Classica Sinica Medica

奪精 简体 夺精

duó jīng

Loss of essence · duo jing

Also rendered: Loss of essence (plain and exact) · Robbery of essence (keeps the force of 奪) · Essence seizure (literal, and it sounds like a fit)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
duó jīng
Simplified
夺精
Literal
奪 duó — to take away by force, to rob; 精 jīng — the refined reserve. Not a gradual spending but a seizure, and the chapter names the mechanism that does it.
Shuowen
《說文》：奪，手持隹失之也。精，擇也，引申為精氣。「奪精」本篇1見，為泣涕不止、液竭精不灌之候，篇中自名之。

In brief

The depletion named at the end of the chapter’s account of weeping. The heart is master of the five depots and six palaces, the eye gathers the ancestral vessels and is the upper road of liquid, the mouth and nose are the gates of qi; when sorrow moves the heart, the depots shake, the ancestral vessels respond, the liquid road opens, and tears come. The liquid is what irrigates the essence and moistens the hollow openings; let the weeping not stop and the liquid is exhausted, the essence is not poured, and the eye has nothing to see with. That is why it is called robbing the essence. The treatment is to supplement the pillar of heaven beside the neck.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The mechanism 液道開故泣涕出焉
液道开，所以哭泣流泪
The liquid road opens, and so weeping and tears come out.
液道開故泣涕出焉 — 靈樞·口問
2
The depletion 泣不止則液竭
哭泣不止，津液就枯竭
If the weeping does not stop, the liquid is exhausted.
泣不止則液竭 — 靈樞·口問
3
The consequence 精不灌則目無所見矣
精不能灌注，眼睛就看不见了
If the essence is not poured, the eye has nothing to see with.
精不灌則目無所見矣 — 靈樞·口問
4
The naming 故命曰奪精
所以叫作夺精
Therefore it is named loss of essence.
故命曰奪精 — 靈樞·口問
5
The treatment 補天柱經俠頸
补天柱经挟颈之处
Supplement the pillar of heaven channel beside the neck.
補天柱經俠頸 — 靈樞·口問

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
靈樞·口問 Read in context →
歧伯曰：心者，五藏六府之主也；目者，宗脉之所聚也，上液之道也；口鼻者，氣之門户也。故悲哀愁憂則心動，心動則五藏六府皆摇，摇則宗脉感，宗脉感則液道開，液道開故泣涕出焉。液者，所以灌精濡空竅者也，故上液之道開則泣，泣不止則液竭，液竭則精不灌，精不灌則目無所見矣，故命曰奪精。補天柱經俠頸。 歧伯曰：心者，五藏六府之主也；目者，宗脉之所聚也，上液之道也；口鼻者，气之门户也。故悲哀愁忧则心动，心动则五藏六府皆摇，摇则宗脉感，宗脉感则液道开，液道开故泣涕出焉。液者，所以灌精濡空窍者也，故上液之道开则泣，泣不止则液竭，液竭则精不灌，精不灌则目无所见矣，故命曰夺精。补天柱经侠颈。
Qí Bó yuē: xīn zhě, wǔ zàng liù fǔ zhī zhǔ yě; mù zhě, zōng mài zhī suǒ jù yě, shàng yè zhī dào yě; kǒu bí zhě, qì zhī mén hù yě. gù bēi āi chóu yōu zé xīn dòng, xīn dòng zé wǔ zàng liù fǔ jiē yáo, yáo zé zōng mài gǎn, zōng mài gǎn zé yè dào kāi, yè dào kāi gù qì tì chū yān. yè zhě, suǒ yǐ guàn jīng rú kōng qiào zhě yě, gù shàng yè zhī dào kāi zé qì, qì bù zhǐ zé yè jié, yè jié zé jīng bù guàn, jīng bù guàn zé mù wú suǒ jiàn yǐ, gù mìng yuē duó jīng. bǔ tiān zhù jīng xié jǐng.
Qibo said: the heart is the master of the five viscera and six receptacles; the eye is where the ancestral vessels gather and is the road of the upper fluids; mouth and nose are the doors of qi. So grief, sorrow and worry move the heart; the heart moved, the five viscera and six receptacles all shake; shaking, the ancestral vessels are stirred; stirred, the fluid road opens; the fluid road open, tears and mucus flow. Fluid is what irrigates the essence and moistens the empty orifices; so when the road of the upper fluids opens there are tears, and tears that do not stop exhaust the fluid; the fluid exhausted, the essence is not irrigated; the essence not irrigated, the eye sees nothing. So it is named seizing the essence. Tonify the Tianzhu channel beside the nape.
「奪精」本篇1見，承「泣不止則液竭」而言，液竭則精不灌，目遂無所見，篇中自名其候。

Compounds built on this term

泣不止則液竭
qì bù zhǐ zé yè jié
weeping unstopped, the liquid exhausted
奪精之由
天柱
tiān zhù
pillar of heaven
奪精所補

How it has been translated

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

This siteloss of essencethe chapter's own name
Literalessence robbedexact, and it is vivid
Clinicaldepletion of essence through fluid lossclear, and it is an explanation

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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