Classica Sinica Medica

内陷

nèi xiàn

Sinking inward · nei xian

Also rendered: Sinking inward (this site; the needle carried past the level that belongs to the place) · Deep insertion; over-insertion (the modern phrasing; both describe the depth and lose the fact that it is the same needle going one level too far)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-10-01

At a glance

Pinyin
nèi xiàn
Simplified
内陷
Literal
内 nèi — inside, from outside going in; 陷 xiàn — to sink, to drop from high to low. 《說文》gives 内 as 入也, entering, and 陷 as 高下也, with the gloss 一曰陊也, to collapse. Put together in chapter 52 the pair names one movement of the needle: it does not stop at the level that belongs to the place, and sinks past it into what lies beneath. The word carries most of the chapter. Of the injuries listed after the viscera, seven are phrased with it, and each of the seven says what the sinking reaches — a vessel, the qi, an organ, a joint.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：「内，入也，从冂，自外而入也」；「陷，高下也，从阜从臽，臽亦聲」，一曰陊也。「内」讀 nèi、**本篇8見，讀 nèi**；「陷」讀 xiàn、**本篇9見，讀 xiàn**；「氣」讀 qì、**本篇5見，陷則「氣泄」或「氣歸之」**；「肘」讀 zhǒu、**「刺肘中」之肘，本篇1見**；「屈」讀 qū、「伸」讀 shēn、**「屈伸」本篇2見，陷於肘中者不得屈伸**；**「内陷」二字本篇7見，為全篇之樞**。

In brief

The needle’s sinking inward past the depth proper to the site — the single cause chapter 52 gives for most of the mishaps it catalogues. It appears seven times, and each time the sentence says what the sinking reaches: the vessel at the guest-host point (inner leakage, deafness), the qi at the supraclavicular fossa (qi leaks out, panting and coughing) and at the cubital fossa (qi gathers, and the arm will not bend), the bladder three cun below the inner thigh (involuntary urination), the lung between the ribs (cough), and simply the flesh of the calf (swelling). It is the same fault chapter 51 calls 反, reversal: not a different needling, but this needling carried one level too far.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 内陷
内者自外而入，陷者高下而没；二字連言，謂針過其當止之處而没入於裏
刺缺盆中内陷 — Suwen 52
2
What the word does in this chapter 内陷
本篇之禁，傷多不在刺而在陷
刺肘中，内陷，氣歸之，爲不屈伸 — Suwen 52
3
What it reaches — the vessel 内陷中脉
陷而中脉，則為内漏、為聾
刺客主人，内陷中脉，爲内漏，爲聾 — Suwen 52
4
What it reaches — the qi 氣泄、氣歸之
陷則氣泄於外，或氣歸聚而不散
刺缺盆中内陷，氣泄，令人喘欬逆 — Suwen 52
5
What it reaches — the organ 令人遺溺
陷而及於膀胱，則溺不禁
刺陰股下三寸，内陷，令人遺溺 — Suwen 52
6
How the lighter cases end 爲腫
諸陷之未及藏府者，血不出而為腫
刺腨腸内陷，爲腫 — Suwen 52

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 52 Suwen 52 · 刺禁論 Read in context →
刺肘中，内陷，氣歸之，爲不屈伸。 刺肘中，内陷，气归之，为不屈伸。
Cì zhǒu zhōng, nèi xiàn, qì guī zhī, wéi bù qū shēn.
To needle the cubital fossa and sink inward, so that the qi gathers there: inability to bend and stretch.
**「内陷」本篇7見——「内」讀 nèi、**本篇8見，讀 nèi**；「陷」讀 xiàn、**本篇9見，讀 xiàn**；「肘」讀 zhǒu、**「刺肘中」之肘，本篇1見**；「氣」讀 qì、**本篇5見，氣歸之則不得屈伸**；「歸」讀 guī、**本篇1見，讀 guī**；「屈」讀 qū、「伸」讀 shēn、**「屈伸」本篇2見**；**本篇之禁，傷多不在刺而在陷：本篇「内陷」7見，為全篇之樞**

Compounds built on this term

内陷
nèi xiàn
sinking inward
本篇7見
内陷中脉
nèi xiàn zhòng mài
sinking so as to strike the vessel
本篇一見（客主人）
氣泄
qì xiè
leaking of the qi
本篇一見（缺盆）
氣歸之
qì guī zhī
the qi gathers there
本篇一見（肘中）

How it has been translated

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

This sitesinking inwardkept literal, because chapter 52 uses the word as the one explanation for most of the injuries it lists
Later medicine内陷 nèi xiànread as the needle passing its proper depth; the commentaries tie it to the same rule chapter 51 states as 反, reversal
Modern editions进针过深 over-deep insertion; 深刺 deep needlingthey name the depth and drop the word that ties the accident to the place

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-01

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Reading path

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

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