Classica Sinica Medica

積氣 简体 积气

jī qì

Accumulated qi

Also rendered: accumulated qi (Literal) · accumulation of qi (Nominalised) · gathered qi (Slightly weaker) · stagnant qi (Adds stasis, which the text does not say)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
jī qì
Simplified
积气
Literal
積 to heap up, to gather; 氣 qi. Qi that has gathered in a place and stayed there — a heap, not a blockage.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：積，聚也；气，雲气也（醫書作「氣」，从米，饋客芻米也）。

In brief

The diagnosis the second half of the chapter returns five times. A colour, a pulse, and then the same sentence: there is accumulated qi in such and such a place. What follows is always a name — heart obstruction, lung obstruction, liver obstruction, reversal shan, kidney obstruction — and always a cause, and the cause is never anything exotic: brooding, drink and sex, cold damp, hard labour in the wind, a bath in cold water. 積 means heaped up, not stuck: nothing in the chapter says the qi cannot move.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Qi gathered in a place 有積氣在中
The finding, given with the place
診曰有積氣在中，時害於食 — Suwen 10
2
One formula, five cases 色＋脉＋積氣＋病名＋得之
The same shape is repeated for red, white, green, yellow and black
赤，脉之至也，喘而堅，診曰有積氣在中…… — Suwen 10

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·五藏生成 Suwen 10 · 五藏生成 Read in context →
赤，脉之至也，喘而堅，診曰有積氣在中，時害於食，名曰心痺。得之外疾，思慮而心虚，故邪從之。白，脉之至也，喘而浮，上虚下實，驚。有積氣在胸中，喘而虚，名曰肺痺，寒熱，得之醉而使内也。 赤，脉之至也，喘而坚，诊曰有积气在中，时害于食，名曰心痹。得之外疾，思虑而心虚，故邪从之。白，脉之至也，喘而浮，上虚下实，惊。有积气在胸中，喘而虚，名曰肺痹，寒热，得之醉而使内也。
chì, mài zhī zhì yě, chuǎn ér jiān, zhěn yuē yǒu jī qì zài zhōng, shí hài yú shí, míng yuē xīn bì. dé zhī wài jí, sī lǜ ér xīn xū, gù xié cóng zhī. bái, mài zhī zhì yě, chuǎn ér fú, shàng xū xià shí, jīng. yǒu jī qì zài xiōng zhōng, chuǎn ér xū, míng yuē fèi bì, hán rè, dé zhī zuì ér shǐ nèi yě.
Red: the pulse arrives racing and hard. The reading is that there is accumulated qi in the centre, which from time to time hinders eating. It is called heart obstruction. It is contracted from an outside illness: brooding has emptied the heart, and so the evil follows it in. White: the pulse arrives racing and floating, empty above and full below, with fright. There is accumulated qi in the chest; the breathing is laboured and the qi is empty. It is called lung obstruction, with cold and heat; it is contracted by drunkenness and going in.
本篇「有積氣」五見，皆以色與脉先之，而後言病名與所得之由。「喘」謂脉來急疾如人之喘息，非氣喘之證。
素問·四時刺逆從論 Suwen 64 · 四時刺逆從論 Read in context →
厥陰有餘，病陰痺；不足，病生熱痺；滑則病狐疝風，濇則病少腹積氣。 厥阴有余，病阴痹；不足，病生热痹；滑则病狐疝风，涩则病少腹积气。
Jué yīn yǒu yú, bìng yīn bì; bù zú, bìng shēng rè bì; huá zé bìng hú shàn fēng, sè zé bìng shào fù jī qì.
When ceasing yin is in surplus the disease is yin obstruction; when it is insufficient, heat obstruction arises. A slippery pulse brings fox mounting wind; a rough pulse brings accumulated qi in the lower abdomen.
「濇則病少腹積氣」——**「積氣」本篇1見，在「少腹積氣」一語之中**；**脉濇為不足，氣滯不行，故積於少腹**；**與第十篇「有積氣在中」「有積氣在胸中」同一語例**；**「積」讀 jī，「氣」讀 qì**

Compounds built on this term

心痺
xīn bì
heart obstruction
積氣在中，時害於食
肺痺
fèi bì
lung obstruction
積氣在胸中，喘而虚
肝痺
gān bì
liver obstruction
積氣在心下支胠
厥疝
jué shàn
reversal shan
積氣在腹中，有厥氣
腎痺
shèn bì
kidney obstruction
積氣在小腹與陰

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishaccumulation of qiCommon in clinic-style translations, often with the implication of stagnation.
This siteaccumulated qiKept as a participle rather than a noun, because 積 is the verb-heap: the chapter says the qi has gathered somewhere, not that it has stopped moving.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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