Classica Sinica Medica

緩筋 简体 缓筋

huǎn jīn

The slack sinew · huan jin

Also rendered: The slack sinew (literal, and it keeps 緩) · The loose sinew (plainer, and the same) · The slack sinew (the site's convention)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
huǎn jīn
Simplified
缓筋
Literal
緩 huǎn — slack, loose; 筋 jīn — sinew. Together: the slack sinew — the abdominal sinew that gives under the hand.
Shuowen
《說文》：緩，𦇻也。从糸爰聲。緩筋者，腹裏之筋，其體鬆緩，故以爲名。

In brief

The loose sinew of the abdomen, named for its texture rather than its place. An accumulation on it mimics the yang brightness accumulation: pain after eating, ease when hungry. It is also the path by which a mass at the membrane source spreads its pain outward — 痛而外連於緩筋. Being slack is not a fault: it is why the evil can lodge there at all, and why the pain behaves differently from pain fixed in a tight place.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Where 其著於緩筋也
它附著在緩筋
It settles on the slack sinew.
其著於緩筋也 — 靈樞·百病始生
2
Its sign 飽食則痛，饑則安
飽食則痛，饑則安
Pain when full, ease when hungry.
飽食則痛，饑則安 — 靈樞·百病始生
3
Its likeness 似陽明之積
像陽明經的積
It resembles the yang brightness accumulation.
似陽明之積 — 靈樞·百病始生
4
Its link 痛而外連於緩筋
痛向外連及緩筋
A membrane-source mass spreads its pain outward along it.
痛而外連於緩筋 — 靈樞·百病始生

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·百病始生 Read in context →
其著於緩筋也，似陽明之積，飽食則痛，饑則安。 其著于缓筋也，似阳明之积，饱食则痛，饥则安。
qí zhuó yú huǎn jīn yě, shì yáng míng zhī jī, bǎo shí zé tòng, jī zé ān.
When it lodges in the slack sinew, it is like the yangming accumulation: pain after eating, ease with hunger.
「緩筋」本篇3見，腹裏之筋，其體鬆緩。積著於此，飽食則痛、饑則安，似陽明之積；募原之積亦外連此筋。
靈樞·通天 Read in context →
少師曰：太陰之人，多陰而無陽，其陰血濁，其衛氣濇，陰陽不和，緩筋而厚皮，不之疾寫，不能移之。 少师曰：太阴之人，多阴而无阳，其阴血浊，其卫气涩，阴阳不和，缓筋而厚皮，不之疾写，不能移之。
shào shī yuē: tài yīn zhī rén, duō yīn ér wú yáng, qí yīn xuè zhuó, qí wèi qì sè, yīn yáng bù hé, huǎn jīn ér hòu pí, bù zhī jí xiè, bù néng yí zhī.
Shao Shi said: The greater yin man is much yin and no yang; his yin blood is turbid and his guarding qi rough; yin and yang are not harmonised; his sinews are slack and his skin thick. Unless he is swiftly drained, his illness cannot be shifted.
「緩筋」通天第12段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

募原
mù yuán
membrane source
腸胃之外膜
陽明之積
yáng míng zhī jī
the yang brightness accumulation
挾臍而居之積

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe slack sinewtexture as name
Literalthe slow sinewwrong sense of 緩
Clinicalthe loose fascia of the abdomenclear, and interpretive

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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Reading path

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