Classica Sinica Medica

四極 简体 四极

sì jí

The four extremities

Also rendered: the four extremities (Literal; keeps the sense of distance) · the four limbs (Plain anatomy) · the four poles (Over-literal)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
sì jí
Simplified
四极
Literal
四 four; 極 the ridge-beam of a house (《說文》: 棟也), and so the outermost reach of anything. The four extremities: the two arms and the two legs, the far ends of the body.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：四，陰數也（象四分之形）；極，棟也（段注：引申為至高至遠、四方之盡頭）。

In brief

The hands and feet, and in this chapter the place where oedema shows first and worst. The word is used twice: once as a symptom (the four extremities are tight and stir the centre) and once as a treatment (move the four extremities gently). That movement from symptom to prescription is the method of the whole passage — the limbs are what the disease does to, and the limbs are what you move in order to undo it.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The arms and legs 四極
王冰以四極為四末、四肢，氣血之所遠達者
此四極急而動中 — Suwen 14
2
Where the oedema shows 四極急
水氣外溢，四肢腫急，並擾動於中
此四極急而動中 — Suwen 14
3
What is moved in treatment 微動四極
王冰：「微動四極，謂令四肢微動，以運氣也。」
微動四極 — Suwen 14

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·湯液醪醴論 Suwen 14 · 湯液醪醴論 Read in context →
帝曰：其有不從毫毛而生，五藏陽以竭也。津液充郭，其魄獨居，孤精於内，氣耗於外，形不可與衣相保，此四極急而動中。是氣拒於内，而形施於外。治之柰何？ 帝曰：其有不从毫毛而生，五藏阳以竭也。津液充郭，其魄独居，孤精于内，气耗于外，形不可与衣相保，此四极急而动中。是气拒于内，而形施于外。治之奈何？
dì yuē: qí yǒu bù cóng háo máo ér shēng, wǔ zàng yáng yǐ jié yě. jīn yè chōng guō, qí pò dú jū, gū jīng yú nèi, qì hào yú wài, xíng bù kě yǔ yī xiāng bǎo, cǐ sì jí jí ér dòng zhōng. shì qì jù yú nèi, ér xíng shī yú wài. zhì zhī nài hé?
The Emperor asks: there is also illness that does not arise from the body hair — the yang of the five storing organs has been exhausted. Fluids fill the frame, the corporeal soul dwells alone, the essence is orphaned within and the qi spent without, the body can no longer keep company with its clothes, and the four extremities are tight and stir the centre. The qi is refused within and the body altered without. How is this treated?
本篇「此四極急而動中」為水氣外溢之證，「微動四極」為治法。王冰：「微動四極，謂令四肢微動，以運氣也。」一語而兩見：先為病之所在，後為治之所施。
素問·陽明脉解 Suwen 30 · 陽明脉解 Read in context →
歧伯曰：四支者，諸陽之本也，陽盛則四支實，實則能登高也。 歧伯曰：四支者，诸阳之本也，阳盛则四支实，实则能登高也。
Qí bó yuē: sì zhī zhě, zhū yáng zhī běn yě, yáng shèng zé sì zhī shí, shí zé néng dēng gāo yě.
Qibo says: the four limbs are the root of all the yang. When yang is exuberant the four limbs become full, and being full they are able to climb high.
「四極」之目於本站已立（四肢之謂），本篇則以四肢為「諸陽之本」而別申一義：「四支者，諸陽之本也，陽盛則四支實，實則能登高也」。「歧」讀 qí；「伯」讀 bó；「曰」讀 yuē；**「四」讀 sì**；**「支」讀 zhī，底本作「支」，不作「肢」**；「者」讀 zhě；「陽」讀 yáng；「之」讀 zhī；「本」讀 běn；「也」讀 yě；「盛」讀 shèng；「則」讀 zé；「實」讀 shí；「能」讀 néng；「登」讀 dēng；「高」讀 gāo。**本篇之四肢與第十四篇「四極」之義可互注而各有側重**：彼以四極言腫脹之極（四肢為陽氣之所不至而腫），此以四肢言陽盛之實（四肢為諸陽之本而強）；一虛一實，同指四末而所見相反，合觀則「四肢為諸陽之本」一語之兩面始全。

Compounds built on this term

四
sì
four
說文：陰數也
極
jí
the ridge-beam; the far reach
說文：棟也
四肢
sì zhī
the four limbs
與「四極」同指
四末
sì mò
the four ends
王冰注中用語

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishthe four limbsStandard and anatomically correct.
This sitethe four extremities極 is the ridge-beam, the outermost reach of a thing, and the word is doing anatomical work in a chapter about water collecting at the far ends of the body. Limbs is plainer and right, but it loses the distance in 極 — and the distance is the point: these are the places the qi reaches last, which is why they swell first and why moving them is treatment.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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