府藏

fǔ zàng

The depots and viscera · fu zang

Also rendered: the depots and viscera (Keeps the contrast between storehouse and stored) · the bowels and viscera (The older convention; 'bowel' is misleading for 府)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: fǔ zàng
Simplified: 府藏
Literal: 府 is the storehouse and 藏 is what is stored in it — the one graph is the place, the other the thing kept there, and the medical literature runs them together so often that they become a single word for the organs. 說文 enters 府 as a repository for documents and 藏 as hiding. Chapter 25 puts the pair into its fifth requirement: knowing the examination of the depots, the viscera, the blood and the qi. It is the last of the five and the only one that is purely clinical.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：府，文書藏也。从广付聲；藏，匿也（徐鉉曰：《漢書》通用臧字，从艸後人所加）。府為藏物之處，藏為所藏之物，醫書合稱以名藏府。本篇之目：五曰知府藏血氣之診。

In brief

The paired word for the organs — the storehouses and what is stored — appearing in chapter 25 as the fifth of the five requirements: to know the examination of the depots, the viscera, the blood and the qi. It is worth noting that the chapter has already used 府 on its own in a different sense, for the ruined depot of §4; the two are the same graph and the reader has to keep them apart. Here 藏 is read zàng, not cáng.

Senses in the classical corpus

The fifth requirement 知府藏血氣之診

五法之末，亦是五法中惟一純屬診察者

五曰知府藏血氣之診 — Suwen 25

Storehouse and stored 府藏

府為藏物之處，藏為所藏之物

五曰知府藏血氣之診 — Suwen 25

Read zàng, not cáng 府藏

「藏」此讀 zàng

五曰知府藏血氣之診 — Suwen 25

With blood and qi 血氣

府藏與血氣並診

五曰知府藏血氣之診 — Suwen 25

The same graph, another sense 是謂壞府

上文「壞府」之府指病所，與此義別

人有此三者，是謂壞府 — Suwen 25

Settled before the needle 五藏已定

下文「五藏已定，九候已備」申此

五藏已定，九候已備，後乃存鍼 — Suwen 25

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

一曰治神，二曰知養身，三曰知毒藥爲真，四曰制砭石小大，五曰知府藏血氣之診。五法俱立。各有所先。一曰治神，二曰知养身，三曰知毒药为真，四曰制砭石小大，五曰知府藏血气之诊。五法俱立。各有所先。

Yī yuē zhì shén, èr yuē zhī yǎng shēn, sān yuē zhī dú yào wéi zhēn, sì yuē zhì biān shí xiǎo dà, wǔ yuē zhī fǔ zàng xuè qì zhī zhěn. Wǔ fǎ jù lì. Gè yǒu suǒ xiān.

First, to govern the spirit. Second, to know how to nourish the body. Third, to know the true from the false among potent drugs. Fourth, to regulate the size of the stone needle. Fifth, to know the examination of the depots, the viscera, the blood and the qi. The five methods are established all together, and each has what comes before it.

五法之五「知府藏血氣之診」，是五法之中惟一純屬診察的一條，而列於最末——不是說它最輕，是說它最後用得上。「府」讀 fǔ；**「藏」此讀 zàng**，府藏即藏府，非藏匿之 cáng。「診」讀 zhěn。**同一「府」字在本篇有二義**：上§4「是謂壞府」之府指病所（壊敗之府），此「府藏」之府指藏物之府；同字而義別，讀者當分。下文「五藏已定，九候已備，後乃存鍼」即申此條：府藏之診未明，則五藏不定、九候不備，不可以存鍼。「砭」讀 biān；「制」讀 zhì；「真」讀 zhēn，謂辨藥之真偽。

素問·太陰陽明論 Suwen 29 · 太陰陽明論 Read in context →

藏府各因其經，而受氣於陽明，故爲胃行其津液。藏府各因其经，而受气于阳明，故为胃行其津液。

Zàng fǔ gè yīn qí jīng, ér shòu qì yú yáng míng, gù wèi wèi xíng qí jīn yè.

The depots and palaces each, along their own channels, receive qi from Yangming; therefore it moves the fluids on behalf of the stomach.

本條「府藏」於本站已立，本篇「藏府各因其經，而受氣於陽明」是藏府與陽明關係最明之一句。「藏」讀 zàng；「府」讀 fǔ，底本作「府」，不作「腑」；「各」讀 gè；「因」讀 yīn，憑藉、循由也；「其」讀 qí；「經」讀 jīng；「而」讀 ér；「受」讀 shòu；「氣」讀 qì；「於」讀 yú；「陽」讀 yáng；「明」讀 míng；「故」讀 gù；「爲」讀 wèi；「胃」讀 wèi；「行」讀 xíng；「津」讀 jīn；「液」讀 yè。**「藏府各因其經，而受氣於陽明」是此節之結論**：五藏六府各有其經，而皆從陽明受氣，故陽明雖為胃之經，實為藏府氣血之所共仰。本篇上文「陽受之則入六府，陰受之則入五藏」「陽明者表也，五藏六府之海也」二句，皆與此條之義相發。末句「故爲胃行其津液」與篇中「今脾病不能爲胃行其津液」「而能爲之行其津液」三見，「爲」皆讀 wèi。

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

邪客於皮，則腠理開，開則邪入客於絡脉，絡脉滿則注於經脉，經脉滿則入舍於府藏也。邪客于皮，则腠理开，开则邪入客于络脉，络脉满则注于经脉，经脉满则入舍于府藏也。

Xié kè yú pí, zé còu lǐ kāi, kāi zé xié rù kè yú luò mài, luò mài mǎn zé zhù yú jīng mài, jīng mài mǎn zé rù shè yú fǔ zàng yě.

When the evil lodges in the skin, the interstices open; once open, the evil goes in and lodges in the network vessels; when these are full it pours into the channel vessels; when the channel vessels are full it enters and takes up its abode in the depots and viscera.

「絡脉滿則注於經脉，經脉滿則入舍於「府」讀 fǔ「藏」讀 zàng也」——**本篇「府藏」1見，讀 fǔ zàng**；**本目第三義「藏讀 zàng，不作 cáng」；本篇「入舍於府藏」正讀 fǔ zàng**；**本篇傳變之序：皮→絡脉→經脉→府藏，府藏為其最深；其前一步「傳入於府，廩於腸胃」則單言府**；「滿」讀 mǎn、**「絡脉滿」「經脉滿」之滿讀 mǎn，本篇2見**

素問·三部九候論 Suwen 20 · 三部九候論 Read in context →

察其府藏，以知死生之期。必先知經脉，然後知病脉。真藏脉見者勝死。察其府藏，以知死生之期。必先知经脉，然后知病脉。真藏脉见者胜死。

Chá qí fǔ zàng, yǐ zhī sǐ shēng zhī qī. Bì xiān zhī jīng mài, rán hòu zhī bìng mài. Zhēn zàng mài xiàn zhě shèng sǐ.

Examine the storehouses and the viscera to know the term of life and death. One must first know the pulses of the channels, and only then know the pulses of disease. Where a true visceral pulse appears, death comes at the quarter that conquers it.

「察其府藏，以知死生之期」——察府藏之脉以定死生之期，下文「必先知經脉，然後知病脉」承之；**「府藏」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

府藏

fǔ zàng

the depots and viscera

五法之五，讀 zàng

五藏

wǔ zàng

the five viscera

本站已立目（id 229）

六府

liù fǔ

the six palaces

本站已立目（id 434）

診

zhěn

examination

「診」讀 zhěn，本站第十七篇「診法」條（id 580）可參

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 palaces and storehouses	They use 'palace' for 府 throughout, which suits chapter 8's twelve offices but not a place goods are kept in.
Unschuld	the depots and storehouses	He keeps 府 as depot and 藏 as storehouse, which reverses the emphasis: 藏 is the thing kept, not the room.
This site	the depots and viscera	We keep 府 as the place and render 藏 by the word English speakers actually use for the organs, since the pair has fused into a single term. We resist 'bowels' for 府, which narrows it to the lower body in a way the text never does.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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