苦欲

kǔ yù

Suffering and desire · ku yu

Also rendered: suffering and desire (Literal; the pair keeps its plainness) · aversions and desires (Softer and more psychological) · what distresses it and what suits it (Expands the pair into a rule) · ku and yu (Bare transliteration)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: kǔ yù
Simplified: 苦欲
Literal: 苦 was written for a bitter plant — 《說文》 has it 大苦，苓也 — and the medical use borrows the verb: to suffer from, to be afflicted by. 欲 is desire, 說文貪欲也, and here loses every bad sense. Set side by side they become the two questions that decide a prescription: what does this organ suffer from, and what does it want.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：苦，大苦，苓也。从艸古聲（引申為苦痛、苦於之義）；欲，貪欲也。从欠谷聲（本篇用其本然之願欲義，與貪無涉）。

In brief

Chapter 22 states both halves for each viscus, and everything else hangs from them. The liver suffers urgency and desires dispersal; the heart suffers laxity and desires softness; the spleen suffers dampness and desires relaxation; the lung suffers rising qi and desires gathering; the kidney suffers dryness and desires firmness. The first half tells you what to expect when the organ is ill and what foods to forbid. The second half tells you which flavour is a gift and which is a drain — since a flavour that gives the organ what it wants supplements it, and one that denies it drains it.

Senses in the classical corpus

Liver: urgency and dispersal 肝苦急……肝欲散

苦急則宜甘緩，欲散則宜辛補

Troubled by tightness, sweet should slacken it; wanting to disperse, acrid should supplement.

肝苦急，急食甘以緩之……肝欲散，急食辛以散之 — 素問·藏氣法時論

Heart: laxity and softness 心苦緩……心欲耎

苦緩則宜酸收，欲耎則宜鹹補

Troubled by slackness, sour should gather it; wanting softness, salt should supplement.

心苦緩，急食酸以收之……心欲耎，急食鹹以耎之 — 素問·藏氣法時論

Spleen: dampness and relaxation 脾苦濕……脾欲緩

苦濕則宜苦燥，欲緩則宜甘補

Troubled by damp, bitter should dry it; wanting slackening, sweet should supplement.

脾苦濕，急食苦以燥之……脾欲緩，急食甘以緩之 — 素問·藏氣法時論

Lung: rising qi and gathering 肺苦氣上逆……肺欲收

苦上逆則宜苦泄，欲收則宜酸補

Troubled by upward rebellion, bitter should drain it; wanting gathering, sour should supplement.

肺苦氣上逆，急食苦以泄之……肺欲收，急食酸以收之 — 素問·藏氣法時論

Kidney: dryness and firmness 腎苦燥……腎欲堅

苦燥則宜辛潤，欲堅則宜苦補

Troubled by dryness, acrid should moisten it; wanting firmness, bitter should supplement.

腎苦燥，急食辛以潤之……腎欲堅，急食苦以堅之 — 素問·藏氣法時論

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

素問·藏氣法時論 Read in context →

歧伯曰：肝主春，足厥陰少陽主治，其日甲乙，肝苦急，急食甘以緩之。心主夏，手少陰太陽主治，其日丙丁，心苦緩，急食酸以收之。脾主長夏，足太陰陽明主治，其日戊己。脾苦濕，急食苦以燥之，肺主秋，手太陰陽明主治，其日庚辛。肺苦氣上逆，急食苦以泄之。腎主冬，足少陰太陽主治，其日壬癸。腎苦燥，急食辛以潤之。歧伯曰：肝主春，足厥阴少阳主治，其日甲乙，肝苦急，急食甘以缓之。心主夏，手少阴太阳主治，其日丙丁，心苦缓，急食酸以收之。脾主长夏，足太阴阳明主治，其日戊己。脾苦湿，急食苦以燥之，肺主秋，手太阴阳明主治，其日庚辛。肺苦气上逆，急食苦以泄之。肾主冬，足少阴太阳主治，其日壬癸。肾苦燥，急食辛以润之。

Qí bó yuē: gān zhǔ chūn, zú jué yīn shào yáng zhǔ zhì, qí rì jiǎ yǐ, gān kǔ jí, jí shí gān yǐ huǎn zhī.Xīn zhǔ xià, shǒu shào yīn tài yáng zhǔ zhì, qí rì bǐng dīng, xīn kǔ huǎn, jí shí suān yǐ shōu zhī.Pí zhǔ zhǎng xià, zú tài yīn yáng míng zhǔ zhì, qí rì wù jǐ.Pí kǔ shī, jí shí kǔ yǐ zào zhī, fèi zhǔ qiū, shǒu tài yīn yáng míng zhǔ zhì, qí rì gēng xīn.Fèi kǔ qì shàng nì, jí shí kǔ yǐ xiè zhī.Shèn zhǔ dōng, zú shào yīn tài yáng zhǔ zhì, qí rì rén guǐ.Shèn kǔ zào, jí shí xīn yǐ rùn zhī.

Qibo says: The liver governs spring. The foot reverting yin and lesser yang govern its treatment; its days are jia and yi. The liver suffers from urgency, so hasten to give sweet to relax it. The heart governs summer. The hand lesser yin and greater yang govern its treatment; its days are bing and ding. The heart suffers from laxity, so hasten to give sour to gather it. The spleen governs late summer. The foot greater yin and yang brilliance govern its treatment; its days are wu and ji. The spleen suffers from dampness, so hasten to give bitter to dry it. The lung governs autumn; the hand greater yin and yang brilliance govern its treatment; its days are geng and xin. The lung suffers from qi counterflowing upward, so hasten to give bitter to discharge it downward. The kidney governs winter. The foot lesser yin and greater yang govern its treatment; its days are ren and gui. The kidney suffers from dryness, so hasten to give acrid to moisten it.

本篇前半以「苦」「欲」二字立綱：每一臟先言其所苦（急、緩、濕、上逆、燥），即其病之所偏；後言其所欲（散、耎、緩、收、堅），即其性之所喜。所欲既明，則補瀉自分：順之為補，逆之為瀉。「苦」字尤當讀作動詞「苦於」，非苦味之苦，故下文「急食某以某之」之「急」，亦謂宜急用，非謂性急。此與後世《藏氣法時》一派補瀉用藥之說，實為同源。

Compounds built on this term

苦

kǔ

to suffer from

本篇「肝苦急」「心苦緩」諸語

欲

yù

to desire

本篇「肝欲散」「腎欲堅」諸語

苦欲補瀉

kǔ yù bǔ xiè

suffering, desire, supplementing, draining

後世論補瀉之一派所本

禁

jìn

prohibition

本篇每一臟後各有一「禁」，即所以遠其所苦

順其性

shùn qí xìng

following its nature

本篇補瀉之法，盡此三字

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 clause by clause)	They do not make a term of the pair, translating 苦 variously as 'suffers from' or 'has an aversion to', and 欲 as 'desires' or 'likes'.
Unschuld	to suffer from X and to long for Y	He keeps the anthropomorphism: the viscera are written about as though they wanted things.
This site	suffering and desire	The chapter is built on the two words, and they are deliberately ordinary — the same words you would use of a person. Smoothing them into 'aversions and preferences' would lose the fact that this book addresses organs the way it addresses patients.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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