

what it passes is the source

本篇六見之例

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 source	it follows the chapter, which says 爲原 and never 原穴
Literal	the spring-head	exact to the graph, and it reads oddly in a sentence about needling
Clinical	the source point	standard in needling literature, and it imports the later compound

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-24

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