不仁

bù rén

Insensitivity · bu ren

Also rendered: insensitivity (Keeps 仁 as the capacity to answer) · numbness (The clinical word; loses the wordplay) · loss of feeling (Plainest, and closest to what is meant) · bu ren (Bare transliteration)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
bù rén
Simplified
不仁
Literal
仁 is the graph of a person and the number two — 說文 glosses it as 親 也, kinship, and the character is built to say that a person is a person in relation — and it is the Confucian word for goodness. 不仁 in medicine has nothing to do with that: it is the flesh has stopped answering, numbness, the limb that is still yours and does not report back. Chapter 24 puts it at the end of the five forms and wills, as what a life of repeated fright produces.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:仁,親也。从人从二。醫家言「不仁」則謂肌膚麻木、不知痛癢,非仁義之仁。本篇之目:形數驚恐,經絡不通,病生於不仁,治之以按摩醪藥。

In brief

Numbness — the tissue that no longer reports. Chapter 24 gives it a cause and not merely a description: a body subjected repeatedly to fright and fear, in which the channels and networks no longer get through. The word is worth a note because it is the book’s moral vocabulary turned to a clinical use, and because the chapter attributes it to a life rather than to a pathogen. It is also the only one of the five forms and wills whose treatment is entirely external, which follows: if the trouble is that the part does not answer, the methods are the ones that address it from the outside.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Numbness, not cruelty 病生於不仁
肌膚不知痛癢之謂
病生於不仁 — Suwen 24
2
Given a cause 經絡不通
驚恐屢至,則經絡不通而不仁
形數驚恐,經絡不通,病生於不仁 — Suwen 24
3
Attributed to a life 形數驚恐
五形志中惟此一條歸於所遭而非所習
形數驚恐,經絡不通 — Suwen 24
4
Treated from outside 治之以按摩醪藥
不仁者針藥皆難及,故治自外
治之以按摩醪藥 — Suwen 24
5
The moral word put to clinical use 不仁
說文訓仁為親,醫家借為知覺之反
病生於不仁 — Suwen 24

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
7 passages
素問·血氣形志 Suwen 24 · 血氣形志 Read in context →
形數驚恐,經絡不通,病生於不仁,治之以按摩醪藥。是謂五形志也。 形数惊恐,经络不通,病生于不仁,治之以按摩醪药。是谓五形志也。
Xíng shuò jīng kǒng, jīng luò bù tōng, bìng shēng yú bù rén, zhì zhī yǐ àn mó láo yào. Shì wèi wǔ xíng zhì yě.
Form given repeatedly to fright and fear: the channels and networks do not pass through, and the disease arises in insensitivity; treat it with pressing, rubbing and medicated wine. These are the five forms and wills.
五形志之末條:形數驚恐,經絡不通,病生於不仁。「仁」,《說文》訓「親也」,从人从二,是儒家之字;醫家借之則謂肌膚之知覺——「不仁」即麻木不知痛癢,與仁義之仁無涉。本篇不但狀其症,且推其因:形體屢受驚恐,則經絡不通,不通則不仁。五形志之中,前四條皆言所習(形樂志苦、形樂志樂、形苦志樂、形苦志苦),惟此一條歸於所遭,是其別。又五治之中惟此一條純用外治(按摩醪藥),其故亦可推:既已不知痛癢,則針之不知、藥之難入,惟有自外摩之、以酒行之。《太素》「不仁」上有「肉」字而屬上讀,與底本異,姑從底本而存其異。
素問·逆調論 Suwen 34 · 逆調論 Read in context →
歧伯曰:榮氣虚,衛氣實也,榮氣虚則不仁,衛氣虚,則不用,榮衛俱虚,則不仁且不用,肉如故也。 歧伯曰:荣气虚,卫气实也,荣气虚则不仁,卫气虚,则不用,荣卫俱虚,则不仁且不用,肉如故也。
Qí bó yuē: róng qì xū, wèi qì shí yě, róng qì xū zé bù rén, wèi qì xū, zé bù yòng, róng wèi jù xū, zé bù rén qiě bù yòng, ròu rú gù yě.
Qi Bo says: the construction qi is vacuous and the defence qi replete. When construction qi is vacuous there is numbness; when defence qi is vacuous there is loss of use; when both are vacuous there is numbness together with loss of use, while the flesh still looks as it always did.
「不仁」之目於本站已立(id 772),現收一條:第二十四篇「形數驚恐,經絡不通,病生於不仁,治之以按摩醪藥」。**彼言其因與其治,本篇言其分際**——「榮」讀 róng;「氣」讀 qì;「虚」讀 xū;「衛」讀 wèi;「實」讀 shí;「也」讀 yě;「則」讀 zé;**「不」讀 bù,本篇 30 見**;**「仁」讀 rén,本篇二見,皆在此段**——从人从二;**《素問》「不仁」專為肌膚麻木不知痛癢之證**,非仁義之仁;**「用」讀 yòng,本篇二見**——**「不用」者肢體不能舉動**;「俱」讀 jù;「且」讀 qiě;**「肉」讀 ròu,本篇 3 見**;「如」讀 rú;「故」讀 gù。**不仁與不用,是本篇新立之一對**:不仁者不知,不用者不能;榮虚則不知,衛虚則不能,俱虚則「不仁且不用」。**此對舉之法,使「不仁」由一證而析為二**,與第二十四篇之渾言「病生於不仁」者異。**「肉如故也」四字最見診斷之精**:病在不知痛癢與不能舉動,而肌肉之形色如常——**形不病而用病**,與本篇上文「肉爍」之肌肉消爍者正相反,讀者當以此四字別之。**與第二十四篇對讀**:彼以不仁為一病而治以按摩醪藥(從外治之),此以不仁為榮虚之證而與不用對舉(從內分之)——**一則問其何以治,一則問其何以分**。
素問·風論 Suwen 42 · 風論 Read in context →
衛氣有所凝而不行,故其肉有不仁也。 卫气有所凝而不行,故其肉有不仁也。
Wèi qì yǒu suǒ níng ér bù xíng, gù qí ròu yǒu bù rén yě.
Where the defensive qi is congealed and cannot move, that flesh loses all feeling.
「衛氣有所凝而不行,故其肉有不仁也」——**本篇「不仁」1見,即此**;**第二十四篇以驚恐致痺而皮膚不仁,本篇則以衛氣凝滯釋之**——**同為不仁,彼言其因於神,此言其因於氣**。「凝」讀 níng;「仁」讀 rén**「不仁」讀 bù rén**;「肉」讀 ròu**「其肉」讀 ròu**。
素問·痺論 Suwen 43 · 痺論 Read in context →
其不痛不仁者,病久入深,榮衛之行濇,經絡時疏,故不通,皮膚不營,故爲不仁。 其不痛不仁者,病久入深,荣卫之行涩,经络时疏,故不通,皮肤不营,故为不仁。
Qí bù tòng bù rén zhě, bìng jiǔ rù shēn, róng wèi zhī xíng sè, jīng luò shí shū, gù bù tōng, pí fū bù yíng, gù wéi bù rén.
The ones that are not painful but numb are long-standing and deeply entered: the movement of construction and defensive qi is rough, the channels and network vessels are at times empty, and so there is no pain; the skin is not nourished, and so there is numbness.
「其不痛不仁者,病久入深,榮衛之行濇,經絡時疏,故不通,皮膚不營,故爲不仁」——**本篇「不仁」4見**;**不痛與不仁同屬病久入深**:榮衛之行濇、經絡時疏故不通,皮膚無所營故不仁;「濇」讀 sè,**與上文「澀於小便」之「澀」同篇二形,音義並同**;「營」讀 yíng,**滋養也,與「冬脉如營」之「營」義別**。
素問·痿論 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.
「肌肉不仁,發爲肉痿」——**「不仁」本篇二見,此與下章「痺而不仁」同義**;「痿」讀 wěi,**本篇16見**。
素問·氣穴論 Suwen 58 · 氣穴論 Read in context →
卷肉縮筋,肋肘不得伸,内爲骨痺,外爲不仁,命曰不足,大寒留於谿谷也。 卷肉缩筋,肋肘不得伸,内为骨痹,外为不仁,命曰不足,大寒留于溪谷也。
Juǎn ròu suō jīn, lèi zhǒu bù dé shēn, nèi wéi gǔ bì, wài wéi bù rén, mìng yuē bù zú, dà hán liú yú xī gǔ yě.
The flesh curls and the sinews contract; ribs and elbow cannot stretch. Within, it becomes obstruction of the bone; without, numbness. This is called insufficiency — great cold lodged in the stream valleys.
「卷肉縮筋,肋肘不得伸,内爲骨痺,外爲「不」讀 bù「仁」讀 rén,命曰不足,大寒留於谿谷也。」——**本篇「不仁」1見,讀 bù rén**;**與骨痺為一病之内外:痺者在骨,不仁者在肌膚**;**本目第二十四篇所立:驚恐屢加,經絡不通而成麻木**;**本篇之因則為寒留谿谷,榮衛不居而肌膚失養**;「命」讀 mìng、**「命曰不足」之命讀 mìng,本篇1見**;「足」讀 zú、**「不足」之足讀 zú;本篇「卒」別讀 zú 而不讀 cù,與此同音而異義**
素問·玉機真藏論 Suwen 19 · 玉機真藏論 Read in context →
是故風者,百病之長也。今風寒客於人,使人毫毛畢直,皮膚閉而爲熱,當是之時,可汗而發也;或痺不仁腫痛,當是之時,可湯熨及火灸剌而去之。 是故风者,百病之长也。今风寒客于人,使人毫毛毕直,皮肤闭而为热,当是之时,可汗而发也;或痹不仁肿痛,当是之时,可汤熨及火灸剌而去之。
Shì gù fēng zhě, bǎi bìng zhī zhǎng yě. Jīn fēng hán kè yú rén, shǐ rén háo máo bì zhí, pí fū bì ér wéi rè, dāng shì zhī shí, kě hàn ér fā yě; huò bì bù rén zhǒng tòng, dāng shì zhī shí, kě tāng yùn jí huǒ jiǔ cì ér qù zhī.
Therefore wind is the chief of the hundred diseases. When wind-cold lodges in a person it makes the fine body hair stand straight and the skin close so that heat develops; at that point it can be sweated out and dispersed. Or there is impediment, numbness, swelling and pain, and at that point it can be removed by hot compresses, fire cautery and needling.
「痺不仁腫痛」,風寒客於人而或為痺、為不仁、為腫痛。不仁者肌膚不知痛癢,榮衛之不至也。

Compounds built on this term

仁
rén
to feel, to answer
醫家謂肌膚之知覺
不仁
bù rén
numbness
與仁義之仁別
經絡不通
jīng luò bù tōng
the channels do not get through
本篇別立「經絡」目
形數驚恐
xíng shuò jīng kǒng
a body repeatedly frightened
五形志之第五條
麻木
má mù
numbness
後世通行之名

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & FengnumbnessThey render the clinical sense directly and say nothing about the graph, which is right for a clinician.
Unschuldno sensitivity / insensitivityHe keeps the negation visible, which preserves the fact that the word is built out of 仁.
This siteinsensitivity仁 is a person in relation — the character is two, and the medical use takes it as the flesh's answering. 'Numbness' is the symptom; 'insensitivity' keeps the word the text chose and the reason it chose it.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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