内格

nèi gé

Barred within · nei ge

Also rendered: Obstructed within (this site; it keeps 格 as an obstruction rather than a frame, which is the sense the chapter needs) · Nei ge (transliteration; used when the sentence is quoted whole)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-09

At a glance

Pinyin: nèi gé
Simplified: 内格
Literal: 内 nèi — within, inside (《說文》: 内，入也；自外而入也); 格 gé — a barrier, and to obstruct (《說文》: 格，木長皃；引申為扞格、阻格). 内格 is the state of being obstructed from within: the chapter's last word for what happens when a man turns compliance into its opposite. The sentence it closes is 反順爲逆，是謂内格 — to take following and make it opposition, that is called being barred within.
Shuowen: **「内」讀 nèi，本篇3見**；**「格」讀 gé，本篇1見**；**「内格」本篇1見**；**《說文》：内，入也；格，木長皃，引申為扞格**；**本篇「反順爲逆，是謂内格」八字，是內格之的解**

In brief

The word Suwen 2 ends its argument with. Having set out the four seasons and the root they share, the chapter says plainly that following yin and yang is life and going against them is death, and then names the condition of the man who has got it backwards: he is barred within. It is the last illness name in the chapter, and the only one that is not the consequence of a single season’s mistake but of the whole orientation.

Senses in the classical corpus

The graphs 内格

内者中也，格者扞格也；内格謂中有所扞格

反順爲逆，是謂内格 — Suwen 2

Following and opposing 從陰陽則生，逆之則死

從逆二者，生死所分

從陰陽則生，逆之則死 — Suwen 2

Order and disorder 從之則治，逆之則亂

治亂猶生死，皆由從逆

從之則治，逆之則亂 — Suwen 2

Turning compliance over 反順爲逆

順者反以為逆，是謂倒行

反順爲逆，是謂内格 — Suwen 2

The chapter's last name 是謂内格

內格二字，本篇之結語

反順爲逆，是謂内格 — Suwen 2

What the sage does instead 聖人行之，愚者佩之

行與佩，是內格與否之分

道者，聖人行之，愚者佩之 — Suwen 2

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·四氣調神大論 Suwen 2 · 四氣調神大論 Read in context →

道者，聖人行之，愚者佩之。從陰陽則生，逆之則死；從之則治，逆之則亂。反順爲逆，是謂内格。道者，圣人行之，愚者佩之。从阴阳则生，逆之则死；从之则治，逆之则乱。反顺为逆，是谓内格。

Dào zhě, shèng rén xíng zhī, yú zhě pèi zhī. cóng yīn yáng zé shēng, nì zhī zé sǐ; cóng zhī zé zhì, nì zhī zé luàn. fǎn shùn wéi nì, shì wèi nèi gé.

As for the way: the sage walks in it, the foolish merely wear it. Follow yin and yang and you live; go against them and you die. Follow them and there is order; go against them and there is disorder. To turn compliance into its opposite and call it opposition — this is called being barred within.

**「内格」本篇1見**；**「反順爲逆」四字，是內格之因**；**「愚者佩之」之佩，一說讀為背，二說並存**

Compounds built on this term

反順爲逆

fǎn shùn wéi nì

turning compliance into opposition

本篇1見

從陰陽則生

cóng yīn yáng zé shēng

following yin and yang, one lives

本篇1見

聖人行之

shèng rén xíng zhī

the sage walks in it

本篇1見

愚者佩之

yú zhě pèi zhī

the foolish merely wear it

本篇1見

How it has been translated

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

This site	Barred within · nei ge	格 is a bar, and the chapter's point is that the bar is not outside the man but inside him
Literal	inner obstruction	plain and accurate; it does not say whose doing the obstruction is
Descriptive	inner resistance	the reading favoured in discussions of the chapter's ending; narrower than 格, which is a bar and not a pushing

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-09

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