革

gé

The drumskin quality · ge

Also rendered: The leather pulse (Literal) · The tympanic pulse (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-28

At a glance

Pinyin: gé
Simplified: 革
Literal: 革 gé — hide with the hair stripped, drumskin; hence a surface taut and hard, hollow beneath. As a pulse it is firm on the outside and empty within, like a drum.
Shuowen: **《說文》：革，獸皮治去其毛曰革**。**「革」五篇共1見**（經文），僅一處，即「寒虚相摶，此名爲革」，然其名一立，後世脉學之革脉即本於此。

In brief

The drumskin quality, named once in the five chapters: when cold and emptiness strike together and the pulse is hollow within while taut without, it is called 革. The consequence given is severe and specific — miscarriage and leakage in women, loss of blood and semen in men. Because the book gives the name only here, the entry is short: it records the single occurrence, the sequence that produces it (large → hollow → empty → drumskin), and the two outcomes, without importing later descriptions of the shape.

Senses in the classical corpus

The name 此名爲革

寒虚相搏，脉中空外堅，名之為革

When cold and emptiness strike together, this is named the drumskin.

寒虚相摶，此名爲革 — 傷寒論·辨脉法第一

How it is reached 芤則爲虚，寒虚相摶，此名爲革

由芤而虚，由虚而革

Large becomes hollow, diminished becomes cold, hollow becomes empty, and cold and emptiness striking together are named the drumskin: the name is the end of that chain.

芤則爲虚，寒虚相摶，此名爲革 — 傷寒論·辨脉法第一

What it brings in women 婦人則半産漏下

革脉在婦人主半産漏下

In women it brings miscarriage and leakage.

此名爲革。婦人則半産漏下 — 傷寒論·辨脉法第一

What it brings in men 男子則亡血失精

革脉在男子主亡血失精

In men it brings loss of blood and of semen.

此名爲革。婦人則半産漏下，男子則亡血失精 — 傷寒論·辨脉法第一

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

1 passages

傷寒論·辨脉法第一 Read in context →

脉弦而大，弦則爲減，大則爲芤，減則爲寒，芤則爲虚，寒虚相摶，此名爲革。婦人則半産漏下，男子則亡血失精。脉弦而大，弦则为减，大则为芤，减则为寒，芤则为虚，寒虚相抟，此名为革。妇人则半产漏下，男子则亡血失精。

mài xián ér dà xián zé wéi jiǎn dà zé wéi kōu jiǎn zé wéi hán kōu zé wéi xū hán xū xiāng tuán cǐ míng wéi gé fù rén zé bàn chǎn lòu xià nán zǐ zé wáng xuè shī jīng

A pulse wiry and large: wiry means diminished, large means hollow, diminished means cold, hollow means vacuous; cold and vacuity striking together is called the leather pulse. In women it brings miscarriage and dripping menses, in men the loss of blood and semen.

**「革」五篇共1見**（經文，不含成注），本文引第1篇第18段。

Compounds built on this term

革脉

gé mài

the drumskin pulse

辨脉法第一

此名爲革

cǐ míng wéi gé

this is named the drumskin

辨脉法第一

半産漏下

bàn chǎn lòu xià

miscarriage and leakage

辨脉法第一

How it has been translated

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

This site	the drumskin quality	one occurrence, one name
Literal	hide	exact as material, silent as a pulse
Clinical	hard and hollow	clear, and it is the definition, not a name

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-28

Search the glossary

Reading path

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

See all reading paths