Classica Sinica Medica

泣

sè

Sluggish · se

Also rendered: Sluggish (this site; keeps the physical sense, and the reading se is shown at the headword) · Congealed (a possible rendering of 澀, but 'sluggish' keeps the movement)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
sè
Simplified
泣
Literal
泣 sè — sluggish, not flowing freely. The graph is the ordinary word for weeping, read qì, and chapter 39 uses it for something else entirely: blood and vessels that have stopped running smoothly because cold has slowed them. It is a writing of 澀, and the chapter never writes 澀. The word occurs 6 times, and always in the same two shapes — 脉泣 (the vessel is sluggish) and 血泣 (the blood is sluggish) — with the consequence spelled out each time: the vessel goes tight, the blood cannot pour into the great channel, pain drags from the ribs to the lower abdomen. Reading it as weeping is the one mistake a reader of this chapter is most likely to make, and it is not a small one: the whole argument is about flow.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：泣，無聲出涕曰泣——**本義為無聲之涕，讀 qì**。**本篇讀 sè，通「澀」（「澀」），不滑也**——**全篇無「澀」字，亦無涕泣之義**。「泣」讀 sè，**本篇6見**：**「泣而不行」一見、「脉泣」2見、「血泣」3見**——**皆言血氣之澀滯，無一為哭泣**。**本篇「泣」與「稽遲」「稽留」同類**：**稽者留也，遲者緩也，泣者澀也**——**三字皆寫「不行」，本篇之病機盡於「不行」二字**。

In brief

In chapter 39 this graph is not weeping. Read sè, it is a writing of 澀: sluggish, not flowing freely — the state of blood and vessels once cold has slowed them.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the graph says 泣
本義為無聲出涕，讀 qì；本篇讀 sè，通「澀」
寒氣客於背俞之脉則脉泣 — Suwen 39
2
The vessel sluggish 脉泣
脉泣則血虚，血虚則痛
脉泣則血虚 — Suwen 39
3
The blood sluggish 血泣
血泣脉急，故脅肋與少腹相引痛
則血泣脉急 — Suwen 39
4
What stops it flowing 泣而不行
寒氣入經而稽遲，泣而不行
泣而不行 — Suwen 39
5
Not weeping 泣 qì
本篇6見，無一作涕泣解
脉泣則血虚 — Suwen 39
6
The word it stands for 澀
本篇不作「澀」，讀者見「泣」當讀 sè
寒氣客於背俞之脉則脉泣 — Suwen 39

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
Suwen 39 Suwen 39 · 舉痛論 Read in context →
寒氣客於背俞之脉則脉泣，脉泣則血虚，血虚則痛。 寒气客于背俞之脉则脉涩，脉涩则血虚，血虚则痛。
Hán qì kè yú bèi shù zhī mài zé mài sè, mài sè zé xuè xū, xuè xū zé tòng.
Cold qi lodging in the transport vessels of the back roughens the vessel; roughened, the blood is depleted; depleted, there is pain.
**「寒氣客於背俞之脉則脉泣，脉泣則血虚，血虚則痛」是「泣」之一條**，**與上文「脉泣則血虚」相承，下文「其俞注於心，故相引而痛」相續**——**背俞之脉注於心，故心痛與背痛相引**，**「按之則熱氣至，熱氣至則痛止」與「得炅則痛立止」同一理**。**「泣」（「泣」讀 sè）讀 sè，本篇6見**，**不作「澀」（「澀」），亦非涕泣之泣（qì）**。**「虚」（「虚」讀 xū）不作「虛」（「虛」）**；**「俞」（「俞」讀 shù）讀 shù**（本站 #557），**「背俞」本站 #766**。
素問·經絡論 Suwen 57 · 經絡論 Read in context →
寒多則凝泣，凝泣則青黑。 寒多则凝泣，凝泣则青黑。
Hán duō zé níng sè, níng sè zé qīng hēi.
When cold predominates there is congealing and sluggishness; where there is sluggishness the colour is blue-green and black.
「寒多則凝「泣」讀 sè，凝泣則青黑」——**本篇「泣」2見，讀 sè**；**二字重出，皆在「凝泣」一詞之中：凝泣則色青黑**；**本目為第三十九篇所立：「此字非哭泣之泣，讀 sè」——本篇正用此讀**；**本篇以凝泣與淖澤對舉：寒則凝泣而青黑，熱則淖澤而黄赤**；「凝」讀 níng、**「凝泣」之凝讀 níng，本篇2見**；「多」讀 duō、**「寒多」「熱多」之多讀 duō，本篇2見**；「則」讀 zé、**本篇「則」4見**；「寒」讀 hán、**本篇「寒」2見**
素問·調經論 Suwen 62 · 調經論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：血氣者，喜温而惡寒，寒則泣不能流，温則消而去之。是故氣之所并爲血虚，血之所并爲氣虚。 歧伯曰：血气者，喜温而恶寒，寒则泣不能流，温则消而去之。是故气之所并为血虚，血之所并为气虚。
Qí bó yuē: xuè qì zhě, xǐ wēn ér wù hán, hán zé sè bù néng liú, wēn zé xiāo ér qù zhī. Shì gù qì zhī suǒ bìng wéi xuè xū, xuè zhī suǒ bìng wéi qì xū.
Qi Bo says: blood and qi like warmth and hate cold. In the cold they congeal and cannot flow; in warmth they disperse and pass away. So where the qi has pooled, there the blood is empty; where the blood has pooled, there the qi is empty.
「血氣者，喜温而惡寒，寒則泣不能流，温則消而去之」——**「泣」本篇4見，皆讀 sè，音義同「澀」，非哭泣之 qì**：**「榮血泣」一見（寒濕中人，皮膚不收、肌肉堅緊）**；**「血泣氣去」一見（因寒飲食，寒氣熏滿）**；**「血凝泣」一見（寒獨留，凝則脉不通，其脉盛大以濇）**；**本篇「濇」1見、「泣」4見，二字同讀而不同形，各从底本**；**第三十九、五十七篇同此讀**

Compounds built on this term

泣而不行
sè ér bù xíng
sluggish and not moving
寒氣入經之第一驗
脉泣
mài sè
the vessel is sluggish
本篇2見
血泣
xuè sè
the blood is sluggish
本篇3見
血泣不得注於大經
xuè sè bù dé zhù yú dà jīng
the blood, sluggish, cannot pour into the great channel
宿昔成積之由

How it has been translated

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

This sitesluggishtranslated, with se given once; the graph's ordinary sense is signalled as the trap it is
Unschuldsluggishnotes that 泣 here stands for 澀 and is not weeping
Wisemansluggishthe same; Wiseman glosses 血泣 as 'the blood is congealed' in some passages

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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