Classica Sinica Medica

辟陰 简体 辟阴

pì yīn

Rebelling yin · pi yin

Also rendered: Rebelling yin (this site; it keeps the reversal, which is the only thing that distinguishes this transmission from the other three) · Pi yin (transliteration; how the phrase appears wherever the chapter's four transmissions are listed out)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-11

At a glance

Pinyin
pì yīn
Simplified
辟阴
Literal
辟 pì — in this reading to go against, to run counter; the graph also stands for 闢, to open, and in the older books for 僻, perverse. 王冰's note is 土辟水升, earth driving water back, and the whole phrase turns on that reversal; 陰 yīn — yin. 辟陰 is the yin that goes the wrong way, and what it names is a transmission running against the order the chapter has just laid down.
Shuowen
**「辟陰」本篇1見，止在此句**；**「辟」讀 pì，本篇2見，一在「辟陰」，一在「腸辟」**；**「陰」讀 yīn，本篇38見**；**《說文》：辟，法也；从卩从辛，節制其辠也**；**「辟」之逆、開、僻三義並見於舊注，本篇取王冰「土辟水升」之逆義**

In brief

The fourth and last transmission in the chapter’s rule for a disease moving from one organ to another: 所謂生陽死陰者，肝之心謂之生陽，心之肺謂之死陰，肺之腎謂之重陰，腎之脾謂之辟陰，死不治. Three of the four follow the orders of the five phases — the generating order and the overcoming order — and the fourth runs against them: from the kidney to the spleen, water to earth, the phase that is overcome turning on the one that overcomes it. That is 辟陰, the yin that goes against; 王冰 reads the phrase as earth driving water back. It is the only one of the four that the chapter closes with 死不治 on its own, because it is the only one whose direction is wrong.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 辟陰
辟者逆也、却也；陰行逆次，故名
腎之脾謂之辟陰，死不治 — Suwen 7
2
The transmission 腎之脾謂之辟陰
由腎傳脾，水反傳土，是逆其次
腎之脾謂之辟陰 — Suwen 7
3
王冰's note 土辟水升
土却水而使之上，故名辟陰
腎之脾謂之辟陰 — Suwen 7
4
The order it breaks 肝之心謂之生陽
相生而傳曰生陽，此則反侮而傳
肝之心謂之生陽 — Suwen 7
5
The verdict 死不治
四傳之中，獨此以「死不治」自成一斷
死不治 — Suwen 7
6
The reading of 辟 辟讀 pì
訓逆、訓却；與「腸辟」之辟同讀 pì
腎之脾謂之辟陰 — Suwen 7

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·陰陽别論 Suwen 7 · 陰陽别論 Read in context →
所謂生陽死陰者，肝之心謂之生陽，心之肺謂之死陰，肺之腎謂之重陰，腎之脾謂之辟陰，死不治。 所谓生阳死阴者，肝之心谓之生阳，心之肺谓之死阴，肺之肾谓之重阴，肾之脾谓之辟阴，死不治。
suǒ wèi shēng yáng sǐ yīn zhě, gān zhī xīn wèi zhī shēng yáng, xīn zhī fèi wèi zhī sǐ yīn, fèi zhī shèn wèi zhī chóng yīn, shèn zhī pí wèi zhī pì yīn, sǐ bù zhì.
As to what is called living yang and dying yin: from the liver to the heart is called living yang; from the heart to the lung is called dying yin; from the lung to the kidney is called doubled yin; from the kidney to the spleen is called the rejected yin, and death is beyond treatment.
**「辟陰」本篇1見，止在此句**；**本段四傳：生陽順相生，死陰順相剋，重陰以陰傳陰，辟陰則逆其次**；**「辟」讀 pì，本篇2見，另一見在「腸辟」（底本作「辟」，讀 pì）**；**「重陰」本篇1見，本站第五三五條作「重陽重陰」**；**本站新立此目，與「結陽」「結陰」同型，皆以一字定其逆順**

Compounds built on this term

生陽死陰
shēng yáng sǐ yīn
living yang and dying yin
本篇1見；本站第三二七條
重陰
chóng yīn
doubled yin
本篇1見；肺之腎謂之重陰，本站第五三五條作「重陽重陰」
生陽
shēng yáng
living yang
本篇3見；肝之心謂之生陽
死不治
sǐ bù zhì
death and no cure
本篇3見：息賁、辟陰、二陽俱搏之病温各一見

How it has been translated

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

This siterebelling yin辟 is to go against and 陰 names the side the transmission is on; the word answers 死陰 and 重陰 because all three describe a direction
Transliterationpi yinhow the phrase is written in lists of the chapter's four transmissions; right about the referent, and it hides the reversal
Descriptivetransmission against the orderexact about what makes it distinct, and it is the gloss rather than the name

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-11

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Reading path

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