痿厥

wěi jué

Flaccidity and inversion

Also rendered: wei jue (Pinyin) · wasting and reversal (alternative)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
wěi jué
Simplified
痿厥
Literal
痿 is flaccidity and wasting; 厥 is inversion, cold extremities with reversed flow.

In brief

A compound of weakness and cold: the limbs waste and lose their strength while the extremities turn cold because the qi no longer reaches them. Here it follows damp contracted in autumn.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Flaccidity with cold limbs 痿厥
Wasting weakness of the limbs together with reversed, cold flow.
秋傷於濕,上逆而欬,發為痿厥。 — Suwen 3

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
6 passages
素問·陰陽别論 Suwen 7 · 陰陽别論 Read in context →
曰:三陽爲病,發寒熱,下爲癰腫,及爲痿厥腨㾓。 曰:三阳为病,发寒热,下为痈肿,及为痿厥腨㾓。
yuē: sān yáng wéi bìng, fā hán rè, xià wéi yōng zhǒng, jí wéi wěi jué shuàn yuān.
It is said: when the third yang is diseased, it produces cold and heat; below, it becomes abscesses and swellings, and also weakness, reversal, and aching of the calf.
本篇之痿厥由太陽經氣不利而發,與第五篇「痿厥」並見;腨㾓讀 shuàn yuān,即小腿肚酸痛,王冰注「㾓,酸疼也」。
素問·異法方宜論 Suwen 12 · 異法方宜論 Read in context →
其民食雜而不勞,故其病多痿厥寒熱,其治宜導引按蹻,故導引按蹻者,亦從中央出也。 其民食杂而不劳,故其病多痿厥寒热,其治宜导引按蹻,故导引按蹻者,亦从中央出也。
qí mín shí zá ér bù láo, gù qí bìng duō wěi jué hán rè, qí zhì yí dǎo yǐn àn qiāo, gù dǎo yǐn àn qiāo zhě, yì cóng zhōng yāng chū yě.
Its people eat a mixed diet and do not labour, and so their illnesses are mostly weakness, reversal, cold and heat. Their treatment is suited to guiding and pulling, pressing and lifting — and so guiding, pulling, pressing and lifting came out of the centre.
本篇中央之病「多痿厥寒熱」:王冰「濕氣在下,故多病痿弱、氣逆及寒熱也」,並引《陰陽應象大論》「地之濕氣,感則害皮肉筋脈」。與第五篇「下為癰腫,及為痿厥」同例;本篇更以地勢濕、民不勞釋其所以然,治宜導引按蹻。
素問·通評虚實論 Suwen 28 · 通評虚實論 Read in context →
凡治消癉、仆擊、偏枯、痿厥、氣滿、發逆,肥貴人,則高梁之疾也。 凡治消瘅、仆击、偏枯、痿厥、气满、发逆,肥贵人,则高梁之疾也。
Fán zhì xiāo dān, pū jī, piān kū, wěi jué, qì mǎn, fā nì, féi guì rén, zé gāo liáng zhī jí yě.
In treating wasting-and-thirsting, falling stroke, one-sided withering, limp inversion, qi fullness and uprising counterflow — when the patient is fat and of high station, these are diseases of fine grain and rich meat.
「凡治消癉、仆擊、偏枯、痿厥、氣滿、發逆,肥貴人,則高梁之疾也」——痿厥之目見於此,與消癉、仆擊、偏枯同列為肥貴人之疾。**「痿」讀 wěi**;「厥」讀 jué,本篇三見(痿厥、暴厥、厥狂);「凡」讀 fán,本篇惟此一見;「肥」讀 féi;「貴」讀 guì;**「梁」讀 liáng,本篇惟此一見**,「高梁」通「膏粱」,謂肥甘厚味。此節是《內經》論富貴病之最早明文:病之來,有由於其所食者。
素問·四氣調神大論 Suwen 2 · 四氣調神大論 Read in context →
冬三月,此謂閉藏。水冰地坼,無擾乎陽,早卧晚起,必待日光。使志若伏若匿,若有私意,若已有得,去寒就温,無泄皮膚,使氣亟奪。此冬氣之應,養藏之道也。逆之則傷腎,春爲痿厥,奉生者少。 冬三月,此谓闭藏。水冰地坼,无扰乎阳,早卧晚起,必待日光。使志若伏若匿,若有私意,若已有得,去寒就温,无泄皮肤,使气亟夺。此冬气之应,养藏之道也。逆之则伤肾,春为痿厥,奉生者少。
Dōng sān yuè, cǐ wèi bì cáng. shuǐ bīng dì chè, wú rǎo hū yáng, zǎo wò wǎn qǐ, bì dài rì guāng. shǐ zhì ruò fú ruò nì, ruò yǒu sī yì, ruò yǐ yǒu dé, qù hán jiù wēn, wú xiè pí fū, shǐ qì qì duó. cǐ dōng qì zhī yìng, yǎng cáng zhī dào yě. nì zhī zé shāng shèn, chūn wéi wěi jué, fèng shēng zhě shǎo.
The three months of winter are called the shutting in and the storing. Water is ice and the earth is split; do not disturb the yang. Sleep early and rise late, and always wait for the light of the sun. Make the will as though it were lying low, as though it were hidden, as though one held a private thought, as though one had already gained something. Leave the cold and draw near to the warm; do not let anything out through the skin, or the qi will be taken from you again and again. This is the answer to the qi of winter, and it is the way of nourishing the storing. Going against it harms the kidney; in spring there is flaccidity and inversion, and there is little to hand on to what must come to life.
「春爲痿厥」——逆冬氣之罰,奉生者少;痿讀 wěi,厥讀 jué;**「痿厥」本篇1見**
素問·生氣通天論 Suwen 3 · 生氣通天論 Read in context →
因於露風,乃生寒熱。是以春傷於風,邪氣留連,乃爲洞泄。夏傷於暑,秋爲痎瘧;秋傷於濕,上逆而欬,發爲痿厥;冬傷於寒,春必温病。四時之氣,更傷五藏。 因于露风,乃生寒热。是以春伤于风,邪气留连,乃为洞泄。夏伤于暑,秋为痎疟;秋伤于湿,上逆而咳,发为痿厥;冬伤于寒,春必温病。四时之气,更伤五脏。
Yīn yú lù fēng, nǎi shēng hán rè. shì yǐ chūn shāng yú fēng, xié qì liú lián, nǎi wéi dòng xiè. xià shāng yú shǔ, qiū wéi jiē nüè; qiū shāng yú shī, shàng nì ér kài, fā wéi wěi jué; dōng shāng yú hán, chūn bì wēn bìng. sì shí zhī qì, gēng shāng wǔ zàng.
Meeting dew and wind brings cold and heat. Thus one wounded by wind in spring lets the evil qi linger on, and in summer there is pouring diarrhoea; wounded by summer heat, in autumn there is jie malaria; wounded by dampness in autumn, the qi counterflows upward and there is coughing, and flaccidity and inversion develop; wounded by cold in winter, in spring there is sure to be warm disease. This is how the qi of the four seasons injure the five viscera in turn.
「發爲痿厥」——秋傷於濕,上逆而欬,發為痿厥;痿讀 wěi,厥讀 jué;**「痿厥」本篇1見**
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
其氣滯,其用滲泄,其動堅止,其發燥槁,其藏腎,其果棗、杏,其實濡肉,其榖黍、稷,其味甘、鹹,其色黅𤣥,其畜彘牛,其蟲鱗倮,其主埃鬱昏翳,其聲羽宫,其病痿厥堅下,從土化也。 其气滞,其用渗泄,其动坚止,其发燥槁,其藏肾,其果枣、杏,其实濡肉,其谷黍、稷,其味甘、咸,其色黅𤣥,其畜彘牛,其虫鳞倮,其主埃郁昏翳,其声羽宫,其病痿厥坚下,从土化也。
Qí qì zhì, qí yòng shèn xiè, qí dòng jiān zhǐ, qí fā zào gǎo, qí zàng shèn, qí guǒ zǎo, xìng, qí shí rú ròu, qí gǔ shǔ, jì, qí wèi gān, xián, qí sè jīn xuán, qí chù zhì niú, qí chóng lín luǒ, qí zhǔ āi yù hūn yì, qí shēng yǔ gōng, qí bìng wěi jué jiān xià, cóng tǔ huà yě.
Its qi stagnant, its use seeping and leaking, its movement hard and stopped, its outbreak dry and parched, its viscus the kidney, its fruit the jujube and the apricot, its kernel moist flesh, its grain glutinous and panicled millet, its flavour sweet and salty, its colour yellow and black, its domestic animal the pig and the ox, its creature the scaly and the naked, its charge dust, pent-up gloom and darkening, its sound yu and gong, its illness flaccidity, counterflow, hardness below; for it follows the transformation of earth.
**「痿厥」本篇1見,止在涸流之紀「其病痿厥堅下」**;**五紀之末皆有「其病」一句:其病厥、其病脹、其病腹滿、其病痿厥堅下**

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This siteFlaccidity and inversion

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2026-09

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