Classica Sinica Medica

伏膂

fú lǚ

Hidden spine · fu lü

Also rendered: the concealed spinal vessel (Says more than the text does, which gives only a name and a path) · fu lü vessel (Leaves both graphs in pinyin and explains nothing)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
fú lǚ
Simplified
伏膂
Literal
伏 fú, lying hidden, prone; 膂 lǚ, the flesh either side of the spine — the same 膂 as in 循膂而下, down along the spine. The chapter is describing a vessel: 伏膂之脉, the vessel that runs hidden alongside the spine. It appears at the turning point of the account, after the evil has descended a joint a day for twenty-five days to the sacrum and entered the interior of the spine, and before it climbs again to emerge at the supraclavicular fossa on the ninth day.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：伏，司也，从人从犬——**人伺犬而伏，故伏有「隱」義**；膂，篆文作呂，脊骨也——**从呂从肉，脊兩旁之肉也**。「伏」讀 fú，本篇惟此一見；「膂」讀 lǚ，本篇 3 見——循膂而下、伏膂之脉、脊膂之義，**三見皆指脊之一線**。「注」讀 zhù，本篇惟此一見；「之」讀 zhī；「脉」讀 mài，本篇 4 見，**不作「脈」（「脈」）**；「其」讀 qí；「出」讀 chū；「於」讀 yú；「風」讀 fēng；「府」讀 fǔ，本篇 10 見，**不作「腑」（「腑」）**；「日」讀 rì；「下」讀 xià，本篇 7 見；「一」讀 yī；「節」讀 jié；「二」讀 èr；「十」讀 shí；「五」讀 wǔ；「至」讀 zhì；「骶」讀 dǐ，本篇惟此一見；「骨」讀 gǔ，本篇 3 見；「六」讀 liù；「入」讀 rù，本篇 8 見；「脊」讀 jǐ；「内」讀 nèi。**「注於伏膂之脉」六字，是本篇邪氣下行之極處**：自風府而下，二十五日下至骶骨，二十六日入於脊内，**至「注於伏膂之脉」而下行之勢盡**，故下文即曰「其氣上行，九日出於缺盆之中」。**「伏」字最宜玩**：伏者隱也，**邪既入脊内，則伏而不見，故其所注之脉謂之「伏膂之脉」**——與下文「其氣上行」之「上行」為一伏一起。

In brief

The vessel that runs hidden along the spine. The chapter’s account of why fits come later and then earlier depends on a path, and this is the bottom of it: from the wind palace the evil descends a joint a day, reaches the sacrum on the twenty-fifth day, enters the spine on the twenty-sixth and pours into this vessel, then turns and climbs, emerging at the supraclavicular fossa on the ninth day.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The vessel's name 伏膂之脉
伏行於脊膂之脉
注於伏膂之脉 — Suwen 35
2
伏, hidden 伏
邪既入脊内，則伏而不見
注於伏膂之脉 — Suwen 35
3
膂, the flesh beside the spine 循膂而下
膂者脊兩旁之肉
邪氣客於風府，循膂而下 — Suwen 35
4
The descent, measured 二十五日下至骶骨
每日一節，二十五日而極
二十五日下至骶骨 — Suwen 35
5
Into the spine 二十六日入於脊内
由骶骨而入脊之内
二十六日入於脊内 — Suwen 35
6
The turn upward 九日出於缺盆之中
上行九日而出於缺盆
九日出於缺盆之中 — Suwen 35

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·瘧論 Suwen 35 · 瘧論 Read in context →
其出於風府，日下一節，二十五日下至骶骨，二十六日入於脊内，注於伏膂之脉。 其出于风府，日下一节，二十五日下至骶骨，二十六日入于脊内，注于伏膂之脉。
Qí chū yú fēng fǔ, rì xià yī jié, èr shí wǔ rì xià zhì dǐ gǔ, èr shí liù rì rù yú jǐ nèi, zhù yú fú lǚ zhī mài.
Issuing from the wind palace it descends one joint a day: on the twenty-fifth day it has reached the sacrum, and on the twenty-sixth it enters the interior of the spine and pours into the vessel that runs hidden along the spine.
邪氣下行之極處，日晏之理盡於此。「其」讀 qí；「出」讀 chū；「於」讀 yú；「風」讀 fēng；「府」讀 fǔ；「日」讀 rì；「下」讀 xià；「一」讀 yī；「節」讀 jié；「二」讀 èr；「十」讀 shí；「五」讀 wǔ；「至」讀 zhì；「骶」讀 dǐ；「骨」讀 gǔ；「六」讀 liù；「入」讀 rù；「脊」讀 jǐ；「内」讀 nèi；「注」讀 zhù；「伏」讀 fú；「膂」讀 lǚ；「之」讀 zhī；「脉」讀 mài。**此段以數說病，是本篇最可注意之筆法**：一日一節、二十五日下至骶骨、二十六日入於脊内、九日出於缺盆，**四數相銜，而晏早之理大明**。**「注」字最見動勢**：注者灌注也，**邪自脊内而注於伏膂之脉，如水之注**，與上文「舍於皮膚之内」之「舍」為一動一靜。**「骶骨」二字本篇惟此一見**：从骨从氐，脊骨之末，**與「膂」（脊旁之肉）一骨一肉，皆指脊之一線**。**此段之數，後世注家多有異議**（《太素》作二十一日、二十二日），**今照錄底本，不敢改字**。

Compounds built on this term

伏膂
fú lǚ
hidden spine
本篇一見，指伏行於脊旁之脉
伏膂之脉
fú lǚ zhī mài
the vessel running hidden along the spine
「脉」不作「脈」
循膂而下
xún lǚ ér xià
descending along the spine
與「伏膂」同一膂字
下至骶骨
xià zhì dǐ gǔ
down as far as the sacrum
「骶」从骨从氐，本篇惟此一見

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Fenghidden spineThey keep 伏 as hidden, which is what the graph means and what the evil is doing at this point in the account.
Unschuld[the vessel] of the concealed spineUnschuld adds the word vessel to make clear that a conduit, not a bone, is meant.
This sitehidden spineWe keep the two graphs and let the compound 伏膂之脉 carry the vessel. The chapter is measuring a journey down the back and up again, and this is the turning point: the evil goes in here and comes out nine days later at the supraclavicular fossa.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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