Classica Sinica Medica

不避親疏 简体 不避亲疏

bù bì qīn shū

Sparing neither kin nor stranger · bu bi qin shu

Also rendered: sparing neither kin nor stranger (Keeps both classes of person named) · without regard for who is listening (Looser; loses the social pair)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
bù bì qīn shū
Simplified
不避亲疏
Literal
不 not, 避 to shrink from or spare, 親 those close to one, 疏 those distant. The phrase names the loss of a distinction that in early Chinese ethics is close to foundational: the difference in how one speaks to family and to outsiders. Chapter 30 lists its disappearance as a sign of yang exuberance, immediately after railing and cursing, and thereby treats shame as a bodily casualty rather than a moral failure. It is also the exact inverse of the chapter's earlier symptom: the distressed patient cannot bear people at all; the exuberant one no longer distinguishes between them.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：避，回也，从辵辟聲——**「避」讀 bì，本篇二見，迴避、顧忌也**，非「避開」之避；「親」讀 qīn，本篇二見，親近之人；「疏」讀 shū，本篇二見，疏遠之人，與「親」對言。四字連言本篇二見：問語「不避親疏而歌者，何也」、答語「使人妄言駡詈，不避親疏」——重出而不避複，正見古人問答之直，與本篇「不欲食，不欲食」之疊句同例。

In brief

The loss, in severe Yangming disease, of the ordinary distinction between family and outsiders — the patient rails and curses without sparing either. Chapter 30 places it immediately after abusive speech and explains both by yang exuberance, which makes it one of the earliest statements that shame and propriety can be casualties of a bodily state. It stands as the counterpart to the chapter’s earlier symptom, in which the distressed patient cannot bear anyone at all.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The distinction lost 不避親疏
親疏之別不復顧，羞惡之心亦亡
不避親疏，而不欲食 — Suwen 30
2
With the abuse it belongs to 妄言駡詈，不避親疏
言亂而肆，無復親疏之別
陽盛則使人妄言駡詈，不避親疏 — Suwen 30
3
In the question 不避親疏而歌者
歌與駡詈同列，皆病甚所為
其妄言駡詈，不避親疏而歌者，何也 — Suwen 30
4
What causes it 陽盛則使人…
陽氣充溢，則人情之防隨之而解
陽盛則使人妄言駡詈，不避親疏 — Suwen 30
5
The inverse symptom 惋則惡人
當其惋也惡人，及其陽盛也雖親疏不避
惋則惡人 — Suwen 30
6
Where the chapter leaves it 故妄走也
不復別親疏，亦不復思食，故妄走
而不欲食，不欲食，故妄走也 — Suwen 30

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·陽明脉解 Suwen 30 · 陽明脉解 Read in context →
歧伯曰：陽盛則使人妄言駡詈，不避親疏，而不欲食，不欲食，故妄走也。 歧伯曰：阳盛则使人妄言骂詈，不避亲疏，而不欲食，不欲食，故妄走也。
Qí bó yuē: yáng shèng zé shǐ rén wàng yán mà lì, bù bì qīn shū, ér bù yù shí, bù yù shí, gù wàng zǒu yě.
Qibo says: when yang is exuberant it makes a person speak wildly, rail and curse, sparing neither kin nor stranger; then he does not wish to eat, and because he does not wish to eat, he wanders without purpose.
此句是全篇最後一答，亦是一篇之總括。「歧」讀 qí；「伯」讀 bó；「曰」讀 yuē；「陽」讀 yáng；**「盛」讀 shèng，本篇四見**；「則」讀 zé；**「使」讀 shǐ，令也、致也**；「人」讀 rén；**「妄」讀 wàng，本篇三見**；「言」讀 yán；「駡」讀 mà；「詈」讀 lì；「不」讀 bù；「避」讀 bì；「親」讀 qīn；「疏」讀 shū；「而」讀 ér；**「欲」讀 yù**；「食」讀 shí，本篇三見；「故」讀 gù；「走」讀 zǒu；「也」讀 yě。**「陽盛則使人…」是全篇最後一答**：惡木音者，土惡木也；惡火者，熱甚也；惡人者，惋也；棄衣踰垣者，陽盛而四支實也；妄言駡詈者，陽盛而使然也——一一歸於陽明之血氣，是本篇「脉解」之實。**「不欲食」二字疊見，舊注多以為衍文**，底本如此，今照錄而存疑；**「妄走」二字收束全篇**：既不思食，又不自止，故奔走無定所。
素問·脉要精微論 Suwen 17 · 脉要精微論 Read in context →
言而微，終日乃復言者，此奪氣也。衣被不斂，言語善惡，不避親疏者，此神明之亂也。 言而微，终日乃复言者，此夺气也。衣被不敛，言语善恶，不避亲疏者，此神明之乱也。
yán ér wēi, zhōng rì nǎi fù yán zhě, cǐ duó qì yě. yī bèi bù liǎn, yán yǔ shàn è, bù bì qīn shū zhě, cǐ shén míng zhī luàn yě.
If speech is faint and the person only resumes speaking after a whole day, the qi has been snatched away. If clothing and covers are left in disarray, and speech is foul and indiscriminate with no regard for kin or stranger, then the spirit’s clarity is disordered.
「不避親疏者」，衣被不斂、言語善惡、不避親疏者，此神明之亂也，屬失守之候。

Compounds built on this term

不避親疏
bù bì qīn shū
sparing neither kin nor stranger
本篇二見，問答各一
親疏
qīn shū
kin and stranger
本篇二見，人情之大防
妄言駡詈
wàng yán mà lì
wild talk, railing and cursing
本篇二見，與不避親疏連言
惋則惡人
wǎn zé wù rén
distressed, he cannot bear people
本篇一見，與此正相反照

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng(rendered as) (he) does not avoid (either) relatives or strangersThey keep 避 as avoid and name both parties, staying close to the construction.
Unschuld(rendered as) he does not shy away from relatives or strangersUnschuld's 'shy away' captures 避 well but reads as timidity rather than as regard.
This sitesparing neither kin nor strangerWe render 避 as sparing rather than avoiding: what is lost here is not the wish to keep away but the habit of making allowances, and that is the thing whose disappearance the chapter is using as a sign.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

Search the glossary

Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

See all reading paths