Classica Sinica Medica

五禁

wǔ jìn

The five prohibitions · wu jin

Also rendered: the five prohibitions (Keeps the religious weight of 禁) · the five taboos (Stronger than the text intends) · the five dietary restrictions (Explains it, and flattens it) · wu jin (Bare transliteration)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
wǔ jìn
Simplified
五禁
Literal
禁 has the altar radical: 《說文》 glosses it 吉凶之忌也, the taboo on what is auspicious or not, and the word belongs to religion long before it belongs to diet. The chapter is placing foods under a ban, and the graph says so even where the translation forgets to.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：禁，吉凶之忌也。从示林聲。本篇以為飲食之戒：辛走氣，氣病，無多食辛。

In brief

One flavour is forbidden for each of five illnesses, and the reason is always spatial: acrid moves into qi, so where qi is ill do not eat acrid; salty moves into blood, so where blood is ill do not eat salty; bitter into bone, sweet into flesh, sour into sinew. The flavour is not harmful in itself — it is harmful because it goes where the trouble already is and adds to it. Then the chapter generalises in four words: five prohibitions, let none be eaten to excess. The illness names the place; the excess makes the harm.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
One flavour forbidden per illness 辛走氣，氣病，無多食辛
以其所走之位定其所禁
五味所禁：辛走氣，氣病，無多食辛 — Suwen 23
2
Acrid and qi 辛走氣
辛入氣分，氣病故禁
辛走氣，氣病，無多食辛 — Suwen 23
3
Salty and blood 鹹走血，血病
鹹入血分，血病故禁
鹹走血，血病，無多食鹹 — Suwen 23
4
The general rule 無令多食
五禁之上更有一總戒
是謂五禁，無令多食 — Suwen 23
5
Against the same flavours used to treat 用辛補之，酸冩之
第二十二篇以味為補瀉，本篇以味為禁忌
肝欲散，急食辛以散之，用辛補之，酸冩之 — Suwen 22

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·宣明五氣 Suwen 23 · 宣明五氣 Read in context →
五味所禁：辛走氣，氣病，無多食辛；鹹走血，血病，無多食鹹；苦走骨，骨病，無多食苦；甘走肉，肉病，無多食甘；酸走筋，筋病，無多食酸。是謂五禁，無令多食。 五味所禁：辛走气，气病，无多食辛；咸走血，血病，无多食咸；苦走骨，骨病，无多食苦；甘走肉，肉病，无多食甘；酸走筋，筋病，无多食酸。是谓五禁，无令多食。
Wǔ wèi suǒ jìn: xīn zǒu qì, qì bìng, wú duō shí xīn; xián zǒu xuè, xuè bìng, wú duō shí xián; kǔ zǒu gǔ, gǔ bìng, wú duō shí kǔ; gān zǒu ròu, ròu bìng, wú duō shí gān; suān zǒu jīn, jīn bìng, wú duō shí suān. shì wèi wǔ jìn, wú lìng duō shí.
What the five flavours are forbidden to: acrid moves into qi, so where qi is ill do not eat much acrid; salty moves into blood, so where blood is ill do not eat much salty; bitter moves into bone, so where bone is ill do not eat much bitter; sweet moves into flesh, so where flesh is ill do not eat much sweet; sour moves into sinew, so where sinew is ill do not eat much sour. This is called the five prohibitions — let none of them be eaten to excess.
本篇「五味所禁」一條，是首條「五味所入」的反用：既知辛入氣、鹹入血、苦入骨、甘入肉、酸入筋，則氣病者禁辛、血病者禁鹹、骨病者禁苦、肉病者禁甘、筋病者禁酸——所禁之味不是有毒，只是往病處去得太多。故末句不就五者分說，而總之曰「無令多食」：病處定其所之，多食成其為害。第二十二篇以五味為補瀉之具（辛補肝而瀉肺、苦補腎而瀉脾），本篇以五味為當禁之物，二義相反而實相成——同是一味，補瀉視臟，多寡視病。

Compounds built on this term

禁
jìn
prohibition
說文：吉凶之忌也
五禁
wǔ jìn
the five prohibitions
本篇第六條之目
走
zǒu
to move into
言其味所趨之位
無
wú
do not
通「毋」，禁戒之辭，本篇六見
多食
duō shí
to eat much of
本篇「無多食辛」諸語

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Fengthe five prohibitionsThey keep 禁 as prohibition throughout and let the food follow.
Unschuldthe five [flavours that are] forbiddenHe makes the object explicit, since the sentence does not name it.
This sitethe five prohibitionsThe graph has the altar radical — this is a ban, not a suggestion. And the chapter closes by saying only do not eat much of any of them, which 'restriction' would dress up.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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