Classica Sinica Medica

肉痿

ròu wěi

Flesh flaccidity

Also rendered: Flesh flaccidity (this site; 肉 is flesh, not muscle) · Muscle flaccidity (where 肉 is rendered by the modern anatomical word)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-29

At a glance

Pinyin
ròu wěi
Simplified
肉痿
Literal
肉痿 ròu wěi — the flaccidity of the spleen's tissue, and the one the chapter lays to the ground a person lives on. Spleen qi hot, the stomach dries and there is thirst and the flesh is numb; or, in the second account, a person steeped in dampness and working in water lets the flesh soak until it is obstructed and numb. The Lower Classic is quoted: flesh flaccidity is got from wet ground.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：肉，胾肉也，象形。「肉」、**本篇8見**；「痿」讀 wěi、**全篇之題**。**「有漸於濕」之漸讀 jiān，浸漬也**；**「肌肉濡漬」之漬讀 zì**。

In brief

The flaccidity of the flesh, from heat in the spleen on one hand and from standing dampness on the other. The chapter’s second account is the one that mattered to later medicine: dwelling in wet places and working with water soak the flesh until it is obstructed, and numbness turns into flaccidity.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 肉、痿
肉者脾之所主，痿者弛而不用
發爲肉痿 — Suwen 44
2
How spleen heat does it 胃乾而渴，肌肉不仁
脾熱則胃乾而渴，肌肉失養而不仁
脾氣熱，則胃乾而渴 — Suwen 44
3
The dampness road 有漸於濕，以水爲事
漸者浸漬也；以水為事，則濕氣留著
有漸於濕，以水爲事 — Suwen 44
4
What the dampness does 肌肉濡漬，痺而不仁
肌肉為濕所漬，痺阻而麻木，遂成肉痿
肌肉濡漬，痺而不仁 — Suwen 44
5
What the Lower Classic says 肉痿者，得之濕地也
肉痿之得，在於居處濕地
故下經曰：肉痿者，得之濕地也 — Suwen 44
6
Its place among the five 肉痿
五痿之一，脾與肉當之
發爲肉痿 — 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 →
脾氣熱，則胃乾而渴，肌肉不仁，發爲肉痿。 脾气热，则胃干而渴，肌肉不仁，发为肉痿。
Pí qì rè, zé wèi gān ér kě, jī ròu bù rén, fā wéi ròu wěi.
When the spleen qi is hot, the stomach dries and there is thirst and the flesh is numb — this becomes flesh flaccidity.
**「發爲肉痿」——**「肉」，**本篇8見**；「痿」讀 wěi、**題字，本篇16見**；**「脾氣熱，則胃乾而渴」之乾讀 gān**，**「肌肉不仁」與下文「痺而不仁」同為麻木之義**。

Compounds built on this term

肉痿
ròu wěi
flesh flaccidity
本篇脾氣熱與濕地之所得
肌肉不仁
jī ròu bù rén
numb flesh
脾熱與濕漬之所同
有漸於濕
yǒu jiān yú shī
steeped in dampness
漸讀 jiān
得之濕地
dé zhī shī dì
got from wet ground
下經之語

How it has been translated

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

This siteflesh flaccidity肉 is flesh on this site, as in the entries for 肌痺 and 分肉
Unschuldflesh witheringhe keeps the plant image of 痿
Wisemanflesh wilting痿 is wilting in his system

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-29

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Reading path

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