偏枯

piān kū

Pianku · one-sided wasting

Also rendered: hemiplegia (The modern equivalent) · one-sided withering (More literal than wasting)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
piān kū
Simplified
偏枯
Literal
偏 leaning to one side; 枯 withered, dried out. Half the body withering.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:偏,頗也;枯,槁也。

In brief

In the seventh chapter, what comes of the third yang and the third yin falling ill together: one side of the body withers, the limbs go flaccid, and the four limbs cannot be raised. The word is the ancestor of the later 半身不遂 — but it says withering, not paralysis, and it is worth keeping which half of the body is named.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Half the body withering 偏枯
One side wasted, with flaccidity and loss of use
三陽三陰發病,爲偏枯痿易,四支不舉 — Suwen 7

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
5 passages
素問·陰陽别論 Suwen 7 · 陰陽别論 Read in context →
三陽三陰發病,爲偏枯痿易,四支不舉。 三阳三阴发病,为偏枯痿易,四支不举。
sān yáng sān yīn fā bìng, wéi piān kū wěi yì, sì zhī bù jǔ.
When the third yang and the third yin are diseased together, it becomes one-sided wasting and flaccid weakness, and the four limbs cannot be raised.
三陽三陰即太陽與太陰,表裏同病故半身枯廢。底本作「四支」,支、肢古今字。
素問·通評虚實論 Suwen 28 · 通評虚實論 Read in context →
凡治消癉、仆擊、偏枯、痿厥、氣滿、發逆,肥貴人,則高梁之疾也。 凡治消瘅、仆击、偏枯、痿厥、气满、发逆,肥贵人,则高梁之疾也。
Fán zhì xiāo dān, pū jī, piān kū, wěi jué, qì mǎn, fā nì, féi guì rén, zé gāo liáng zhī jí yě.
In treating wasting-and-thirsting, falling stroke, one-sided withering, limp inversion, qi fullness and uprising counterflow — when the patient is fat and of high station, these are diseases of fine grain and rich meat.
偏枯之目見於此,與消癉、仆擊、痿厥、氣滿、發逆同列,本篇斷為肥貴人「高梁之疾」。**「偏」讀 piān**;**「枯」讀 kū,本篇惟此一見**;**「仆」讀 pū,本篇惟此一見**,「仆擊」謂猝然仆倒(後世之中風卒中),底本作「仆」,不作「僕」;「擊」讀 jī;「發」讀 fā;「逆」讀 nì,本篇九見。下文「不從内外,中風之病,故瘦留著也」,則論中風之另一面:中讀 zhòng,被傷也。
素問·風論 Suwen 42 · 風論 Read in context →
黄帝問曰:風之傷人也,或爲寒熱,或爲熱中,或爲寒中,或爲癘風,或爲偏枯,或爲風也,其病各異,其名不同,或内至五藏六府,不知其解,願聞其説。 黄帝问曰:风之伤人也,或为寒热,或为热中,或为寒中,或为疠风,或为偏枯,或为风也,其病各异,其名不同,或内至五脏六腑,不知其解,愿闻其说。
Huáng dì wèn yuē: fēng zhī shāng rén yě, huò wéi hán rè, huò wéi rè zhōng, huò wéi hán zhōng, huò wéi lì fēng, huò wéi piān kū, huò wéi fēng yě, qí bìng gè yì, qí míng bù tóng, huò nèi zhì wǔ zàng liù fǔ, bù zhī qí jiě, yuàn wén qí shuō.
The Emperor asks: when wind harms a person, it may take the form of cold and heat, of heat in the interior, of cold in the interior, of li wind, of withering on one side, or simply of wind. The disorders differ and the names differ; in some cases the wind reaches inward to the five stores and the six palaces. I do not understand how this works, and I wish to hear your account of it.
「或爲寒熱,或爲熱中,或爲寒中,或爲癘風,或爲偏枯,或爲風也」——**開篇六端,偏枯居五**。「枯」讀 kū**本篇1見,即此**;**郭靄春引滑壽說「偏枯當作偏風」,以下文言「所中則爲偏風」**——**二說並存,此从底本**;**「或内至五藏六府」之「内」作「内」,「藏」讀 zàng、「府」讀 fǔ**;「解」讀 jiě**「不知其解」讀 jiě**;「説」讀 shuō。
素問·大奇論 Suwen 48 · 大奇論 Read in context →
脛有大小,髀䯒大,跛易偏枯。 胫有大小,髀䯒大,跛易偏枯。
Jìng yǒu dà xiǎo, bì héng dà, bǒ yì piān kū.
When the shanks differ in size and the thigh and shank are enlarged, the gait is altered and the person limps; this readily becomes one-sided withering.
「「跛」讀 bǒ易偏枯」——**本篇「偏枯」2見**;「脛」讀 jìng、「髀」讀 bì、「䯒」讀 héng、**各本篇惟此一見**;**「脛有大小」謂兩脛不等,與下文「皆鬲偏枯」之偏枯同源而異文**。
素問·生氣通天論 Suwen 3 · 生氣通天論 Read in context →
汗出偏沮,使人偏枯。汗出見濕,乃生痤疿。高梁之變,足生大丁,受如持虚。勞汗當風,寒薄爲齇,鬱乃痤。 汗出偏沮,使人偏枯。汗出见湿,乃生痤疿。高梁之变,足生大丁,受如持虚。劳汗当风,寒薄为齇,郁乃痤。
Hàn chū piān jǔ, shǐ rén piān kū. hàn chū jiàn shī, nǎi shēng cuó fèi. gāo liáng zhī biàn, zú shēng dà dīng, shòu rú chí xū. láo hàn dāng fēng, hán bó wéi zhā, yù nǎi cuó.
If one half of the body sweats and the other does not, the person wastes away on that side. Sweating that meets dampness brings pimples and prickly heat. Fine grain and rich meat suffice to raise a great boil on the foot; one takes it up as though holding an empty vessel. When the sweat of toil meets wind and cold presses in, there is redness of the nose; if it builds up, there are pimples.
「使人偏枯」——偏枯謂半身枯廢,非後世半身不遂之但言不用;汗出偏沮,故偏枯;**「偏枯」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

痿易
wěi yì
flaccid and slack
The quality of the wasting: 痿 flaccid, 易 changing for the worse
四支不舉
sì zhī bù jǔ
the four limbs cannot be raised
The sign the chapter adds

How it has been translated

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

Common EnglishhemiplegiaThe clinical term, and what 偏枯 is usually glossed as.
This siteone-sided wasting枯 is withering rather than paralysis, and hemiplegia carries a modern lesion the chapter does not claim.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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