肓

huāng

The huang · huang

Also rendered: The huang (this site; transliterated because no English anatomical term covers it) · The cardiodiaphragmatic space (anatomising; the texts mean a region, not a space)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
huāng
Simplified
肓
Literal
肓 huāng — the region between the heart and the diaphragm; in the older pairing 膏肓, 膏 is the fat below the heart and 肓 is the membrane above the diaphragm, and together they name the place a disease goes when it cannot be reached. The Zuo Commentary has the physician declare the illness to be 在肓之上、膏之下 — above the huang and below the gao — and therefore beyond both cautery and needling. Chapter 40 keeps something of that inaccessibility, but gives the region an address instead: 肓之原在齊下, the source of the huang lies below the navel. It is there that the wind-rooted hidden beam lodges after overflowing into the large intestine, and that is why the pain rings the navel. Later acupuncture takes 肓之原 as a point name and identifies it with the region of Qihai below the navel; the chapter is the source of that identification.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:肓,心上鬲下也——**本義即心之上、鬲之下之處**;**《左傳》「病在肓之上、膏之下」即此字**。「肓」讀 huāng,**讀 huāng 不讀 máng**,**本篇2見**(肓、肓之原),**「膏肓」之「膏」本篇無之,其字作「高梁」之高**——**讀者勿以「膏」字律本篇**。「原」讀 yuán、**本篇1見**;**「肓之原」後世以為穴名,其地在齊下**。「著」讀 zhuó**讀 zhuó**(附著也);「溢」讀 yì、**本篇1見**。

In brief

The region above the diaphragm, the place an illness goes to be out of reach. Chapter 40 gives it a location — its source lies below the navel — and makes it the lodging place of the wind-rooted hidden beam.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the graph says 肓
肓,心上鬲下也;與膏為對,曰膏肓
而著於肓 — Suwen 40
2
Where it lodges 著於肓
氣自大腸溢而著於肓,是風根之去路
而著於肓 — Suwen 40
3
Its source 肓之原在齊下
肓之原在齊下,故痛環於齊
肓之原在齊下 — Suwen 40
4
Why the pain rings 故環齊而痛也
原在齊下,故其痛環齊
故環齊而痛也 — Suwen 40
5
How it got there 其氣溢於大腸
風根之氣先溢於大腸,而後著於肓
其氣溢於大腸 — Suwen 40
6
What must not be done 不可動之
著於肓者不可動,動之則為水溺濇之病
不可動之 — Suwen 40

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
4 passages
Suwen 40 Suwen 40 · 腹中論 Read in context →
歧伯曰:病名伏梁,此風根也。其氣溢於大腸,而著於肓,肓之原在齊下,故環齊而痛也。 歧伯曰:病名伏梁,此风根也。其气溢于大肠,而著于肓,肓之原在脐下,故环脐而痛也。
Qí bó yuē: bìng míng fú liáng, cǐ fēng gēn yě.Qí qì yì yú dà cháng, ér zhuó yú huāng, huāng zhī yuán zài qí xià, gù huán qí ér tòng yě.
Qi Bo says: the illness is named the hidden beam; this one has wind at its root. Its qi overflows into the large intestine and fixes itself in the huang, and the source of the huang lies below the navel — hence the pain rings the navel.
**「病名伏梁,此風根也」之下即言其氣之去路**:**溢於大腸而著於肓,肓之原在齊下,故環齊而痛**——**四句一氣而下,是本篇推病機之最密者**。「風」讀 fēng、**本篇1見**;「根」讀 gēn、**本篇2見**(「上下左右皆有根」一、「此風根也」一);「齊」讀 qí**本篇5見,皆寫「臍」**;「環」讀 huán、**本篇2見**。**「肓」與「鬲」(「鬲」讀 gé)本篇各2見、1見**——**鬲者膈膜,肓者膈上之膜原,二處相近而非一物**;**本站「鬲」一條見 #565**。
素問·痺論 Suwen 43 · 痺論 Read in context →
故循皮膚之中,分肉之間,熏於肓膜,散於胸腹,逆其氣則病,從其氣則愈,不與風寒濕氣合,故不爲痺。 故循皮肤之中,分肉之间,熏于肓膜,散于胸腹,逆其气则病,从其气则愈,不与风寒湿气合,故不为痹。
Gù xún pí fū zhī zhōng, fēn ròu zhī jiān, xūn yú huāng mó, sàn yú xiōng fù, nì qí qì zé bìng, cóng qí qì zé yù, bù yǔ fēng hán shī qì hé, gù bù wéi bì.
So it runs within the skin and between the partings of the flesh, steams the membranes of the body cavities and spreads through the chest and belly. If its qi is counterflow there is illness; if it is compliant, recovery. It does not combine with the qi of wind, cold and dampness, and therefore does not itself make obstruction.
「熏於肓膜,散於胸腹」——「肓」讀 huāng,**本篇「肓」1見**;**衛氣循皮膚之中、分肉之間,熏於肓膜而散於胸腹**,**不入於脉,故不與風寒濕氣合,故不為痺**——**是本篇答「榮衛之氣亦令人痺乎」之斷語**;**與 ch40「著於肓,肓之原在齊下」同一部位之名**。
素問·奇病論 Suwen 47 · 奇病論 Read in context →
其氣溢於大腸,而著於肓,肓之原在齊下,故環齊而痛也。不可動之,動之爲水溺濇之病也。 其气溢于大肠,而著于肓,肓之原在脐下,故环脐而痛也。不可动之,动之为水溺涩之病也。
Qí qì yì yú dà cháng, ér zhuó yú huāng, huāng zhī yuán zài qí xià, gù huán qí ér tòng yě. Bù kě dòng zhī, dòng zhī wéi shuǐ niào sè zhī bìng yě.
Its qi overflows into the large intestine and lodges in the huang, and the source of the huang lies below the navel, hence the pain encircling the navel. It must not be stirred; to stir it is to make it a disease of scant and hesitant urination.
「而「著」讀 zhuó於「肓」讀 huāng,肓之原在齊下」——**本篇「肓」2見,上文著於肓,下文肓之原**;**肓从肉旁讀 huāng,非从目之盲讀 máng,二字極易互譌,詳本篇校勘第八條**;**著讀 zhuó,附著之著;下文之原部分極明:肓之原在齊下,故環齊而痛**;「溢」讀 yì,**溢讀 yì**。
素問·刺禁論 Suwen 52 · 刺禁論 Read in context →
鬲肓之上,中有父母,七節之傍,中有小心,從之有福,逆之有咎。 鬲肓之上,中有父母,七节之傍,中有小心,从之有福,逆之有咎。
Gé huāng zhī shàng, zhōng yǒu fù mǔ, qī jié zhī bàng, zhōng yǒu xiǎo xīn, cóng zhī yǒu fú, nì zhī yǒu jiù.
Above the diaphragm and the huang region, between them are the father and mother; beside the seventh vertebra, between them is the small heart. To follow them brings good fortune; to go against them brings harm.
「鬲「肓」讀 huāng之上,中有父母,七節之傍,中有小心」——**本篇「肓」1見,讀 huāng**;「鬲」讀 gé、**本篇1見,見 id 565**;「傍」讀 bàng、**「七節之傍」本篇1見,讀 bàng,不从「旁」,詳本篇校勘第八條**;「節」讀 jié、**本篇2見**;**肓者心下膈上之際;鬲肓之上有父母,七節之傍有小心——從之則福,逆之則咎**。

Compounds built on this term

肓
huāng
the huang
心上鬲下之處
肓之原
huāng zhī yuán
the source of the huang
其地在齊下
膏肓
gāo huāng
the gao and the huang
本篇止作「肓」,後世多連稱
著於肓
zhuó yú huāng
lodging in the huang
伏梁風根之所著

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe huangtransliterated and glossed; the word is a place in the older anatomy, not an organ
Unschuldthe huangtransliterates 肓 and glosses it as the region below the heart
Wisemanthe huangthe same; Wiseman notes that 膏肓 as a pair means an illness beyond treatment

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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