壞府简体坏府

huài fǔ

The ruined depot · huai fu

Also rendered: the ruined depot (Keeps 府 as a storehouse among the viscera) · the destroyed palace (Follows the common rendering of 府 as palace; too grand)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: huài fǔ
Simplified: 坏府
Literal: 壞 is what has broken down or collapsed — 說文 glosses it as 敗, ruined, and the graph carries 土, earth, as if a wall had come down. 府 is the depot, the storehouse among the viscera. So the term is not a diagnosis of an organ but a verdict on a stage: the storehouse has come down and nothing can be put into it or taken out of it. Chapter 25 reaches it by way of three images of a container failing from within, and then says flatly that drugs do not treat it and the needle has nothing to take.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：壞，敗也。从土褱聲；府，文書藏也。从广付聲。府之為藏，引申為藏物之府，醫書以名受盛之官。本篇之目：人有此三者，是謂壞府，毒藥無治，短鍼無取。

In brief

The point past which treatment does not reach, and the reason chapter 25 is as much about timing as about technique. The chapter gives three signs that a vessel is failing from inside — salt drawing moisture through the jar, a string whose note goes hoarse before it snaps, a tree whose leaves are spent — and then names the state they indicate. The practical claim is negative and absolute: potent drugs do not treat it and the short needle has nothing to take hold of. What is left is skin broken, flesh wounded, blood and qi contending until they blacken.

Senses in the classical corpus

A verdict on a stage, not an organ 是謂壞府

「府」謂藏物之府，壞則無所受盛

人有此三者，是謂壞府 — Suwen 25

Reached by three visible signs 人有此三者

鹽泄於器、絃音嘶敗、木葉發落，皆有諸內而形諸外

夫鹽之味鹹者，其氣令器津泄 — Suwen 25

Beyond the reach of drugs 毒藥無治

藥之峻者亦無所施

毒藥無治，短鍼無取 — Suwen 25

Beyond the reach of the needle 短鍼無取

取謂取效，非謂持針

毒藥無治，短鍼無取 — Suwen 25

What it looks like from outside 血氣爭黑

皮肉已敗，血氣交爭而色見於外

此皆絶皮傷肉，血氣爭黑 — Suwen 25

The other 府 in the chapter 知府藏血氣之診

同字而義別：此指病所，彼指藏府

五曰知府藏血氣之診 — Suwen 25

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·寶命全形論 Suwen 25 · 寶命全形論 Read in context →

歧伯對曰：夫鹽之味鹹者，其氣令器津泄；絃絶者，其音嘶敗；木敷者，其葉發；病深者，其聲噦。人有此三者，是謂壞府，毒藥無治，短鍼無取，此皆絶皮傷肉，血氣爭黑。歧伯对曰：夫盐之味咸者，其气令器津泄；弦绝者，其音嘶败；木敷者，其叶发；病深者，其声哕。人有此三者，是谓坏府，毒药无治，短针无取，此皆绝皮伤肉，血气争黑。

Qí bó duì yuē: fú yán zhī wèi xián zhě, qí qì lìng qì jīn xiè; xián jué zhě, qí yīn sī bài; mù fū zhě, qí yè fā; bìng shēn zhě, qí shēng yuě.Rén yǒu cǐ sān zhě, shì wèi huài fǔ, dú yào wú zhì, duǎn zhēn wú qǔ, cǐ jiē jué pí shāng ròu, xuè qì zhēng hēi.

Qibo replies: The flavour of salt is salty, and its qi makes the vessel leak its fluid; when a string is about to snap, its note is hoarse and broken; when a tree is spent, its leaves go; when a disease is deep, the voice is retching. When a person has these three, it is called the ruined depot: potent drugs do not treat it and the short needle has nothing to take hold of. In all such cases the skin is broken and the flesh wounded, and blood and qi contend until they turn black.

本篇論病之可治不可治，全在一個「候」字。歧伯不以議論答之，而舉三物為喻：鹽之氣能使器皿滲出水液，絃將絶者其音嘶敗，木敷（一說當作「陳」）者其葉發（一說當作「落」）——三者皆是有諸內而形諸外，病之將敗亦猶是。故曰「人有此三者，是謂壞府」，而「毒藥無治，短鍼無取」八字最為決絕：不是治之無效，是無所施。「絶皮傷肉，血氣爭黑」是其外候。「爭」讀 zhēng，舊注或解為「淨」之義，二說並存，本站從底本讀 zhēng。「噦」讀 yuě，與第二十三篇「胃……爲噦」同字同讀。

Compounds built on this term

壞府

huài fǔ

the ruined depot

病深而府敗，藥鍼兩無所施

毒藥

dú yào

potent drugs

本站第十二篇已立目（id 454）

絶皮傷肉

jué pí shāng ròu

skin broken and flesh wounded

壞府之外候

血氣爭黑

xuè qì zhēng hēi

blood and qi contend and blacken

壞府之色診

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	the [visceral] palace is destroyed	They consistently render 府 as palace, which suits the twelve offices of chapter 8 but not a storehouse that has collapsed.
Unschuld	the depots are ruined	He uses 'depot' for 府 and keeps the plural, which loses the single ruined place the text points at.
This site	the ruined depot	府 is where things are stored and this is the moment it stops storing; 'depot' keeps that plain. We resist 'palace' here because the chapter's image is of a jar leaking, a string fraying — domestic vessels, not a court.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

Search the glossary

Reading path

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

See all reading paths