Classica Sinica Medica

涇溲 简体 泾溲

jīng sōu

The flow and the urine · jing sou

Also rendered: The flow and the urine (this site; it keeps both commentaries open, which a single-word rendering cannot) · Difficulty passing stool and urine (吳崑's reading, and the one most modern Chinese editions give)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-04

At a glance

Pinyin
jīng sōu
Simplified
泾溲
Literal
涇 jīng — a river that runs, and by extension water that runs constantly; 溲 sōu — to pass water, and in medical writing the urine. The chapter uses the word once, and it uses it as the sign by which one of the five excesses is known: 形有餘則腹脹，涇溲不利；不足則四支不用. Form in excess, the belly swells and the flow and the urine do not get through; form in deficit, the four limbs cannot be used. What the chapter needs from the word is only that much — the two outlets, and their failing together. The commentaries do not agree on how to split it. 吳崑 takes 涇 as the stool and 溲 as the urine, so that the compound covers both passages. 張介賓 takes 涇 for water that runs constantly and makes the whole phrase a matter of the urine alone. The two readings are kept here, as they were in chapter 45, and neither is allowed to settle the other; what is certain is that the belly is full and something that should pass does not.
Shuowen
**「涇」讀 jīng，本篇1見；水之常流者也，吳崑以為大便、張介賓以為小便，二說並存**；**「溲」讀 sōu，本篇1見；溺也，小便也**；**「涇溲」本篇1見，在形之有餘一證中**；**「溲」不从「洩」；本篇「泄」7見而無「洩」字**；**「腹」讀 fù、「脹」讀 zhàng，本篇「腹脹」2見**；**「利」讀 lì，「不利」謂通利之失**；**「形」讀 xíng，本篇14見**；**「四支」sì zhī，本篇2見**；**「不用」bù yòng，本篇1見**；**「脹」从肉長聲，肉之張滿也**

In brief

The flow and the urine — 涇 jīng, water that runs; 溲 sōu, the urine — and the chapter uses it once, as the sign by which form in excess is known: 形有餘則腹脹，涇溲不利；不足則四支不用. The belly swells and what should pass does not. The commentaries split on how to divide the word. 吳崑 takes 涇 as the stool and 溲 as the urine, so the compound covers both outlets, and that is the reading that fits a belly that is full. 張介賓 takes 涇 for water that runs constantly and reads the whole phrase as the urine alone. Both are kept here, as they were in chapter 45, and neither is allowed to settle the other: what the chapter needs is that the two passages fail together, and both readings give it that. The word occurs once and has not appeared in any chapter transcribed on this site before.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 涇溲
涇者水之常流者也；溲者溺也，小便也
形有餘則腹脹，涇溲不利 — Suwen 62
2
The sign it gives 涇溲不利
形有餘之證：腹脹而二便不利；不利者，通利之失
涇溲不利 — Suwen 62
3
One reading: both outlets 涇為大便，溲為小便
吳崑之說，以涇屬大便、溲屬小便，合二便而言之，於腹脹之證為切
形有餘則腹脹，涇溲不利 — Suwen 62
4
The other reading: the urine alone 涇為常流之水
張介賓之說，以涇為常流之水而專指小便；二說並存，不獨斷一家
涇溲不利 — Suwen 62
5
What it is set against 不足則四支不用
形有餘則腹脹而涇溲不利，形不足則四支不用；一實一虚，皆以形言之
不足則四支不用 — Suwen 62
6
The graph this base text uses 涇溲
底本作「涇溲」，本篇「涇」1見、「溲」1見；「溲」不从「洩」
形有餘則腹脹，涇溲不利 — Suwen 62

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 62 Suwen 62 · 調經論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：形有餘則腹脹，涇溲不利；不足則四支不用。血氣未并，五藏安定，肌肉蠕動，命曰微風。 歧伯曰：形有余则腹胀，泾溲不利；不足则四支不用。血气未并，五藏安定，肌肉蠕动，命曰微风。
Qí bó yuē: xíng yǒu yú zé fù zhàng, jīng sōu bù lì; bù zú zé sì zhī bù yòng. Xuè qì wèi bìng, wǔ zàng ān dìng, jī ròu rú dòng, mìng yuē wēi fēng.
Qi Bo says: when the body is in excess there is swelling of the belly and the stools and urine do not pass freely; when it is insufficient the four limbs cannot be used. If blood and qi have not pooled and the five depots are settled, and the flesh only faintly stirs, this is called faint wind.
**「涇溲」本篇1見，在形之有餘一證中**；**「涇」讀 jīng，本篇1見；「溲」讀 sōu，本篇1見**；**吳崑以涇為大便、溲為小便；張介賓以涇為常流之水而專指小便；二說並存（第四十五篇同例），此从底本作「涇」**；**「腹脹」本篇2見（形有餘、志有餘各一見）**；**下句「不足則四支不用」，一實一虚，皆以形言之**

Compounds built on this term

腹脹
fù zhàng
swelling of the belly
形有餘則腹脹，涇溲不利；本篇「腹脹」2見
不利
bù lì
failing to pass
涇溲不利；「利」讀 lì，通利也
四支不用
sì zhī bù yòng
the four limbs cannot be used
不足則四支不用；形不足之證
飱泄
sūn xiè
food-diarrhoea
志有餘則腹脹飱泄；本篇1見，「飱」讀 sūn

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe flow and the urineliteral from the two graphs — 涇 running water, 溲 the urine — and deliberately not resolved, because 吳崑 and 張介賓 split the word differently and the chapter's symptom does not tell us which is right
Wu Kunthe stool and the urine吳崑: 涇，大便也；溲，小便也 — the reading that makes the compound cover both passages, and the one that fits a belly that has swollen
Zhang Jiebinscant urine張介賓: 涇 is water that runs constantly, and the phrase as a whole belongs to the urine; narrower, and it is the reading most modern clinical writing assumes

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-04

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Reading path

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