Classica Sinica Medica

涕泣

tì qì

Snivel and tears · ti qi

Also rendered: Snivel and tears (faithful, and 涕 is not quite snivel) · Mucus and tears (plain, and it makes the pair medical rather than fraternal)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-18

At a glance

Pinyin
tì qì
Simplified
涕泣
Literal
涕 tì — the snivel that runs with weeping; 泣 qì — the tears. The two that come out together because they are of one kind.
Shuowen
《說文》：涕，泣也，從水弟聲。泣，無聲出涕者曰泣，從水立聲。「涕泣」本篇3見（另有「泣涕」1見）、「涕」字10見、「泣」字15見。底本「泣」皆讀 qì，無一作「澀」解，與第三十九篇讀 sè 者形同而義異。

In brief

Snivel and tears, and the chapter’s demonstration that they are one thing. 泣涕者，腦也；腦者，陰也。髓者，骨之充也。故腦滲爲涕 — tears and snivel are the brain, the brain is yin, the marrow fills the bone, and what seeps from the brain becomes snivel. Then the comparison: 夫涕之與泣者，譬如人之兄弟，急則俱死，生則俱生 — like brothers, dying together in extremity and living together in life. They come out together and run across, 涕泣俱出而横行, and the reason is 所屬之類也: they are of one kind. 泣 is read qì throughout; the site’s entry for 泣 read sè is the other word entirely.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The pair 涕泣
鼻涕與眼淚
Mucus from the nose and tears from the eyes.
涕泣俱出 — 素問·解精微論
2
Both are brain 泣涕者，腦也
涕泣同出於腦
Tears and mucus alike come from the brain.
泣涕者，腦也 — 素問·解精微論
3
Seepage 故腦滲爲涕
腦液滲出而為涕
Fluid seeps from the brain and becomes mucus.
故腦滲爲涕 — 素問·解精微論
4
Like brothers 譬如人之兄弟
急則俱死，生則俱生
In urgency both perish; in life both live.
譬如人之兄弟 — 素問·解精微論
5
Together 涕泣俱出而横行
二者同出而橫流
The two issue together and run across.
涕泣俱出而横行 — 素問·解精微論
6
Of one kind 所屬之類也
同類故相從
Being of one kind, they follow each other.
所屬之類也 — 素問·解精微論

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·解精微論 Read in context →
其志以早悲，是以涕泣俱出而横行也。夫人涕泣俱出而相從者，所屬之類也。 其志以早悲，是以涕泣俱出而横行也。夫人涕泣俱出而相从者，所属之类也。
Qí zhì yǐ zǎo bēi, shì yǐ tì qì jù chū ér héng xíng yě. Fú rén tì qì jù chū ér xiāng cóng zhě, suǒ shǔ zhī lèi yě.
The will grieves early, and so snivel and tears come out together and run across. That a man’s snivel and tears come out together and follow one another is because they belong to the same kind.
「涕泣」本篇3見、「泣涕」1見；「涕」字10見、「泣」字15見。此處四「涕泣」連下，故取此段為引；兄弟之喻，急則俱死、生則俱生，結以「所屬之類」，即全篇涕泣同源之斷語。
素問·陰陽應象大論 Read in context →
帝曰：調此二者柰何？歧伯曰：能知七損八益，則二者可調；不知用此，則早衰之節也。年四十而陰氣自半也，起居衰矣。年五十體重，耳目不聰明矣。年六十，陰痿，氣大衰，九竅不利，下虚上實，涕泣俱出矣。 帝曰：调此二者奈何？歧伯曰：能知七损八益，则二者可调；不知用此，则早衰之节也。年四十而阴气自半也，起居衰矣。年五十体重，耳目不聪明矣。年六十，阴痿，气大衰，九窍不利，下虚上实，涕泣俱出矣。
dì yuē: tiáo cǐ èr zhě nài hé? qí bó yuē: néng zhī qī sǔn bā yì, zé èr zhě kě tiáo; bù zhī yòng cǐ, zé zǎo shuāi zhī jié yě. nián sì shí ér yīn qì zì bàn yě, qǐ jū shuāi yǐ. nián wǔ shí tǐ zhòng, ěr mù bù cōng míng yǐ. nián liù shí, yīn wěi, qì dà shuāi, jiǔ qiào bù lì, xià xū shàng shí, tì qì jù chū yǐ.
The Emperor asks: how are these two to be regulated? Qi Bo says: if one can know the seven injuries and the eight benefits, the two can be regulated; not knowing how to use this, one follows the timetable of early decay. At forty the yin qi is already halved of itself and daily living declines. At fifty the body is heavy and the ears and eyes are no longer sharp. At sixty, yin is withered, qi greatly declined, the nine orifices no longer pass freely, the lower is empty and the upper replete, and snivel and tears flow together.
「年六十……涕泣俱出矣」；涕泣為年衰九竅不利、下虚上實之徵；與 81 篇「涕泣俱出而横行」同一機理，此為 2013 之衰老義引文

Compounds built on this term

涕泣
tì qì
snivel and tears
本篇本文
泣涕
qì tì
tears and snivel
同篇異序
腦滲
nǎo shèn
seepage from the brain
本篇語
兄弟
xiōng dì
brothers
本篇取譬

How it has been translated

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

This sitesnivel and tearsboth from the brain, of one kind
Literalnose-water and weepingexact, and too coarse for a headword
Clinicalnasal and lacrimal secretionclear, and it loses the argument from kind

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-18

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Reading path

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