Classica Sinica Medica

四末

sì mò

The four ends · si mo

Also rendered: The four extremities (standard, and it is anatomical) · The four tips (literal, and it sounds small) · The four ends (keeps 末 as a turning point, not a terminus)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
sì mò
Simplified
四末
Literal
四 sì — four; 末 mò — an end, the tip of a branch. Together: the four extremities, where the channels turn back.
Shuowen
《說文》：末，木上曰末。引申爲凡物之端。四末謂四肢之端，非四梢之謂。

In brief

The four ends are the hands and feet, and the chapter gives them a function rather than a location: they are where yin and yang meet, and the great network vessels spread into them. Because qi returns there, a blockage at the centre does not stop the ring — it reroutes it through the streets. This is the chapter’s answer to how the circuit survives an obstruction: the extremities are not a terminus but a turning point.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The four 夫四末陰陽之會者
四末是陰陽會合之處
The four ends are where yin and yang meet.
夫四末陰陽之會者 — 靈樞·動輸
2
What spreads there 此氣之大絡也
這是氣的大絡
The great network vessels spread into them.
此氣之大絡也 — 靈樞·動輸
3
The turn 四末解則氣從合
四末鬆解則氣復會合
When the ends are loosened the qi joins again.
四末解則氣從合 — 靈樞·動輸
4
The ring 相輸如環
相互輸注如環
They feed one another like a ring — the figure the chapter ends on.
相輸如環 — 靈樞·動輸

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·動輸 Read in context →
歧伯曰：夫四末陰陽之會者，此氣之大絡也。四街者，氣之徑路也。故絡絶則徑通，四末解則氣從合，相輸如環。 歧伯曰：夫四末阴阳之会者，此气之大络也。四街者，气之径路也。故络绝则径通，四末解则气从合，相输如环。
Qí Bó yuē: fū sì mò yīn yáng zhī huì zhě, cǐ qì zhī dà luò yě. sì jiē zhě, qì zhī jìng lù yě. gù luò jué zé jìng tōng, sì mò jiě zé qì cóng hé, xiāng shū rú huán.
Qi Bo said: The meeting of yin and yang at the four extremities — these are the great networks of qi. The four streets are the direct roads of qi. Hence when the networks are cut, the direct roads run; when the four extremities are released, the qi joins again from its meeting places, and transport goes on like a ring.
「四末」本篇2見，謂四肢之端，爲陰陽所會、大絡所布，氣至則復合而相輸如環。
靈樞·邪客 Read in context →
伯高曰：五穀入于胃也，其糟粕、津液、宗氣，分爲三隧，故宗氣積于胸中，出于喉嚨，以貫心脉，而行呼吸焉。營氣者，泌其津液，注之於脉，化以爲血，以榮四末，内注五藏六府，以應刻數焉。 伯高曰：五谷入于胃也，其糟粕、津液、宗气，分为三隧，故宗气积于胸中，出于喉咙，以贯心脉，而行呼吸焉。营气者，泌其津液，注之于脉，化以为血，以荣四末，内注五藏六府，以应刻数焉。
Bó Gāo yuē: wǔ gǔ rù yú wèi yě, qí zāo pò, jīn yè, zōng qì, fēn wéi sān suì, gù zōng qì jī yú xiōng zhōng, chū yú hóu lóng, yǐ guàn xīn mài, ér xíng hū xī yān. yíng qì zhě, mì qí jīn yè, zhù zhī yú mài, huà yǐ wéi xuè, yǐ róng sì mò, nèi zhù wǔ zàng liù fǔ, yǐ yīng kè shù yān.
Bo Gao said: When the five grains enter the stomach, the dregs, the fluids and the ancestral qi divide into three channels. The ancestral qi gathers in the chest, issues from the throat, runs through the heart vessel and drives respiration. The nutritive qi secretes its fluids, pours them into the vessels and transforms them into blood, so that it gladdens the four extremities and inwardly infuses the five viscera and six bowels, matching the marks of the clepsydra.
「四末」邪客第2段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

大絡
dà luò
the great network vessel
絡之大者
如環無端
rú huán wú duān
like a ring without an end
循環不已

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe four endsthe graph, and the chapter's use
Literalthe four branch-tipsexact, and botanical
Clinicalthe distal limbsclear, and it loses the ring

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

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