真藏

zhēn zàng

Zhenzang · the true storing pulse

Also rendered: true viscera (Reads 藏 as the organ rather than as its pulse) · genuine pulse (Loses the storing-organ sense entirely)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
zhēn zàng
Simplified
真藏
Literal
真 the true, stripped bare; 藏 the storing organ. The pulse of the organ itself, with nothing of the stomach left in it.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:真,僊人變形而登天也;《說文》新附:藏,匿也。醫書「藏」讀 zàng。

In brief

In the seventh chapter, the pulse that means death. Yin, in the sentence ‘what is called yin is the true storing pulse’, is not yin in general but this: the pulse of an organ whose qi stands exposed because the stomach’s qi is gone. Once it shows, the patient is ruined, and ruin means death. The chapter then prices it — liver eighteen days, heart nine, lung twelve, kidney seven, spleen four.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The pulse of the storing organ itself 真藏
A pulse with no stomach qi in it; the organ showing itself directly
所謂陰者,真藏也,見則爲敗,敗必死也 — Suwen 7
2
The prognostic reading 真藏
Counting the days: a term of days is attached to each organ's true storing pulse
凡持真脉之藏脉者,肝至懸絶急,十八日死 — Suwen 7

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
4 passages
素問·陰陽别論 Suwen 7 · 陰陽别論 Read in context →
所謂陰者,真藏也,見則爲敗,敗必死也。 所谓阴者,真藏也,见则为败,败必死也。
suǒ wèi yīn zhě, zhēn zàng yě, xiàn zé wéi bài, bài bì sǐ yě.
What is called the yin is the true storing pulse: once it appears, there is ruin, and ruin necessarily means death.
本篇斷生死之樞紐:陰不是泛言陰陽,而是胃氣已敗、藏真外露之脈。「見則爲敗」之「見」讀 xiàn,通「現」,謂脈形顯現於外。
素問·平人氣象論 Suwen 18 · 平人氣象論 Read in context →
肝見庚辛死。心見壬癸死。脾見甲乙死。肺見丙丁死。腎見戊己死。是謂真藏,見皆死。 肝见庚辛死。心见壬癸死。脾见甲乙死。肺见丙丁死。肾见戊己死。是谓真脏,见皆死。
gān jiàn gēng xīn sǐ. xīn jiàn rén guǐ sǐ. pǐ jiàn jiǎ yǐ sǐ. fèi jiàn bǐng dīng sǐ. shèn jiàn wù jǐ sǐ. shì wèi zhēn zàng, jiàn jiē sǐ.
The liver, meeting geng and xin, dies. The heart, meeting ren and gui, dies. The spleen, meeting jia and yi, dies. The lung, meeting bing and ding, dies. The kidney, meeting wu and ji, dies. This is called the true depot; when it appears, all die.
「肝見庚辛死。心見壬癸死。脾見甲乙死。肺見丙丁死。腎見戊己死。是謂真藏,見皆死」:本篇真藏之義,見於五臟應干支而死——各逢其所不勝之日。與第七篇「真藏」同條而義進:第七篇言真藏脈見者死,本篇則推其死期,肝見庚辛(金克木)、心見壬癸(水克火)、脾見甲乙(木克土)、肺見丙丁(火克金)、腎見戊己(土克水)。上文「但弦无胃曰死」等五者,即真藏脈之目。
素問·玉機真藏論 Suwen 19 · 玉機真藏論 Read in context →
黄帝曰:見真藏曰死,何也?歧伯曰:五藏者,皆禀氣於胃,胃者,五藏之本也。藏氣者,不能自致於手太陰,必因於胃氣,乃至於手太陰也。故五藏各以其時,自爲而至於手太陰也。故邪氣勝者,精氣衰也。故病甚者,胃氣不能與之俱至於手太陰。故真藏之氣獨見。獨見者,病勝藏也,故曰死。帝曰:善。 黄帝曰:见真藏曰死,何也?歧伯曰:五藏者,皆禀气于胃,胃者,五藏之本也。藏气者,不能自致于手太阴,必因于胃气,乃至于手太阴也。故五藏各以其时,自为而至于手太阴也。故邪气胜者,精气衰也。故病甚者,胃气不能与之俱至于手太阴。故真藏之气独见。独见者,病胜藏也,故曰死。帝曰:善。
Huáng dì yuē: jiàn zhēn zàng yuē sǐ, hé yě?Qí bó yuē: wǔ zàng zhě, jiē bǐng qì yú wèi, wèi zhě, wǔ zàng zhī běn yě. Zàng qì zhě, bù néng zì zhì yú shǒu tài yīn, bì yīn yú wèi qì, nǎi zhì yú shǒu tài yīn yě. Gù wǔ zàng gè yǐ qí shí, zì wéi ér zhì yú shǒu tài yīn yě. Gù xié qì shèng zhě, jīng qì shuāi yě. Gù bìng shèn zhě, wèi qì bù néng yǔ zhī jù zhì yú shǒu tài yīn. Gù zhēn zàng zhī qì dú xiàn. Dú xiàn zhě, bìng shèng zàng yě, gù yuē sǐ. Dì yuē: shàn.
The Yellow Emperor asks: why is it said that seeing the true viscera means death? Qibo answers: the five viscera all receive their qi from the stomach; the stomach is the root of the five viscera. The qi of a viscus cannot reach the hand taiyin by itself — it must go by way of stomach qi before it arrives there. Thus each viscus, in its own season, reaches the hand taiyin by its own act. When evil qi prevails, the essential qi declines. In severe disease the stomach qi cannot travel with it to the hand taiyin, and so the qi of the true viscus appears alone. Appearing alone means the disease has overcome the viscus — hence death. “Good,” says the Emperor.
「見真藏曰死,何也?……故真藏之氣獨見。獨見者,病勝藏也,故曰死」:本篇真藏之義,最為詳備——先舉真肝、真心、真肺、真腎、真脾五脈之形,各以色之青白、赤黑、白赤、黑黄、黄青不澤與「毛折乃死」結之,復設「見真藏曰死,何也」一問而明其故。與第七篇「真藏」、第十八篇「肝見庚辛死……是謂真藏,見皆死」同條而義進:第七篇言真藏脈見者死,第十八篇以之配干支而定死日,本篇則推其所以死之故——藏氣不能自致於手太陰,必因於胃氣乃至;胃氣不能與之俱至,故真藏之氣獨見。
素問·三部九候論 Suwen 20 · 三部九候論 Read in context →
察其府藏,以知死生之期。必先知經脉,然後知病脉。真藏脉見者勝死。 察其府藏,以知死生之期。必先知经脉,然后知病脉。真藏脉见者胜死。
Chá qí fǔ zàng, yǐ zhī sǐ shēng zhī qī. Bì xiān zhī jīng mài, rán hòu zhī bìng mài. Zhēn zàng mài xiàn zhě shèng sǐ.
Examine the storehouses and the viscera to know the term of life and death. One must first know the pulses of the channels, and only then know the pulses of disease. Where a true visceral pulse appears, death comes at the quarter that conquers it.
「察其府藏,以知死生之期。必先知經脉,然後知病脉。真藏脉見者勝死」:本篇真藏之義,在為死期之所由——真藏脈見者,至其所不勝之時而死(勝死)。與第七篇「真藏」、第十八篇「肝見庚辛死……是謂真藏,見皆死」、第十九篇「見真藏曰死,何也」同條而義進:第七篇言真藏脈見者死,第十八篇以之配干支而定死日,第十九篇推其所以死之故(胃氣不能與藏氣俱至於手太陰,故真藏之氣獨見),本篇則承之而言「勝死」——真藏之脈既見,則死於其所勝之時;上文「察其府藏,以知死生之期」即其綱。

Compounds built on this term

真藏脉
zhēn zàng mài
the true storing pulse
The fuller form
真脉
zhēn mài
the true pulse
How this chapter abbreviates it
藏脉
zàng mài
the storing pulse
The pulse of the storing organ, in the same sentence

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishtrue viscera pulse / genuine pulseBoth current; neither says that the pulse has been stripped of the stomach's qi.
This sitethe true storing pulse藏 kept as storing ties the word to the five storing organs, and the gloss can then say what the chapter says — that this is what remains when the stomach's qi is gone.

Entry status

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2026-09

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