Classica Sinica Medica

五裁

wǔ cái

The five cuttings · wu cai

Also rendered: The five abstinences (plain, and 裁 is not abstinence) · The five restrictions (clear, and it loses the tailor) · The five cuttings (the site's convention, keeping the measure)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-26

At a glance

Pinyin
wǔ cái
Simplified
五裁
Literal
五 wǔ — five; 裁 cái — to cut cloth to measure, hence to limit, to decide how much. Together: the five cuts a sick man must make in what he likes.
Shuowen
《說文》：裁，制衣也。从衣𢦏聲。制衣必量體而割，故引申爲裁度、裁抑。此篇「必自裁也」，正用裁抑之義：口所欲食，不可多也。

In brief

The five cuttings are the chapter’s dietary prohibitions, and the word is a tailor’s. 病在筋，無食酸；病在氣，無食辛；病在骨，無食鹹；病在血，無食苦；病在肉，無食甘 — the five follow the five movements exactly, forbidding each flavour to the tissue it runs in. But the chapter does not stop at prohibition: 口嗜而欲食之，不可多也，必自裁也 — what the mouth craves may still be eaten, only not much, and the patient must cut it for himself. 裁 is therefore the whole teaching: not abstinence but measure, and the measure taken by the man who wants the food.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
名目 五裁：病在筋，無食酸
五裁：病在筋，不吃酸
The five cuttings: in sinew disease, no sour food.
五裁 — 靈樞·九鍼論
2
五目 病在氣，無食辛；病在骨，無食鹹
病在氣不吃辛，病在骨不吃鹹
The set follows the five movements: no pungent for qi, no salt for bone.
病在氣，無食辛 — 靈樞·九鍼論
3
裁之義 口嗜而欲食之，不可多也，必自裁也
口饞想吃，也不可多，要自己裁制
What the mouth craves may be eaten, but not much: the man must cut it himself.
必自裁也 — 靈樞·九鍼論

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
靈樞·九鍼論 Read in context →
五裁：病在筋，無食酸；病在氣，無食辛；病在骨，無食鹹；病在血，無食苦；病在肉，無食甘。口嗜而欲食之，不可多也，必自裁也，命曰五裁。 五裁：病在筋，无食酸；病在气，无食辛；病在骨，无食咸；病在血，无食苦；病在肉，无食甘。口嗜而欲食之，不可多也，必自裁也，命曰五裁。
wǔ cái: bìng zài jīn, wú shí suān; bìng zài qì, wú shí xīn; bìng zài gǔ, wú shí xián; bìng zài xuè, wú shí kǔ; bìng zài ròu, wú shí gān. kǒu shì ér yù shí zhī, bù kě duō yě, bì zì cái yě, mìng yuē wǔ cái.
The five cuttings: when disease is in the sinews, eat no sour; in qi, no pungent; in bone, no salty; in blood, no bitter; in flesh, no sweet. Though the mouth craves and wishes to eat them, one may not take much; one must cut it oneself — hence it is called the five cuttings.
「五裁」本篇2見，五藏各禁一味，而終之以口嗜欲食不可多、必自裁，禁與節並見，故引全段。

Compounds built on this term

自裁
zì cái
to cut it for oneself
必自裁也，非禁絕
五走
wǔ zǒu
the five movements
五裁所依

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 cuttingsthe measure, not the ban
Literalfive cuttingsexact, and odd
Clinicalthe five dietary limitsclear, and it explains 必自裁

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-26

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Reading path

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