Classica Sinica Medica

五逆

wǔ nì

The five counterflows · wu ni

Also rendered: The five counterflows (keeps 逆 as direction) · The five reversals (clinical, and it is the site's word elsewhere) · The five fatal signs (plain, and it overstates the certainty)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
wǔ nì
Simplified
五逆
Literal
五 wǔ — five; 逆 nì — to go against, to run counter, and clinically a course that opposes the proper one. Five signs whose direction is wrong, and which end badly.
Shuowen
《說文》：逆，迎也，从辵屰聲。「五逆」本篇3見，一為癰疽之五逆，一為諸病之五逆，皆以證候之敗者為言。

In brief

The chapter’s two lists of five, and the hinge on which its prognosis turns. The first belongs to abscess: a white eye with a green cast and a shrunken pupil, vomiting after medicine, severe abdominal pain and thirst, an unusable shoulder and neck, a broken voice and a ruined complexion. The second belongs to illness in general: a distended belly with fever and a large pulse, a drumming belly with clear discharge from the four limbs and a large pulse, nosebleed that will not stop with a large pulse, cough with blood in the urine and wasting with a small and taut pulse, cough and wasting with fever and a small rapid pulse. Beyond these five the course is 順. The chapter then gives the times: fifteen days for the first set, less than a season for the second. 逆 here is not simply bad but reversed — the pulse and the body moving in opposite directions.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The abscess set 除此五者，爲順矣
除这五者以外就是顺
Beyond these five, the course is favourable.
除此五者，爲順矣 — 靈樞·玉版
2
The general set 諸病皆有逆順
各种病都有逆顺
All illnesses have a contrary and a favourable course.
諸病皆有逆順 — 靈樞·玉版
3
Its term 如是者，不過十五日而死矣
像这样的，不过十五天就死
Cases like this die within fifteen days.
如是者，不過十五日而死矣 — 靈樞·玉版
4
The shorter term 如是者，不及一時而死矣
像这样的，不到一个时辰就死
Cases like this die in less than a season.
如是者，不及一時而死矣 — 靈樞·玉版

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
靈樞·玉版 Read in context →
歧伯曰：腹脹，身𤍠，脉大，是一逆也；腹鳴而滿，四肢清泄，其脉大，是二逆也；衄而不止，脉大，是三逆也；咳且溲血，脱形，其脉小勁，是四逆也；欬，脱形，身𤍠，脉小以疾，是謂五逆也。 歧伯曰：腹胀，身𤍠，脉大，是一逆也；腹鸣而满，四肢清泄，其脉大，是二逆也；衄而不止，脉大，是三逆也；咳且溲血，脱形，其脉小劲，是四逆也；欬，脱形，身𤍠，脉小以疾，是谓五逆也。
Qí Bó yuē: fù zhàng, shēn rè, mài dà, shì yī nì yě; fù míng ér mǎn, sì zhī qīng xiè, qí mài dà, shì èr nì yě; nǜ ér bù zhǐ, mài dà, shì sān nì yě; ké qiě sōu xuè, tuō xíng, qí mài xiǎo jìng, shì sì nì yě; kài, tuō xíng, shēn rè, mài xiǎo yǐ jí, shì wèi wǔ nì yě.
Qi Bo said: Abdominal distension, bodily heat and a large pulse — the first counter. Rumbling fullness of the abdomen, cold limbs with watery discharge, and a large pulse — the second. Nosebleed that will not stop, with a large pulse — the third. Cough with blood in the urine, emaciation, and a small, tense pulse — the fourth. Cough, emaciation, bodily heat, and a small, rapid pulse — the fifth.
「五逆」本篇3見，前為癰疽五逆，此為諸病五逆，皆以脉證相反者為逆，過此則為順。

Compounds built on this term

逆治
nì zhì
treatment that runs counter
工不察此者而刺之
順
shùn
favourable course
除此五者爲順

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe five counterflowsthe text's own direction
Literalfive goings-againstexact, and it is awkward
Clinicalfive signs of a reversed courseclear, and it explains

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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Reading path

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

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