不能食

bù néng shí

Inability to eat · bu neng shi

Also rendered: Inability to eat (This site) · Cannot eat (Literal) · Anorexia (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin: bù néng shí
Simplified: 不能食
Literal: 能 néng is to be able; 食 shí is to eat, and also food itself. 不能食 is thus not dislike of food but incapacity for it — the patient cannot get it down or keep it. In the yang brightness chapter the phrase is a pivot: the same symptom opens two opposite readings, cold in the stomach and dry stool within.
Shuowen: **《說文》：「能，熊屬。」** 借爲能否之能；「食，一米也。」**六至十篇十二見**：第六篇二（行219、284）、第八篇九（行477、485、486、492、526、536、553、556、611）、第九篇一（行637）。**一篇之中兩義對峙**：**中寒不能食**，胃中虚冷，食不下；**燥屎反不能食**，胃中必有燥屎五六枚。**辨之之法**：能食者但鞕，不能食者燥屎；又問小便、按腹、察脉，方不誤。

In brief

The patient cannot eat. In the yang brightness chapter this single sign divides into two opposites that must not be confused. Cold in the middle: the stomach is vacuous and cold, food will not go down, the urine is scanty, the hands and feet sweat steadily, and to attack the heat would bring hiccough. Dry stool within: the chapter says flatly that where there is raving, tide-like fever and yet no appetite, five or six pieces of dry stool must be in the stomach, while one who can eat has only hardness. The same word therefore marks either an empty stomach or a full one, and the chapter separates them by appetite itself, by the stool, and by the pulse. Elsewhere the phrase appears in shaoyang, where dry retching and inability to eat accompany the alternation of chill and fever.

Senses in the classical corpus

中風與中寒之分不能食，名“中寒”

陽明病以能食不能食分中風中寒：能食者名中風，不能食者名中寒，一熱一冷，界在胃氣

Yang brightness disease is divided by appetite: one who can eat is called wind-stroke, one who cannot is called cold-strike. The one is hot, the other cold, and the boundary lies in the stomach qi.

陽明病，若能食，名“中風”；不能食，名“中寒”。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八

燥屎反不能食反不能食者，胃中必有燥屎五六枚也

讝語潮熱而反不能食，是燥屎內結、胃氣不通；若能食者但鞕耳，宜大承氣下之

Raving and tide-like fever with appetite gone instead of increased: dry stool is knotted within and the stomach qi cannot pass. One who can eat has hardness only. Great qi-settling is indicated.

陽明病，讝語，有潮熱，反不能食者，胃中必有燥屎五六枚也。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八

胃中虚冷陽明病，不能食，攻其熱必噦

不能食而攻其熱必噦，以胃中虚冷、其人本虚；虚寒在胃，誤攻則噦，與燥屎之不能食正相反

To attack the heat in a patient who cannot eat brings hiccough, for the stomach is vacuous and cold and the patient was empty to begin with. This is the exact opposite of the inability to eat that dry stool produces.

陽明病，不能食，攻其熱必噦，所以然者，胃中虚冷故也。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

3 passages

辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →

陽明病，若能食，名“中風”；不能食，名“中寒”。阳明病，若能食，名“中风”；不能食，名“中寒”。

yáng míng bìng ruò néng shí míng zhòng fēng bù néng shí míng zhòng hán

In yangming disease, if the patient can eat, it is called struck by wind; if he cannot eat, it is called struck by cold.

以能食不能食分中風中寒，是陽明篇最簡的二分法。

辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →

陽明病，讝語，有潮熱，反不能食者，胃中必有燥屎五六枚也。若能食者，但鞕爾，宜大承氣湯下之。阳明病，讝语，有潮热，反不能食者，胃中必有燥屎五六枚也。若能食者，但硬尔，宜大承气汤下之。

yáng míng bìng zhān yǔ yǒu cháo rè fǎn bù néng shí zhě wèi zhōng bì yǒu zào shǐ wǔ liù méi yě ruò néng shí zhě dàn yìng ěr yí dà chéng qì tāng xià zhī

In yangming disease with delirious speech and tidal fever, if the patient cannot eat, there must be five or six pieces of dry dung in the stomach. If he can eat, it is hardness only, and Major Qi-Ordering Decoction should be given to purge it.

「反不能食」的「反」字最重：本當能食而反不能，故知燥屎。

辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →

陽明病，不能食，攻其熱必噦，所以然者，胃中虚冷故也。以其人本虚，故攻其熱必噦。阳明病，不能食，攻其热必哕，所以然者，胃中虚冷故也。以其人本虚，故攻其热必哕。

yáng míng bìng bù néng shí gōng qí rè bì yuě suǒ yǐ rán zhě wèi zhōng xū lěng gù yě yǐ qí rén běn xū gù gōng qí rè bì yuě

In yangming disease with inability to eat, attacking the heat will surely cause retching, because the stomach is empty and cold. Since the person is originally empty, attacking the heat will surely cause retching.

同一不能食，一爲燥屎當下，一爲虚冷不可攻，誤則噦。

Compounds built on this term

不能食

bù néng shí

inability to eat

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

能食

néng shí

able to eat

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

中寒

zhōng hán

cold strike

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

胃中虚冷

wèi zhōng xū lěng

vacuity and cold in the stomach

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

How it has been translated

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

This site	inability to eat	keeps 能 as capacity, not appetite
Literal	cannot eat	exact but flat
Clinical	anorexia	standard, loses the cold/repletion division

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2026-10-31

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