心主

xīn zhǔ

The heart master · xin zhu

Also rendered: the heart master (Keeps 主 as the one that governs) · the heart's governor (Softer; suggests an official rather than a channel) · the pericardium channel (The later standard name; anachronistic here) · xin zhu (Bare transliteration)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: xīn zhǔ
Simplified: 心主
Literal: 主 is the flame at the centre of a lamp — 說文 glosses it as the wick-fire in a lamp and treats the graph as a picture — and by extension it is whatever governs. 心主 is therefore not 'the master of the heart' but 'the heart's master': the channel that acts for the heart and is not the heart. Chapter 24 is one of the earliest places where the name does a necessary job, because the hand list needs a ceasing yin that is not the foot's ceasing yin.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：主，鐙中火主也。象形；心，人心，土藏，在身之中。象形。本篇「少陽與心主爲表裏」為手之陰陽一節，足經相當之目作「少陽與厥陰」。

In brief

The name the Suwen uses for the hand ceasing yin channel — the pericardium, in later usage — when it needs to keep that channel distinct from the foot ceasing yin. Chapter 24 is the clearest instance: the foot list pairs lesser yang with ceasing yin, and the hand list pairs lesser yang with the heart master, and the substitution is deliberate rather than careless. The chapter’s own vocabulary elsewhere helps — the eighth chapter’s 膻中, the chest centre, is described as the office of the minister and tutor, and that is the same idea under a different name: something that serves the heart without being it.

Senses in the classical corpus

The hand ceasing yin 少陽與心主爲表裏

手厥陰心包絡，以心主為名

少陽與心主爲表裏 — Suwen 24

A name chosen to avoid collision 是爲手之陰陽也

手經之有別於足經，正在此名

陽明與太陰爲表裏，是爲手之陰陽也 — Suwen 24

Serving without being 膻中

第八篇膻中為臣使之官，與心主同指而異名

膻中者，臣使之官，喜樂出焉 — Suwen 8

The heart that is spoken of and the heart that acts 心

本篇「心之俞」之目

復下一度，心之俞也 — Suwen 24

Why the distinction is kept 足少陽與厥陰

足經言厥陰，手經言心主，二名不可相混

少陽與厥陰爲表裏，是爲足陰陽也 — Suwen 24

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·血氣形志 Suwen 24 · 血氣形志 Read in context →

手太陽與少陰爲表裏，少陽與心主爲表裏，陽明與太陰爲表裏，是爲手之陰陽也。手太阳与少阴为表里，少阳与心主为表里，阳明与太阴为表里，是为手之阴阳也。

Shǒu tài yáng yǔ shào yīn wéi biǎo lǐ, shào yáng yǔ xīn zhǔ wéi biǎo lǐ, yáng míng yǔ tài yīn wéi biǎo lǐ, shì wéi shǒu zhī yīn yáng yě.

The hand greater yang and lesser yin are exterior and interior to one another; lesser yang and the heart master are exterior and interior to one another; yang brightness and greater yin are exterior and interior to one another. These are the yin and yang of the hand.

本篇分足、手二節言表裏，其目不盡同：足經言「少陽與厥陰」，手經則言「少陽與心主」。心主即手厥陰心包絡；手經舉此名，正所以別於足之厥陰——若仍稱厥陰，則手足二厥陰無以分。此本篇立意細密處，說者多忽之。第八篇以膻中為「臣使之官，喜樂出焉」，與心主同指而異名：皆謂代心行事而非心本身。本站第八篇已立「膻中」條（id 344），可與本條合看。後世徑稱心包絡，其名始於《難經》一系，本篇則但稱心主，讀者不可以後名改本名。

素問·厥論 Suwen 45 · 厥論 Read in context →

手心主少陰厥逆，心痛引喉，身熱，死不可治。手心主少阴厥逆，心痛引喉，身热，死不可治。

Shǒu xīn zhǔ shào yīn jué nì, xīn tòng yǐn hóu, shēn rè, sǐ bù kě zhì.

In counterflow inversion of the hand heart master and lesser yin, heart pain draws into the throat and the body is hot: it is fatal and cannot be treated.

「手心主少陰厥逆，心痛引喉」——**本篇「心主」惟此一見**；**底本連讀作「手心主少陰厥逆」，手心主即手厥陰**；**此條言「死不可治」，為全篇三死候之一**。

素問·皮部論 Suwen 56 · 皮部論 Read in context →

心主之陰，名曰害肩，上下同法，視其部中有浮絡者，皆心主之絡也，絡盛則入客於經。心主之阴，名曰害肩，上下同法，视其部中有浮络者，皆心主之络也，络盛则入客于经。

Xīn zhǔ zhī yīn, míng yuē hài jiān, shàng xià tóng fǎ, shì qí bù zhōng yǒu fú luò zhě, jiē xīn zhǔ zhī luò yě, luò shèng zé rù kè yú jīng.

The yin of the heart master is named hài jiān. Above and below follow the same rule: the floating network vessels seen within that region are all the network of the heart master. When the network vessels are full, the evil goes in and lodges in the conduit.

「「心」讀 xīn「主」讀 zhǔ之陰，名曰害肩，上下同法，視其部中有浮絡者，皆心主之絡也，絡盛則入客於經」——**本篇「心主」2見，讀 xīn zhǔ**；**本篇三陰之部為太陰、少陰、心主：心主即手厥陰，正合本目「別於足厥陰」之義**；**心主之部名害肩，王冰注「氣不和則妨害肩掖之動運」**；「肩」讀 jiān、**「害肩」之肩讀 jiān**；「害」讀 hài、**「害肩」之害讀 hài，與「害蜚」之害同讀**

素問·繆刺論 Suwen 63 · 繆刺論 Read in context →

後刺手心主少陰鋭骨之端，各一痏，立已。后刺手心主少阴锐骨之端，各一痏，立已。

Hòu cì shǒu xīn zhǔ shào yīn ruì gǔ zhī duān, gè yī wěi, lì yǐ.

Then puncture the tip of the sharp bone of the hand heart-master and the lesser yin, one puncture each, and it ends at once.

「後刺手心主少陰鋭骨之端，各一痏，立已」——**「心主」本篇1見，在五絡俱竭之刺法中**：**手心主與少陰連言，刺其鋭骨之端——心主者，手厥陰之經，後世謂之心包**；**本篇四刺相次：足大指内側、足心、足中指爪甲、手大指内側，而後及手心主**；**「心」讀 xīn、「主」讀 zhǔ**

Compounds built on this term

厥陰

jué yīn

ceasing yin

足厥陰之常名，本站已立目（id 305）

心包絡

xīn bāo luò

the heart's wrapping network

後世通行之名，即心主

膻中

dàn zhōng

the chest centre

本站第八篇已立目（id 344）

手足

shǒu zú

hand and foot

本篇分足、手二節言之

主

zhǔ

to govern

說文以為鐙中火主，引申為主司

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	heart master	They keep the term as a fixed name for the channel and do not gloss it into later anatomy.
Unschuld	heart ruler	He reads 主 as ruler, which is defensible but makes the channel sound like an office rather than a vessel.
This site	the heart master	主 is the flame a lamp hangs on — the thing that governs from inside — and that is exactly the chapter's point: the heart master acts for the heart and is not the heart. 'Pericardium' would answer a question this text is not asking.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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