Classica Sinica Medica

奇𢘆之府 简体 奇恒之府

qí héng zhī fǔ

The extraordinary constant palaces

Also rendered: extraordinary constant palaces (Literal; keeps both halves of the contradiction) · extraordinary organs (Usual in textbooks; drops 恆 entirely) · curious hollow organs (Adds an anatomical reading the text does not make)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
qí héng zhī fǔ
Simplified
奇恒之府
Literal
奇 odd, singular; 恆 constant, ordinary; 府 palace, storehouse. The phrase is a contradiction deliberately held together — these six are palaces in shape but storing organs in behaviour, and so they are constant palaces that are at the same time odd ones.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：奇，異也；恆，常也（古文恆从月，底本字作「𢘆」，即其一系）；府，文書藏也。

In brief

Brain, marrow, bone, vessels, gallbladder and the womb. They are born of the qi of earth, they store in the yin and image the earth, and they store without discharging — which is what a storing organ does, not what a palace does. Wang Bing gives the reason they cannot be classed with the true organs: they are not paired with them as interior and exterior, the gallbladder is joined to the liver yet does not pass things along as the palaces do, and the womb both takes in and gives out. The name keeps both halves of the paradox.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Six that store and do not discharge 藏而不冩
Shaped like palaces, behaving like storing organs
腦、髓、骨、脉、膽、女子胞，此六者，地氣之所生也，皆藏於陰而象於地，故藏而不冩，名曰奇𢘆之府 — Suwen 11
2
Born of earth, not heaven 地氣之所生
The test that divides the two classes is whether a part images earth or heaven
此六者，地氣之所生也…皆藏於陰而象於地 — Suwen 11
3
Not paired with any storing organ 不正與神藏為表裏
Wang Bing's reason for calling them odd
腦髓骨脉，雖名為府，不正與神藏為表裏 — Suwen 11 (Wang Bing)
4
The gallbladder belongs twice 膽
Counted among the twelve offices in Suwen 8 and among these six here; Wang Bing separates the two roles
膽與肝合，而不同六府之傳寫 — Suwen 11 (Wang Bing)

Occurrences in the classics

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

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1 passages
素問·五藏别論 Suwen 11 · 五藏别論 Read in context →
歧伯對曰：腦、髓、骨、脉、膽、女子胞，此六者，地氣之所生也，皆藏於陰而象於地，故藏而不冩，名曰奇𢘆之府。 歧伯对曰：脑、髓、骨、脉、胆、女子胞，此六者，地气之所生也，皆藏于阴而象于地，故藏而不写，名曰奇恒之府。
qí bó duì yuē: nǎo, suǐ, gǔ, mài, dǎn, nǚ zǐ bāo, cǐ liù zhě, dì qì zhī suǒ shēng yě, jiē cáng yú yīn ér xiàng yú dì, gù cáng ér bù xiě, míng yuē qí héng zhī fǔ.
Qibo answers: brain, marrow, bone, vessels, gallbladder and the woman’s womb — these six are born of the qi of earth. They all store in the yin and take their image from the earth, and therefore they store and do not discharge. They are named the extraordinary constant palaces.
本篇六者之名：腦、髓、骨、脉、膽、女子胞。王冰：「雖名為府，不正與神藏為表裏；膽與肝合，而不同六府之傳寫；胞雖出納…然出納之用有殊於六府，故言藏而不寫。」「奇恆」高士宗注「奇，異也；恆，常也，言異於常府也」。

Compounds built on this term

奇
qí
odd, singular
說文：異也
恆
héng
constant, ordinary
說文：常也。底本作「𢘆」，古文一系
府
fǔ
palace, storehouse
說文：文書藏也。本站譯 palaces
女子胞
nǚ zǐ bāo
the woman's womb
王冰：納則受納精氣，出則化出形容

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishextraordinary organsMost renderings let 恆 disappear, so that the phrase reads as a simple label for a leftover category.
This siteextraordinary constant palacesKept both words. 奇 is 異 and 恆 is 常; the phrase only does its work if both are there — these are palaces, and constant ones, and yet odd. Cutting 恆 turns a paradox into a filing cabinet.

Entry status

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2026-09

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