失氣简体失气

shī qì

Passing wind · shi qi

Also rendered: Passing wind (this site; plain and unambiguous) · Flatus (clinical Latin; too clinical for this text)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: shī qì
Simplified: 失气
Literal: 失氣 shī qì — losing wind, that is, breaking wind. The word is built on the same 氣 the site translates as qi, and the collision is one the chapter itself notices: having said 欬而失氣 it immediately adds 氣與欬俱失, the wind and the cough departing together, so that the reader does not take the 氣 of flatus for the 氣 of the body. Chapter 38 gives the symptom to the small intestine, which takes a heart cough that has not ended.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：失，縱也——**本義為縱失、脫手**，**引申為亡失、錯失**。「失」讀 shī，**本篇3見**（遺失、失氣、俱失）——**皆讀 shī**。**「失氣」者，矢氣也**，**「矢」通「屎」（「屎」讀 shǐ），讀 shǐ**；**底本作「失」，不作「矢」，本站照錄而於此存其說**。「俱」讀 jù，**本篇惟此一見**——**「俱」者，皆也，讀 jù**；「氣與欬俱失」者，氣與欬同時並失也。**此「失氣」為一詞，與本站「氣」（#147，氣之正義）之義別**——**「失氣」之氣為矢氣之氣，非一身之氣**。

In brief

Breaking wind while coughing — the sign of small intestine cough, which arises when a heart cough has gone on long enough to pass into the palace paired with the heart.

Senses in the classical corpus

What the graphs say 失氣

失，亡失也，讀 shī；失氣者，矢氣、放屁也

欬而失氣 — Suwen 38

As a symptom 失氣

小腸欬則欬而失氣

小腸欬狀，欬而失氣 — Suwen 38

Departing together 俱失

氣與欬俱失，言氣與欬同時並失

氣與欬俱失 — Suwen 38

The palace that takes it 小腸

心欬不已，則小腸受之

心欬不已，則小腸受之 — Suwen 38

Not qi in the ordinary sense 氣

此「失氣」為一詞，與本站「氣」（#147）之義別

欬而失氣 — Suwen 38

The double writing 失氣…俱失

「欬而失氣」言其狀，「氣與欬俱失」復申言之

氣與欬俱失 — Suwen 38

Occurrences in the classics

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

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1 passages

Suwen 38 Suwen 38 · 欬論 Read in context →

心欬不已，則小腸受之；小腸欬狀，欬而失氣，氣與欬俱失。心咳不已，则小肠受之；小肠咳状，咳而失气，气与咳俱失。

Xīn kài bù yǐ, zé xiǎo cháng shòu zhī; xiǎo cháng kài zhuàng, kài ér shī qì, qì yǔ kài jù shī.

When heart cough does not end, the small intestine takes it; in small intestine cough he coughs and passes wind, the wind and the cough departing together.

**「心欬不已，則小腸受之；小腸欬狀，欬而失氣，氣與欬俱失」二十四字，是六府之欬的第四目**——**心與小腸合，故心欬不已則小腸受之**。**此句最見屬辭之細**：**「欬而失氣」言其狀，「氣與欬俱失」復申言之**——**正為防人誤認「失氣」之氣為一身之氣，故以「氣與欬俱失」一句別之**；**與上文「鼻淵者，濁涕下不止也」同為本篇之複筆**。**「失」（「失」讀 shī）本篇3見**（遺失、失氣、俱失），**皆讀 shī**。**「腸」（「腸」讀 cháng）本篇4見**（大腸二、小腸二）——**不作「肠」（「肠」）**。**「氣」（「氣」讀 qì）本篇5見**——**邪氣二、失氣一、氣與欬俱失一、面浮腫氣逆也一**。

Compounds built on this term

失氣

shī qì

passing wind

小腸欬之狀

氣與欬俱失

qì yǔ kài jù shī

wind and cough departing together

本篇之複筆

小腸欬

xiǎo cháng kài

small intestine cough

六府之欬其四

心欬不已

xīn kài bù yǐ

heart cough that does not end

心與小腸合，故移於小腸

How it has been translated

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

This site	passing wind	the ordinary English phrase; 失氣 is a symptom, not a term to be transliterated
Unschuld	loss of qi	literal, but invites exactly the confusion the chapter guards against
Wiseman	passing flatus	Wiseman notes that 失氣 here is 矢氣 and not the loss of qi proper

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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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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