Classica Sinica Medica

水漿不入 简体 水浆不入

shuǐ jiāng bù rù

No fluid goes down · shui jiang bu ru

Also rendered: no fluid goes down (Keeps 入 as going down; both 水 and 漿 covered) · unable to take fluids (Clinical register; loses 入 as the verb the text uses)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
shuǐ jiāng bù rù
Simplified
水浆不入
Literal
水 shuǐ, water; 漿 jiāng, a thin gruel or any drinkable; 不 bù, not; 入 rù, to enter or go down. Water and gruel do not go down. The phrase is plain and the chapter gives it as the terminal sign of the double-affected case: with no fluid going down and the patient recognising no one, death follows on the sixth day.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：水，準也，北方之行，象眾水並流——「水」讀 shuǐ，本篇一見；漿，酢漿也，从水將聲——**「漿」讀 jiāng，本篇一見**，湯水、飲漿也；不，鳥飛上翔不下來也——「不」讀 bù；入，內也，象从上俱下也——「入」讀 rù，本篇二見。「知」讀 zhī，識也；「人」讀 rén；「六」讀 liù；「日」讀 rì；「死」讀 sǐ。**「水漿不入」一句尤為後世所重**：胃氣絕則死，與本篇「則思飲食」之為病衰之驗，正反相形。

In brief

The terminal sign of the double-affected case in chapter 31: no fluid will go down and the patient recognises no one, and death follows on the sixth day. The chapter has already said that the double-affected patient cannot escape death; this line fixes the date and gives the sign by which the end is recognised. It also completes a thread running through the whole chapter — the return of appetite marks the turning point on the tenth day, and the loss of the ability to take anything marks the end here.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The terminal sign 水漿不入，不知人，六日死
湯水不下、不識人，六日而死
水漿不入，不知人，六日死 — Suwen 31
2
The prognosis it fulfils 必不免於死
兩感者必死，此則定其日為六日
其兩感於寒而病者，必不免於死 — Suwen 31
3
The date it confirms 其死皆以六七日之閒
開卷言六七日死，此言六日，其說吻合
其死皆以六七日之閒 — Suwen 31
4
Its counterpart in recovery 腹減如故，則思飲食
十日病衰而思飲食，與此正反相形
腹減如故，則思飲食 — Suwen 31
5
What has failed 五藏已傷，六府不通
藏府皆病、榮衛不行，則水漿不入
五藏已傷，六府不通 — Suwen 31
6
Why death is delayed 其血氣盛，故不知人，三日，其氣乃盡
陽明血氣盛，故不即死
其血氣盛，故不知人，三日，其氣乃盡 — Suwen 31

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·熱論 Suwen 31 · 熱論 Read in context →
水漿不入，不知人，六日死。 水浆不入，不知人，六日死。
Shuǐ jiāng bù rù, bù zhī rén, liù rì sǐ.
Fluid will not go down, the patient recognises no one, and on the sixth day he dies.
兩感之終局。「水」讀 shuǐ；**「漿」讀 jiāng，本篇一見**；「不」讀 bù；「入」讀 rù；「知」讀 zhī，識也；「人」讀 rén；「六」讀 liù；「日」讀 rì；「死」讀 sǐ，本篇八見。**「六日死」是全篇最確之死期**：上文曰「必不免於死」而不言日，此則定其日為六日，與開卷「其死皆以六七日」之說吻合。**「水漿不入」一句尤為後世所重**：胃氣絕則死，與本篇「則思飲食」之為病衰之驗，正反相形。
素問·刺志論 Suwen 53 · 刺志論 Read in context →
脉大血少者，脉有風氣，水漿不入，此之謂也。 脉大血少者，脉有风气，水浆不入，此之谓也。
Mài dà xuè shǎo zhě, mài yǒu fēng qì, shuǐ jiāng bù rù, cǐ zhī wèi yě.
The vessel large yet the blood scant: wind qi is in the vessel and water and gruel do not go down — this is what is meant.
「脉大血少者，脉有風氣，「水」讀 shuǐ「漿」讀 jiāng不入，此之謂也」——**本篇「水漿不入」1見**；「漿」讀 jiāng、**「漿」讀 jiāng，本篇1見**；「大」讀 dà、**「脉大」之大讀 dà，本篇1見**；**本目原為第三十一篇「水漿不入，不知人，六日死」之死證而立；本篇則以為「脉有風氣」之驗**——**同文而異用：彼為死期之兆，此為風氣之徵**

Compounds built on this term

水漿不入
shuǐ jiāng bù rù
no fluid goes down
本篇一見，兩感之終局
不知人
bù zhī rén
recognising no one
本篇一見（其血氣盛，故不知人）凡二見
水榖氣
shuǐ gǔ qì
qi of water and grain
本站已立目（id 901），與此之不能納穀者相對
思飲食
sī yǐn shí
thinking of food and drink
本篇一見，病衰之驗，與此相反

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng(when) water and gruel do not enterThey render both nouns and keep 入 as enter, which is exact, though 'water and gruel' is longer than the Chinese and reads oddly in English.
Unschuld(when) he does not ingest any liquidUnschuld collapses the two nouns into one, which is easier to read but drops the homely specificity of 漿.
This siteno fluid goes downWe keep 入 as 'goes down' and let one word cover 水漿. The point of the phrase is that nothing at all will go down, and the English should say that once.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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