The sinew channels · jing jin

Also rendered: Sinew channels (plain, and it keeps both halves of the name) · Muscle channels (familiar in English, and it is anatomically wrong) · Sinew tracts (accurate, and it drops the link to the channels)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-10-24

At a glance

Pinyin: jīng jīn
Simplified: 经筋
Literal: 經 jīng — warp, the long thread of a web; 筋 jīn — sinew, the tough bands that bind bone to bone. The pair names the third of the book's channel systems: not vessels but tracts of tendon and fascia.
Shuowen: 《說文》：筋，肉之力也，从力从肉从竹。「經筋」本篇1見；「筋」50見，皆就十二經筋之起結與病候而言。

In brief

The system of twelve tracts that bind the skeleton and are named after the channels they follow. They begin at the toes or fingers, knot at the ankle, knee, hip and nape, and end in the head; they never enter a zang or fu, and so their diseases are all on the surface: cramp, contracture, a joint that will not bend, a mouth drawn aside. The chapter’s closing rule is the whole of their pathology — cold arches them back and tightens them, heat lets them go slack, and where heat is present the heated needle is forbidden.

Senses in the classical corpus

The system 經筋之病

经筋的病候

The diseases of the sinew channels.

經筋之病 — 靈樞·經筋

Cold and heat 寒則反折筋急

寒则筋急而背反折

Cold makes them arch back and tighten.

寒則反折筋急 — 靈樞·經筋

The closing rule 無用燔鍼

有热时不用燔针

Where there is heat the heated needle is not used.

無用燔鍼 — 靈樞·經筋

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

靈樞·經筋 Read in context →

手少陰之筋，起于小指之内側，結于鋭骨，上結肘内廉，上入腋，交太陰，挾乳裏，結于胸中，循臂下繫于臍，其病内急，心承伏梁，下爲肘網，其病當所過者，支轉筋，筋痛。治在燔鍼劫刺，以知爲數，以痛爲輸，其成伏梁唾血膿者，死不治。經筋之病，寒則反折筋急，𤍠則筋弛縱不收，陰痿不用。陽急則反折，陰急則俛不伸。焠刺者，刺寒急也，𤍠則筋縱不收，無用燔鍼，名曰季冬痺也。手少阴之筋，起于小指之内侧，结于锐骨，上结肘内廉，上入腋，交太阴，挟乳里，结于胸中，循臂下系于脐，其病内急，心承伏梁，下为肘网，其病当所过者，支转筋，筋痛。治在燔针劫刺，以知为数，以痛为输，其成伏梁唾血脓者，死不治。经筋之病，寒则反折筋急，𤍠则筋弛纵不收，阴痿不用。阳急则反折，阴急则俛不伸。焠刺者，刺寒急也，𤍠则筋纵不收，无用燔针，名曰季冬痹也。

shǒu shào yīn zhī jīn, qǐ yú xiǎo zhǐ zhī nèi cè, jié yú ruì gǔ, shàng jié zhǒu nèi lián, shàng rù yè, jiāo tài yīn, xié rǔ lǐ, jié yú xiōng zhōng, xún bì xià xì yú qí, qí bìng nèi jí, xīn chéng fú liáng, xià wéi zhǒu wǎng, qí bìng dāng suǒ guò zhě, zhī zhuǎn jīn, jīn tòng. zhì zài fán zhēn jié cì, yǐ zhī wéi shù, yǐ tòng wéi shū, qí chéng fú liáng tuò xuè nóng zhě, sǐ bù zhì. jīng jīn zhī bìng, hán zé fǎn zhé jīn jí, rè zé jīn chí zòng bù shōu, yīn wěi bù yòng. yáng jí zé fǎn zhé, yīn jí zé fǔ bù shēn. cuì cì zhě, cì hán jí yě, rè zé jīn zòng bù shōu, wú yòng fán zhēn, míng yuē jì dōng bì yě.

The sinews of hand shaoyin begin on the inner side of the little finger, knot at the sharp bone, knot above at the inner elbow, ascend into the axilla, cross taiyin, grip inside the breast, knot in the chest and run down the arm to tie at the navel. Its diseases: inner tension, the heart bearing a hidden beam, and below a net at the elbow; wherever they pass there is pulling, cramping and pain. Treat with heated needle and swift piercing, taking recovery as the measure and the painful spot as the point. When the hidden beam has formed and there is spitting of blood and pus, it is fatal. In the diseases of the sinews, cold makes them arch back and tighten, heat makes them slacken and fail to gather, and the yin organ withers and is useless. When yang is tight one arches back; when yin is tight one stoops and cannot stretch. Scorched needling is for cold tightness; where there is heat the sinews slacken and do not gather, and the heated needle must not be used. It is called the last-winter bi.

「經筋」本篇1見，在篇末總論之處。「筋」字50見，十二經筋各以其起結為目，而總之以寒熱二候。

Compounds built on this term

十二經筋

shí èr jīng jīn

the twelve sinew channels

手足各三陽三陰

筋急

jīn jí

sinew tightness

寒則筋急

筋弛縱

jīn chí zòng

sinew slackness

熱則筋弛縱

How it has been translated

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

This site	the sinew channels	the text's own name
Literal	warp sinews	exact, and unreadable
Clinical	the myofascial tracts	clear, and it imports a modern category

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-24

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