Classica Sinica Medica

痺氣 简体 痹气

bì qì

Obstructing qi · bi qi

Also rendered: bi qi (Left untranslated, which is honest but tells an English reader nothing) · numbing qi (Captures the sensory side but loses theclosure that the graph carries)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
bì qì
Simplified
痹气
Literal
痺 bì, obstructed, impeded — the graph is 疒 plus 卑, and the whole chapter writes it that way rather than the modern 痹; 氣 qi. A person with much obstructing qi is cold from the inside out, because yang qi is scant and yin qi abundant and nothing moves. The chapter's image for it is exact: cold as though just drawn out of water.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：痺，溼病也，从疒，卑聲——氣閉而不行，故為痺。「痺」讀 bì，本篇 2 見（痺氣、骨痺）——**底本从疒从卑，不作「痹」（「痹」）；二字碼位相鄰（痺 、痹 ），最易誤錄**。「多」讀 duō，本篇 2 見；「是」讀 shì；「人」讀 rén；「氣」讀 qì；「也」讀 yě；「陽」讀 yáng，本篇 13 見；「少」讀 shǎo，本篇 4 見；「陰」讀 yīn，本篇 4 見；「故」讀 gù；「身」讀 shēn，本篇 5 見；「寒」讀 hán，本篇 7 見；「水」讀 shuǐ，本篇 9 見；「中」讀 zhōng，本篇 3 見；「出」讀 chū，本篇惟此一見。**「痺氣」之義，當從「氣閉而不行」求解**：本篇第二問之寒不由外來（非衣寒）、不因內素有之寒（中非有寒氣），**則其寒之來，惟有一途——氣痹而不行，陽無以溫之**。與下文「骨痺」同一「痺」字：一則氣之痹，一則骨之痹，**所痹之處異而其為閉則一**。

In brief

The chapter’s answer to cold that comes from inside a person who is not thinly dressed and never took cold: there is much obstructing qi, yang qi is scant and yin qi abundant, and the body is cold as though just drawn out of water. Not a disease name so much as a state — the qi is blocked, and warmth is what blocked qi cannot deliver.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
A state, not a named disease 是人多痺氣也
帝問其寒從中生，答以痺氣
是人多痺氣也 — Suwen 34
2
Yang scant, yin abundant 陽氣少，陰氣多
與上答「陰氣少而陽氣勝」字字相反
陽氣少，陰氣多 — Suwen 34
3
The cold is inward 中非有寒氣也
非衣薄、非內素有寒，故曰中生
寒從中生者何 — Suwen 34
4
The image for it 故身寒如從水中出
不言寒之度而言寒之狀
故身寒如從水中出 — Suwen 34
5
Closed, not absent 痺
痺者閉也，非無陽，乃陽不得行
是人多痺氣也 — Suwen 34
6
The same graph, another site 病名曰骨痺
痺在氣為痺氣，痺在骨為骨痺
病名曰骨痺 — Suwen 34

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·逆調論 Suwen 34 · 逆調論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：是人多痺氣也，陽氣少，陰氣多，故身寒如從水中出。 歧伯曰：是人多痹气也，阳气少，阴气多，故身寒如从水中出。
Qí bó yuē: shì rén duō bì qì yě, yáng qì shǎo, yīn qì duō, gù shēn hán rú cóng shuǐ zhōng chū.
Qi Bo says: such a person has much obstructing qi — yang qi scant, yin qi abundant — and so the body is cold as though just come out of water.
第二答。「是」讀 shì；「人」讀 rén；「多」讀 duō；「痺」讀 bì；「氣」讀 qì；「也」讀 yě；「陽」讀 yáng；「少」讀 shǎo；「陰」讀 yīn；「故」讀 gù；「身」讀 shēn；「寒」讀 hán；「如」讀 rú；「從」讀 cóng；「水」讀 shuǐ；「中」讀 zhōng；「出」讀 chū。**此答與第一答字字相對**：第一答「陰氣少而陽氣勝，故熱而煩滿」，此答「陽氣少，陰氣多，故身寒」，**一熱一寒，皆歸於陰陽之多少，是本篇開篇之綱**。而「人」之寒熱皆「非常」——非尋常之温熱、非衣薄之寒，故篇名「逆調」：非不調，乃逆乎其調。

Compounds built on this term

痺氣
bì qì
obstructing qi
本篇第二答之主詞
陽氣少，陰氣多
yáng qì shǎo, yīn qì duō
yang scant, yin abundant
本篇寒熱之柄，與上答對待
身寒如從水中出
shēn hán rú cóng shuǐ zhōng chū
cold as though drawn from water
《素問》寫寒最肖之句
骨痺
gǔ bì
bone impediment
同此痺字而所痹之處異

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & FengobstructionThey take 痺 as a mechanism rather than a disease label, which suits a passage that is explaining why a body is cold.
UnschuldblockageUnschuld stresses the closure; the qi is present but cannot pass.
This siteobstructing qiWe keep the mechanism and the noun together: the chapter does not name a disease here, it names what the qi is doing. 痺 appears twice in the chapter and we render the graph the same way both times — obstruction in the qi here, obstruction in the bone under 骨痺.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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