Classica Sinica Medica

氣口 简体 气口

qì kǒu

The qi mouth

Also rendered: the qi mouth (Literal) · the inch opening (Renders 寸口 instead) · the radial pulse (Anatomical, and modern)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
qì kǒu
Simplified
气口
Literal
氣 the qi; 口 the mouth, the opening. The spot at the wrist has one place and two names, one for each of the two things done there — watch the qi and it is the qi mouth, feel the movement and it is the pulse mouth.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：气，雲气也（醫書中作人身之氣）；口，人所以言食也（引申為出入之處）。王冰：「氣口，則寸口也，亦謂脈口。」

In brief

The place on the wrist at which the whole body can be read, and the chapter’s answer to why. It is not that the wrist is connected to everything; it is that everything the organs live on passes through the stomach first, and the qi mouth is the greater yin — the lung vessel, to which all the vessels present themselves. So the qi and flavour of the organs and palaces come out of the stomach and show their changes here.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The same place as the wrist pulse 氣口，則寸口也
王冰：亦謂脈口，皆同取於手魚際之後同身寸之一寸
氣口亦太陰也 — Suwen 11 (Wang Bing)
2
Two names for two acts 以寸口可候氣之盛衰，故云氣口
可以切脈之動靜，故云脈口 — the same inch, watched or felt
王冰注 — Suwen 11 (Wang Bing)
3
Why it speaks for the organs 皆出於胃，變見於氣口
Because the stomach is the source everything passes through
是以五藏六府之氣味，皆出於胃，變見於氣口 — Suwen 11
4
Because it is the greater yin 氣口亦太陰也
The hand greater yin lung vessel runs there, and the lung receives all the vessels
氣口亦太陰也 — Suwen 11

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·五藏别論 Suwen 11 · 五藏别論 Read in context →
帝曰：氣口何以獨爲五藏主？歧伯曰：胃者，水榖之海，六府之大源也。五味入口，藏於胃，以養五藏氣。氣口亦太陰也，是以五藏六府之氣味，皆出於胃，變見於氣口。 帝曰：气口何以独为五藏主？歧伯曰：胃者，水谷之海，六府之大源也。五味入口，藏于胃，以养五藏气。气口亦太阴也，是以五藏六府之气味，皆出于胃，变见于气口。
dì yuē: qì kǒu hé yǐ dú wéi wǔ zàng zhǔ?qí bó yuē: wèi zhě, shuǐ gǔ zhī hǎi, liù fǔ zhī dà yuán yě. wǔ wèi rù kǒu, cáng yú wèi, yǐ yǎng wǔ zàng qì. qì kǒu yì tài yīn yě, shì yǐ wǔ zàng liù fǔ zhī qì wèi, jiē chū yú wèi, biàn xiàn yú qì kǒu.
The Emperor says: how is it that the qi mouth alone is master of the five storing organs? Qibo says: the stomach is the sea of water and grain, the great source of the six palaces. The five flavours enter the mouth and are stored in the stomach, and thereby nourish the qi of the five storing organs. The qi mouth too is the greater yin; therefore the qi and flavour of the five storing organs and six palaces all come out of the stomach, and their changes appear at the qi mouth.
王冰：「氣口，則寸口也，亦謂脈口。以寸口可候氣之盛衰，故云氣口；可以切脈之動靜，故云脈口。皆同取於手魚際之後同身寸之一寸，是則寸口也。」「變見」之「見」讀 xiàn，同「現」。新校正云：全元起本「出」作「入」。
素問·經脉别論 Suwen 21 · 經脉别論 Read in context →
毛脉合精，行氣於府。府精神明，留於四臓，氣歸於權衡。權衡以平，氣口成寸，以決死生。 毛脉合精，行气于府。府精神明，留于四脏，气归于权衡。权衡以平，气口成寸，以决死生。
Máo mài hé jīng, xíng qì yú fǔ. Fǔ jīng shén míng, liú yú sì zàng, qì guī yú quán héng. Quán héng yǐ píng, qì kǒu chéng cùn, yǐ jué sǐ shēng.
Hair and vessels unite their essence and move qi into the storehouse; the spirit brightness of the storehouse lodges in the four viscera, and the qi returns to the steelyard. When the steelyard is level, the qi mouth forms the inch, by which death and life are decided.
「留於四臓，氣歸於權衡。權衡以平，氣口成寸，以決死生」：本篇氣口之義，為權衡之所歸——百脈朝肺，氣會於此，權衡既平而氣口成寸，故寸之地可以決死生。與第十一篇設「氣口何以獨為五藏主」之問者同條而義進：彼問其所以然而歸之於胃氣，本篇則先敘食氣自胃達於皮毛之路（入胃→散精於肝→濁氣歸心→淫精於脈→脈氣流經→經氣歸肺→肺朝百脈→輸精於皮毛），而後歸之權衡、成之氣口——是其所以能為五藏主者，正在此一節。與第十九篇「藏氣者，不能自致於手太陰，必因於胃氣，乃至於手太陰也」亦互為表裡：藏氣之至手太陰者必因胃氣，而寸口之成也亦然。

Compounds built on this term

氣
qì
qi
The thing the place is named for watching
寸口
cùn kǒu
the wrist pulse
The same place under its other name
脈口
mài kǒu
the pulse mouth
王冰's third name for it
手魚際
shǒu yú jì
the thenar eminence
王冰 fixes the spot: one inch behind it

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishthe inch opening / the wrist pulseMost translations use the familiar 寸口 rather than this chapter's 氣口.
This sitethe qi mouthKept this chapter's word. The chapter is answering the question of why this one spot governs the organs, and the name is part of the answer — it is called the qi mouth because what is watched there is qi.

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2026-09

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Reading path

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