内風简体内风

nèi fēng

Inner wind · nei feng

Also rendered: Inner wind (this site; nei feng given at the headword) · Interior wind (the plainer rendering)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: nèi fēng
Simplified: 内风
Literal: 内風 nèi fēng — wind caught in the bedchamber, when the body is sweating. Wang Bing gives the reason for the name: the essence is spent within and the interstices opened without, and the wind strikes inward.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：内，入也。从冂入，自外而入也。「内」讀 nèi，**本篇5見**——**此字為本站通例，非「內」**；**「内風」惟此一見**；**「入房汗出中風」——「中」讀 zhòng**；**「汗」讀 hàn**。

In brief

Inner wind is the wind of the bedchamber: caught when the body has been opened by sweating and is therefore unprotected. It stands in the chapter’s catalogue between leaking wind (caught drinking) and head wind (caught washing the hair) — each named for the act that left the body open.

Senses in the classical corpus

What the graph says 内

入也，自外而入；與「外」對

則爲内風 — Suwen 42

How it is caught 入房汗出中風

入房汗出，腠理開而中風

入房汗出中風 — Suwen 42

Why it is called inner 内耗其精，外開腠理

王冰：精耗於内，腠開於外

則爲内風 — Suwen 42 (Wang Bing)

What follows 因内風襲，故曰内風

風乘内虛而入

則爲内風 — Suwen 42 (Wang Bing)

Its neighbours 漏風、首風

一得之飲酒，一得之新沐

飲酒中風，則爲漏風 — Suwen 42

What the chapter does not give 無診候之文

本篇但列名，不列其狀

則爲内風 — Suwen 42

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 42 Suwen 42 · 風論 Read in context →

飲酒中風，則爲漏風；入房汗出中風，則爲内風；新沐中風，則爲首風；久風入中，則爲腸風飧泄；外在腠理，則爲泄風。饮酒中风，则为漏风；入房汗出中风，则为内风；新沐中风，则为首风；久风入中，则为肠风飧泄；外在腠理，则为泄风。

Yǐn jiǔ zhòng fēng, zé wéi lòu fēng; rù fáng hàn chū zhòng fēng, zé wéi nèi fēng; xīn mù zhòng fēng, zé wéi shǒu fēng; jiǔ fēng rù zhōng, zé wéi cháng fēng sūn xiè; wài zài còu lǐ, zé wéi xiè fēng.

Wind struck while drinking is leaking wind; struck after entering the bedchamber when the body is sweating, it is inner wind; struck after freshly washing the hair, it is head wind; when wind has long been in the interior it is intestinal wind with sloppy diarrhoea; lodged in the interstices, it is outpouring wind.

**「入房汗出中風，則爲内風」——「中」讀 zhòng**；**王冰：「内耗其精，外開腠理，因内風襲，故曰内風」**；**本篇「内」5見，皆作「内」不作「內」**——**本站通例如此**；**此條與漏風（飲酒）、首風（新沐）、腸風（久風入中）、泄風（外在腠理）同屬「得之之由」一類**。

Compounds built on this term

内風

nèi fēng

inner wind

本篇惟此一見

入房汗出中風

rù fáng hàn chū zhòng fēng

wind struck after entering the bedchamber, sweating

内風之由

漏風

lòu fēng

leaking wind

得之飲酒，與内風同列

首風

shǒu fēng

head wind

得之新沐，與内風同列

How it has been translated

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

This site	inner wind	translated, with nei feng at the headword
Unschuld	inner wind	the same
Wiseman	inner wind	the same; not to be confused with the later doctrine of internal wind

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

Search the glossary

Reading path

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

See all reading paths