Classica Sinica Medica

目窠

mù kē

The eye hollow · mu ke

Also rendered: The eye hollow (keeps the socket and its hollowness) · The eye socket (familiar, and it loses the sense of a nest) · Below the eyes (plain, and it names the place by relation)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
mù kē
Simplified
目窠
Literal
目 mù — the eye; 窠 kē — a hollow, a nest, a depression. The socket beneath the eye, where the bone gives way.
Shuowen
《說文》：目，人眼也；窠，空也，一曰鳥巢。「目窠」本篇1見，在「目窠上微腫」一句，為水病初起之候。

In brief

Where water first shows. The chapter opens its account of water with a single sign: a slight swelling above the eye hollow, as though the patient had just risen from sleep. The place is chosen with care — the skin is thin, the tissue loose, and water, being yin and tending downward, collects where resistance is least; the same observation is made in the Suwen’s discourse on febrile disease, where swelling below the eyes introduces the account of water. From there the chapter follows the course: the neck pulse moves, there is a cough from time to time, cold in the inner thigh, swelling of the shins, and then the belly enlarges and the water is established. The hollow is thus a threshold: what appears there is not yet the disease, but it is the place where the disease can first be seen.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The sign 目窠上微腫
目窠上方微微肿起
A slight swelling above the eye hollow.
目窠上微腫 — 靈樞·水脹
2
What it resembles 如新臥起之狀
像刚睡醒起来的样子
Like the look of one just risen from sleep.
如新臥起之狀 — 靈樞·水脹
3
What follows it 其頸脉動，時欬，陰股間寒，足脛瘇
颈脉动，时常咳嗽，大腿内侧发冷，小腿肿
The neck pulse moves, there is a cough, cold in the inner thigh, swelling of the shins.
其頸脉動，時欬，陰股間寒，足脛瘇 — 靈樞·水脹
4
Where the hollow is 目窠
目下陷處
The hollow: the depression below the eye.
目窠上微腫 — 靈樞·水脹

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·水脹 Read in context →
歧伯答曰：水始起也，目窠上微腫，如新臥起之狀，其頸脉動，時欬，陰股間寒，足脛瘇，腹乃大，其水已成矣。以手按其腹，隨手而起，如裹水之狀，此其候也。 歧伯答曰：水始起也，目窠上微肿，如新卧起之状，其颈脉动，时欬，阴股间寒，足胫瘇，腹乃大，其水已成矣。以手按其腹，随手而起，如裹水之状，此其候也。
Qí Bó dá yuē: shuǐ shǐ qǐ yě, mù kē shàng wēi zhǒng, rú xīn wò qǐ zhī zhuàng, qí jǐng mài dòng, shí kài, yīn gǔ jiān hán, zú jìng zhǒng, fù nǎi dà, qí shuǐ yǐ chéng yǐ. yǐ shǒu àn qí fù, suí shǒu ér qǐ, rú guǒ shuǐ zhī zhuàng, cǐ qí hòu yě.
Qi Bo answered: When water first arises, there is slight swelling above the eye sockets, as after just waking; the neck vessels throb, there is occasional cough, cold in the inner thigh, and swelling of the shins; then the belly grows large, and the water is formed. Press the abdomen and it rises at once under the hand, as though water were wrapped inside. That is its sign.
「目窠」本篇1見，水始起先腫于此，皮薄肉鬆而水易聚，與《素問·評熱病論》目下腫同義。
靈樞·論疾診尺 Read in context →
視人之目窠上微癰，如新卧起狀，其頸脉動，時欬，按其手足上，窅而不起者，風水膚脹也。人膚滑，其淖澤者，風也。尺肉弱者，解㑊安卧脱肉者，寒𤍠不治。尺膚滑而澤脂者，風也。尺膚濇者，風痺也。尺膚麤如枯魚之鱗者，水泆飲也。尺膚𤍠甚，脉盛躁者，病温也。其脉盛而滑者，病且出也。尺膚寒，其脉小者，泄少氣。尺膚炬然，先𤍠後寒者，寒𤍠也。尺膚先寒，久大之而𤍠者，亦寒𤍠也。 视人之目窠上微痈，如新卧起状，其颈脉动，时欬，按其手足上，窅而不起者，风水肤胀也。人肤滑，其淖泽者，风也。尺肉弱者，解㑊安卧脱肉者，寒𤍠不治。尺肤滑而泽脂者，风也。尺肤涩者，风痹也。尺肤麤如枯鱼之鳞者，水泆饮也。尺肤𤍠甚，脉盛躁者，病温也。其脉盛而滑者，病且出也。尺肤寒，其脉小者，泄少气。尺肤炬然，先𤍠后寒者，寒𤍠也。尺肤先寒，久大之而𤍠者，亦寒𤍠也。
shì rén zhī mù kē shàng wēi yōng, rú xīn wò qǐ zhuàng, qí jǐng mài dòng, shí kài, àn qí shǒu zú shàng, yǎo ér bù qǐ zhě, fēng shuǐ fū zhàng yě. rén fū huá, qí nào zé zhě, fēng yě. chǐ ròu ruò zhě, xiè yì ān wò tuō ròu zhě, hán rè bù zhì. chǐ fū huá ér zé zhī zhě, fēng yě. chǐ fū sè zhě, fēng bì yě. chǐ fū cū rú kū yú zhī lín zhě, shuǐ yì yǐn yě. chǐ fū rè shèn, mài shèng zào zhě, bìng wēn yě. qí mài shèng ér huá zhě, bìng qiě chū yě. chǐ fū hán, qí mài xiǎo zhě, xiè shǎo qì. chǐ fū jù rán, xiān rè hòu hán zhě, hán rè yě. chǐ fū xiān hán, jiǔ dà zhī ér rè zhě, yì hán rè yě.
When the hollow above the eye is slightly swollen, as after first rising from sleep, when the neck pulse beats and there is occasional cough, and when pressing the hands and feet leaves a pit that does not rise, it is wind-water and skin swelling. If the skin is slippery and glossy, it is wind. If the flesh of the cubit is weak, with laziness, lying down and wasting, cold and heat will not be cured. If the cubit skin is slippery and oily, it is wind; if rough, it is wind obstruction. If the cubit skin is coarse like the scales of a dried fish, it is water overflowing as drink. If the cubit skin is very hot and the pulse full and restless, it is a warm disease; if the pulse is full and slippery, the illness is about to come out. If the cubit skin is cold and the pulse small, there is diarrhoea and lack of qi. If the cubit skin burns and there is heat first and cold after, it is cold and heat; if the cubit skin is cold first and grows hot under long pressure, it is also cold and heat.
「目窠」論疾診尺第3段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

微腫
wēi zhǒng
slight swelling
水始起之候
頸脉動
jǐng mài dòng
the neck pulse moves
水已成之徵

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe eye hollowthe text's own image
Literalthe eye's nestexact, and it is quaint
Clinicalthe infraorbital regionclear, and it is anatomical

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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