Classica Sinica Medica

色脉

sè mài

Colour and pulse

Also rendered: colour and pulse (Literal, keeps the two nouns in order) · complexion and pulse (Clinical; 色 is the face, not colour in general) · colour and vessel (Over-literal; 脉 here is the pulse felt, not the vessel)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
sè mài
Simplified
色脉
Literal
色 colour, the complexion — what can be seen; 脉 the pulse — what can be felt. The two together are the whole of the examination in this chapter: one answers to the sun, the other to the moon.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：色，顏气也；脉（脈），血理分袤行體中者。

In brief

What the emperors of high antiquity prized and what the former teacher handed down. The chapter says three things about them: that they are the essential point of prognosis; that colour answers to the sun and pulse to the moon; and that the changes of colour answer to the pulses of the four seasons. Yang Shangshan explains the pairing by yin and yang — colour shows outwardly and so is yang and answers to the sun; the blood of the pulse is seen inwardly and so is yin and answers to the moon. Wang Bing explains it by timing: the correspondence fixes the period of the prognostication.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the ancient emperors prized 上帝之所貴也
王冰：「上帝，謂上古之帝；先師，謂岐伯祖世之師僦貸季也。」
色脉者，上帝之所貴也，先師之所傳也 — Suwen 13
2
The essential point 欲知其要，則色脉是矣
王冰：「言所以知四時五行之氣變化相移之要妙者何？以色脈故也。」
欲知其要，則色脉是矣 — Suwen 13
3
Sun and moon 色以應日，脉以應月
楊上善：「形色外現為陽，故應日也；脈血內見為陰，故應月也。」
色以應日，脉以應月 — Suwen 13
4
Fitting the four seasons 夫色之變化，以應四時之脉
王冰舉配法：色青脈弦應春、色赤脈洪應夏、色黃脈代應長夏、色白脈毛應秋、色黑脈石應冬
夫色之變化，以應四時之脉 — Suwen 13
5
Never to be lost 治之要極，無失色脉
王冰：「言色脈之應，昭然不欺，但順用而不亂紀綱，則治病審當之大法也。」
治之要極，無失色脉 — Suwen 13

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
素問·移精變氣論 Suwen 13 · 移精變氣論 Read in context →
欲知其要，則色脉是矣。色以應日，脉以應月，常求其要，則其要也。 欲知其要，则色脉是矣。色以应日，脉以应月，常求其要，则其要也。
yù zhī qí yào, zé sè mài shì yǐ. sè yǐ yìng rì, mài yǐ yìng yuè, cháng qiú qí yào, zé qí yào yě.
If you wish to know the essential point, it is colour and pulse. Colour answers to the sun, pulse to the moon. Constantly seek the essential point there, and that is the essential point.
王冰：「言脈應月、色應日者，占候之期準也。常求色脈之差忒，是則平人之診要也。」楊上善：「形色外現為陽，故應日也；脈血內見為陰，故應月也。」一主陰陽、一主候期，二說可相補。
素問·玉版論要 Suwen 15 · 玉版論要 Read in context →
歧伯對曰：揆度者，度病之淺深也；奇𢘆者，言奇病也。請言道之至數，五色脉變，揆度奇𢘆，道在於一。 岐伯对曰：揆度者，度病之浅深也；奇𢘆者，言奇病也。请言道之至数，五色脉变，揆度奇𢘆，道在于一。
qí bó duì yuē: kuí duó zhě, duó bìng zhī qiǎn shēn yě; qí héng zhě, yán qí bìng yě. qǐng yán dào zhī zhì shù, wǔ sè mài biàn, kuí duó qí héng, dào zài yú yī.
Qibo replies: assessment is measuring the shallowness and depth of an illness; the anomalous speaks of strange illness. Let me speak of the ultimate numbers of the Way: the shifts of the five colours, the shifts of the pulse, assessment and the anomalous — the Way lies in the one.
「五色脉變」：第十三篇以色脉為診之二大端，「色以應日，脉以應月」；本篇則合二者於一——「五色脉變，揆度奇𢘆，道在於一」。色之淺深與脈之孤虛，皆本篇揆度、奇𢘆之所察。
素問·脉要精微論 Suwen 17 · 脉要精微論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：悉乎哉問也。徴其脉小，色不奪者，新病也。徴其脉不奪，其色奪者，此久病也；徴其脉與五色俱奪者，此久病也；徴其脉與五色俱不奪者，新病也。 岐伯曰：悉乎哉问也。征其脉小，色不夺者，新病也。征其脉不夺，其色夺者，此久病也；征其脉与五色俱夺者，此久病也；征其脉与五色俱不夺者，新病也。
qí bó yuē: xī hū zāi wèn yě. zhēng qí mài xiǎo, sè bù duó zhě, xīn bìng yě. zhēng qí mài bù duó, qí sè duó zhě, cǐ jiǔ bìng yě; zhēng qí mài yǔ wǔ sè jù duó zhě, cǐ jiǔ bìng yě; zhēng qí mài yǔ wǔ sè jù bù duó zhě, xīn bìng yě.
Qibo says: How thorough your question is. Examine it: if the pulse is small but the complexion is not lost, this is a new illness. If the pulse is not lost but the complexion is lost, this is a long illness; if both pulse and the five colours are lost, this is a long illness; if neither pulse nor the five colours is lost, this is a new illness.
「徴其脉小，色不奪者，新病也。徴其脉不奪，其色奪者，此久病也」：徴音 zhēng，驗也。本篇以色與脈之奪與不奪，辨病之久暴。與第十三篇「色脉」同條而義進：第十三篇以色與脈為上帝之所貴、診之二端，本篇則以色脈相參定病之新久——脈小而色不奪者為新病，脈不奪而色奪者為久病，二者俱奪者亦為久病，俱不奪者亦為新病。大要以色為久暴之驗，以色易變而脈難變也。

Compounds built on this term

色
sè
colour, complexion
說文：顏气也
脉
mài
the pulse
說文：血理分袤行體中者。底本作「脉」，「脈」之俗字
脈色
mài sè
pulse and colour
第十篇「能合脉色，可以萬全」，二字次序互倒而義同
神明
shén míng
spirit brightness
王冰：「以合於神明也」，色脉之極詣

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishcomplexion and pulseThe standard clinical pair; complexion narrows 色 to the face, which is usually but not always what is meant.
This sitecolour and pulse色 in this chapter is bound to the five colours (青赤黃白黑) and through them to the five phases — Wang Bing pairs 色白脈毛 with metal and autumn, 色青脈弦 with wood and spring, and so on. Complexion would break that scheme. Kept the word order of the text: 色 first, 脉 second.

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