Classica Sinica Medica

痿躄

wěi bì

Flaccidity and inability to walk

Also rendered: Flaccidity and inability to walk (this site; both graphs carried over rather than collapsed into one word) · Wilting and lameness (where the two graphs are kept as the pair of images they are)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-29

At a glance

Pinyin
wěi bì
Simplified
痿躄
Literal
痿躄 wěi bì — the whole chapter's outcome in two graphs. 痿 is the withering; 躄 is the step that will not be taken. The chapter says it first of the lung, whose lobe is scorched by heat, and then again in the summary: the five stores, through heat in the lung and the scorching of its lobe, develop flaccidity and the inability to walk.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：躄，人不能行也，从止辟聲。「躄」讀 bì、**本篇2見，皆與痿連言**；「痿」讀 wěi、**為全篇之題**。**「著則生痿躄也」——著者，邪氣留著不去**，**讀 zhuó**。

In brief

Flaccidity in which the legs will not carry the body: the form the chapter treats as the outcome of heat in the lung. Because the lung is chief of the stores and canopy over the heart, its scorched lobe stands behind all five flaccidities, and this two-graph name is the one the chapter uses for the result.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 痿、躄
痿者弛也，躄者不能行也
著則生痿躄也 — Suwen 44
2
What brings it on 肺熱葉焦
肺為藏之長、心之蓋，熱盛則葉焦
故肺熱葉焦，則皮毛虚弱急薄 — Suwen 44
3
Where it starts 有所失亡，所求不得
志不得伸則肺鳴，鳴則熱而葉焦
有所失亡，所求不得，則發肺鳴 — Suwen 44
4
Why the lung stands behind them all 五藏因肺熱葉焦，發爲痿躄
肺朝百脉而行氣於五藏，故一藏受熱而五痿皆成
故曰：五藏因肺熱葉焦，發爲痿躄 — Suwen 44
5
The two graphs together 痿躄
痿言其弛，躄言其不能行；兼形與用而言
著則生痿躄也 — Suwen 44
6
Against the named five 脉痿、筋痿、肉痿、骨痿
五痿各从所主之形，痿躄則總其成
五藏因肺熱葉焦，發爲痿躄 — Suwen 44

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 44 Suwen 44 · 痿論 Read in context →
故肺熱葉焦，則皮毛虚弱急薄，著則生痿躄也。 故肺热叶焦，则皮毛虚弱急薄，著则生痿躄也。
Gù fèi rè yè jiāo, zé pí máo xū ruò jí bó, zhuó zé shēng wěi bì yě.
So when the lung is hot and its lobes are scorched, the skin and hair become weak, tight and thin; when that lodges fast, flaccidity and the inability to walk develop.
**「著則生痿躄也」——**「著」讀 zhuó，**此讀 zhuó，留著不去之義，與「着」之 zháo 別**；「躄」讀 bì、**本篇2見**；**「急薄」之薄讀 bó**，**皮毛虚弱、拘急而枯薄，為痿躄之漸**。

Compounds built on this term

痿躄
wěi bì
flaccidity and inability to walk
本篇二見
肺熱葉焦
fèi rè yè jiāo
heat in the lung and scorching of its lobe
痿躄之因
肺鳴
fèi míng
the lung rings
所求不得而發，鳴則葉焦
著則生
zhuó zé shēng
lodging, it develops
邪留著而不去

How it has been translated

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

This siteflaccidity and inability to walk躄 is kept as a separate clause so that the loss of walking is not folded into the wasting
Unschuldwithering and lamenesshe keeps the two halves apart in the same way
Wisemanwilting and limping痿 is wilting in his system; 躄 is rendered as the gait

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-29

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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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