Classica Sinica Medica

魄門 简体 魄门

pò mén

The gate of the po

Also rendered: the gate of the po (Literal, and keeps the lung connection) · the anus (Anatomical; loses the name's whole rationale) · the dregs gate (Follows the 魄 = 粕 reading)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
pò mén
Simplified
魄门
Literal
魄 the po, the corporeal soul that the lung holds; 門 the gate. Wang Bing explains the name by the lung, not by the gut: the gate communicates inwardly with the lung, and it is therefore called the gate of the po.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：魄，陰神也；門，聞也（引申為內外之限、所由出入）。一說「魄」通「粕」（糟粕），謂糟粕所出之門。

In brief

The lower gate. It is counted with the palaces in function — it discharges and does not store — and yet the chapter says it serves the five storing organs as their emissary, and it is named for the lung, because the lung holds the po. Nothing that enters by the mouth is meant to stay; this is where the chapter’s rule about not holding things long reaches its end.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The gate at the end of the passage 魄門
王冰：謂肛之門也
魄門亦爲五藏使，水榖不得久藏 — Suwen 11
2
Named for the lung, not for the gut 內通於肺，故曰魄門
肺藏魄，故得此名
王冰注 — Suwen 11 (Wang Bing)
3
It serves the storing organs 亦爲五藏使
The one discharge point that answers to the organs rather than to the palaces
魄門亦爲五藏使 — Suwen 11
4
Some read 魄 as 粕 粕門
糟粕所出之門；與「內通於肺」之說並存，二說可並觀
後世注家 — later commentators

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·五藏别論 Suwen 11 · 五藏别論 Read in context →
魄門亦爲五藏使，水榖不得久藏。 魄门亦为五藏使，水谷不得久藏。
pò mén yì wéi wǔ zàng shǐ, shuǐ gǔ bù dé jiǔ cáng.
The gate of the po serves the five storing organs as their emissary, and so water and grain are not kept long.
王冰：「謂肛之門也，內通於肺，故曰魄門。受已化物，則為五藏行使，然水穀亦不得久藏於中。」「魄」一說通「粕」，謂糟粕所出之門，二說並存。

Compounds built on this term

魄
pò
the corporeal soul
說文：陰神也。肺所藏
門
mén
gate
內外之限、所由出入
粕
pò
dregs
一說「魄」通「粕」
五藏使
wǔ zàng shǐ
emissary of the five storing organs
王冰：受已化物，則為五藏行使

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishthe anusStandard in modern translations, which render the thing and not the name.
This sitethe gate of the poKept the name, with the 粕 reading recorded beside it. Wang Bing's explanation is not decoration: the lung holds the po, and calling the gate after it is what lets a discharge point be called an emissary of the storing organs.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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

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