Classica Sinica Medica

尺寸

chǐ cùn

Cubit and inch · chi cun

Also rendered: The cubit and the inch (this site; literal, and it keeps the two units rather than naming the two regions) · The two pulse positions (plainer, and it drops the fact that 尺 and 寸 are measures before they are places)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-10-06

At a glance

Pinyin
chǐ cùn
Simplified
尺寸
Literal
尺 chǐ — the foot-rule, ten inches, and in the pulse the region of the forearm nearest the elbow; 寸 cùn — the inch, and in the pulse the region nearest the wrist. 《說文》 has 尺，十寸也. 尺寸反者死: when the cubit and the inch are reversed, there is death. One occurrence, in the chapter's line of four verdicts, and the only place in the chapter where a prognosis is given in so many words.
Shuowen
**「尺」讀 chǐ，本篇1見，止在「尺寸反者死」一語**；**「寸」讀 cùn，本篇1見，止在「尺寸反者死」一語**；**《說文》：尺，十寸也**；**「尺寸」本篇1見，在第二十七段**

In brief

The two regions of the pulse at the wrist — 尺 toward the elbow, 寸 toward the hand — taken together as the place a verdict is read. The chapter gives four of them in a row: 不當其位者病，迭移其位者病，失守其位者危，尺寸反者死，陰陽交者死. The sequence is deliberate — illness, illness, peril, death, death — and the pair 尺寸 belongs to the last two. Note what the chapter has just said: the changes of heaven and earth do not show in the pulse at all. What does show is whether the pulse is in its own place.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 尺寸
尺者十寸，診家以尺候近肘、寸候近腕
尺寸反者死 — Suwen 67
2
The verdict it carries 尺寸反者死
尺寸相反，則陰陽易位而死
尺寸反者死 — Suwen 67
3
The verdict beside it 陰陽交者死
與尺寸反並列為二死
尺寸反者死，陰陽交者死。 — Suwen 67
4
The three before them 不當其位者病，迭移其位者病，失守其位者危
病、病、危、死、死，其序如此
不當其位者病，迭移其位者病 — Suwen 67
5
What must be fixed first 先立其年，以知其氣
不先立年，則尺寸之反無所據
先立其年，以知其氣。 — Suwen 67
6
What the chapter has just ruled out 不形於診也
天地之氣之勝復不見於脉，而尺寸之反則見之
天地之氣，勝復之作，不形於診也。 — Suwen 67

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

Display
2 passages
Suwen 67 Suwen 67 · 五運行大論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：從其氣則和，違其氣則病。不當其位者病，迭移其位者病，失守其位者危，尺寸反者死，陰陽交者死。先立其年，以知其氣。左右應見，然後乃可以言死生之逆順。 歧伯曰：从其气则和，违其气则病。不当其位者病，迭移其位者病，失守其位者危，尺寸反者死，阴阳交者死。先立其年，以知其气。左右应见，然后乃可以言死生之逆顺。
Qí bó yuē: cóng qí qì zé hé, wéi qí qì zé bìng. Bù dāng qí wèi zhě bìng, dié yí qí wèi zhě bìng, shī shǒu qí wèi zhě wēi, chǐ cùn fǎn zhě sǐ, yīn yáng jiāo zhě sǐ. Xiān lì qí nián, yǐ zhī qí qì. Zuǒ yòu yìng jiàn, rán hòu nǎi kě yǐ yán sǐ shēng zhī nì shùn.
Qi Bo said: to follow its qi is harmony, to go against it is illness. He who is not in his proper place falls ill; he who shifts from place to place falls ill; he who loses the place he guards is in peril; when the chi and cun are reversed there is death, and when yin and yang cross there is death. First establish the year in order to know its qi; once the corresponding qi of left and right have been seen, then one may speak of what is adverse and what is favourable in life and death.
**「尺寸」本篇1見，在第二十七段**；**「尺」「寸」各一見，皆止在此語**；**《說文》：尺，十寸也**；**此語與「陰陽交者死」同為二死之斷**；**本篇「陰陽交」與第三十三篇之病名同名而異實，故不掛該目**；**「脉法」所云「天地之變，無以脉診」在第二十三段，與此處論尺寸相對而互足**
素問·陰陽應象大論 Suwen 5 · 陰陽應象大論 Read in context →
善診者，察色按脉，先别陰陽，審清濁，而知部分，視喘息，聽音聲，而知所苦，觀權衡規矩，而知病所主。按尺寸，觀浮沈滑濇，而知病所生。以治无過，以診則不失矣。 善诊者，察色按脉，先别阴阳，审清浊，而知部分，视喘息，听音声，而知所苦，观权衡规矩，而知病所主。按尺寸，观浮沉滑涩，而知病所生。以治无过，以诊则不失矣。
shàn zhěn zhě, chá sè àn mài, xiān bié yīn yáng, shěn qīng zhuó, ér zhī bù fèn, shì chuǎn xī, tīng yīn shēng, ér zhī suǒ kǔ, guān quán héng guī jǔ, ér zhī bìng suǒ zhǔ. àn chǐ cùn, guān fú chén huá sè, ér zhī bìng suǒ shēng. yǐ zhì wú guò, yǐ zhěn zé bù shī yǐ.
One who is skilled in diagnosis observes the complexion and presses the pulse, first distinguishing yin and yang; examining clarity and turbidity, he knows the affected region; watching the breathing and listening to the voice and sound, he knows what the sufferer is troubled by; observing the weights, balances, compasses and squares, he knows what governs the disease. Pressing the chi and cun, observing floating, sunken, smooth and rough, he knows where the disease arose. Thus in treatment there is no error, and in diagnosis there is no failure.
「按尺寸」——按尺寸以觀浮沈滑濇，而知病所生；**「尺寸」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

尺
chǐ
the cubit
本篇1見；尺内兩傍則季脅，見第十七篇
寸
cùn
the inch
本篇1見；與尺相對，近腕之一部
脉
mài
the vessels
本篇3見；脉法曰：天地之變，無以脉診
逆順
nì shùn
adverse and favourable
本篇1見；尺寸既反，乃可言死生之逆順

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe cubit and the inchliteral from 尺 and 寸; the chapter says 尺寸反, the two reversed, which keeps the two as measures that can change places
Anatomicalthe proximal and distal pulse positionshow the two are described where the anatomy is what matters; right, and it loses 反, which is not a position but a reversal
Transliterationchi cunused where the two are quoted rather than used

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-06

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