Classica Sinica Medica

鬲消

gé xiāo

Diaphragm wasting · ge xiao

Also rendered: Diaphragm wasting (this site; the diaphragm is what 鬲 points at) · Upper wasting (follows the later 上消/中消/下消 scheme; that scheme is post-classical and anachronistic here)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
gé xiāo
Simplified
鬲消
Literal
鬲消 gé xiāo — wasting at the diaphragm. The base text writes the word with 鬲 here, though earlier in the same chapter it wrote the same word with 隔 in 狂隔中; the site keeps both graphs. This is the heat side of the chapter's pair: where 肺消 was produced by cold arriving at the lung, 鬲消 is produced by heat leaving the heart. Same 消, opposite cause, and the chapter expects the reader to hold the two apart.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：鬲，鼎屬也——**本義為鼎器，****引申為膈塞、阻隔之義**；**「鬲」「隔」「膈」三字同源而形異**。「鬲」讀 gé，本篇2見（「傳爲鬲消」「鬲腸不便」）；**「隔」（「隔」讀 gé）1見（「狂隔中」）**——**一詞三見而二形，底本如此，照錄并存**。「消」讀 xiāo。

In brief

Wasting at the diaphragm, produced when the heart shifts heat into the lung and the illness transmits. The heat counterpart of the chapter’s 肺消.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the graphs say 鬲消
鬲，鼎屬，引申為膈塞；消，盡也
心移熱於肺，傳爲鬲消 — Suwen 37
2
Produced by heat, not cold 鬲消
由熱傳而成，與寒移之肺消別
心移熱於肺 — Suwen 37
3
The base-text graph 鬲
，與「狂隔中」之隔 二形并存
傳爲鬲消 — Suwen 37
4
Paired with 肺消 鬲消
同名之消，一熱一寒
傳爲鬲消 — Suwen 37
5
The 傳 that precedes it 傳爲
言病之由此變彼，與「移」分工
心移熱於肺，傳爲鬲消 — Suwen 37
6
Kin: 鬲腸 鬲腸
本篇下文「鬲腸不便」之鬲，同形
鬲腸不便 — Suwen 37

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 37 Suwen 37 · 氣厥論 Read in context →
心移熱於肺，傳爲鬲消。 心移热于肺，传为鬲消。
Xīn yí rè yú fèi, chuán wéi gé xiāo.
When the heart shifts heat into the lung, it transmits and becomes diaphragm wasting.
**「心移熱於肺，傳爲鬲消」九字，是熱移十變之第三變**。**與上文寒移之「心移寒於肺，肺消」同一藏之傳**——**同自心而之肺，而一寒一熱，一為肺消一為鬲消**，**「消」同而病異，此本篇屬辭之密**。**「傳」「傳」讀 chuán字自此始見**——**寒移五變皆言「移」而不言「傳」，熱移十變乃用「傳」字**；**「移」言邪之自此之彼，「傳」言病之由此變彼**，**本篇二字分工不混**。**「鬲」作「鬲」（「鬲」讀 gé）**——**與「狂隔中」之「隔」（「隔」讀 gé）二形并存**，**底本如此，照錄不改**。

Compounds built on this term

肺消
fèi xiāo
lung wasting
本篇同名之消，由寒移而成，與鬲消別
鬲腸
gé cháng
the intestine obstructed
本篇下文「鬲腸不便」，與鬲消同形
狂隔中
kuáng gé zhōng
madness with obstruction in the centre
本篇上文之語，「隔」字形異
傳爲
chuán wéi
transmits and becomes
本篇四見：「鬲消」「柔痓」「虚腸澼」「衄衊瞑目」

How it has been translated

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

This sitediaphragm wastingkept distinct from 肺消 above; the chapter's contrast is heat versus cold
Unschulddispersion in the diaphragmdispersion for 消
Wiseman(gé xiāo) diaphragm dispersionkeeps the transliteration

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

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