五腧

wǔ shù

The five transport points · wu shu

Also rendered: The five transport points (plain, and it keeps the idea of conveyance) · The five shu points (short, and it leaves the reader with a transliteration)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-10-24

At a glance

Pinyin: wǔ shù
Simplified: 五腧
Literal: 五 wǔ — five; 腧 shù — the point where qi is conveyed, written 俞 in the old texts and 腧 when the flesh is meant. Five to a channel, named for what the qi does at each.
Shuowen: **《說文》無「腧」字**，古但作「俞」；**俞，空中木為舟也**，假借為輸送之輸，別作腧。**「五腧」二字本篇3見**，二為正用（五藏五腧、皆在五腧也），一在「二十五腧」之內；**「腧」字7見**：血脉者在腧、五藏五腧、二十五腧、六府六腧、三十六腧、所注為腧、五腧也。**底本作腧不作俞**，與素問諸篇作俞者各從其舊。

In brief

The five points on each channel where the qi is conveyed, named by what it does there: 所出爲井，所溜爲滎，所注爲腧，所行爲經，所以爲合 — it issues at the well, slips at the gushing, pours at the transport, moves at the river, and joins at the sea. Five viscera take five each, five times five and twenty-five; the six palaces take six each, six times six and thirty-six. The chapter’s claim is that all twenty-seven qi travel through these points, so the whole body’s traffic is read and treated on the forearm, the hand, the leg and the foot.

Senses in the classical corpus

The name 五藏五腧

每經五穴，以氣之所行為名

Five to a channel, named for what the qi does at each.

五藏五腧，五五二十五腧 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

The five viscera 五五二十五腧

五藏各五，合二十五

Five each, twenty-five in all.

五藏五腧，五五二十五腧 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

The six palaces 六六三十六腧

六府各六，合三十六

Six each, thirty-six in all — one more than the viscera because the palaces have one more place to pass through.

六府六腧，六六三十六腧 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

The well 所出爲井

氣之所出，如泉之始出

Where the qi issues, as a spring first comes out.

以上下所出爲井 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

The gushing 所溜爲滎

氣之所溜，尚微而未盛

Where it slips along, still small.

所溜爲滎 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

Transport, river, sea 所注爲腧，所行爲經，所以爲合

注者漸深，行者漸盛，合者會於一處

It pours, then moves, then joins: the three deeper stations.

所注爲腧，所行爲經，所以爲合 — 靈樞·九鍼十二原

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

2 passages

靈樞·九鍼十二原 Read in context →

黃帝曰：願聞五藏六府所出之處。歧伯曰：五藏五腧，五五二十五腧；六府六腧，六六三十六腧。經脉十二，絡脉十五，凡二十七氣，以上下所出爲井，所溜爲滎，所注爲腧，所行爲經，所以爲合。二十七氣所行，皆在五腧也。黄帝曰：愿闻五藏六府所出之处。歧伯曰：五藏五腧，五五二十五腧；六府六腧，六六三十六腧。经脉十二，络脉十五，凡二十七气，以上下所出为井，所溜为荥，所注为腧，所行为经，所以为合。二十七气所行，皆在五腧也。

Huáng Dì yuē: yuàn wén wǔ zàng liù fǔ suǒ chū zhī chù. Qí Bó yuē: wǔ zàng wǔ shù, wǔ wǔ èr shí wǔ shù; liù fǔ liù shù, liù liù sān shí liù shù. jīng mài shí èr, luò mài shí wǔ, fán èr shí qī qì, yǐ shàng xià suǒ chū wéi jǐng, suǒ liū wéi yíng, suǒ zhù wéi shù, suǒ xíng wéi jīng, suǒ yǐ wéi hé. èr shí qī qì suǒ xíng, jiē zài wǔ shù yě.

The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear the places from which the five viscera and six bowels issue. Qi Bo said: the five viscera have five transports each, five times five, twenty-five transports; the six bowels have six each, six times six, thirty-six transports. There are twelve channels and fifteen network vessels, in all twenty-seven qi. Where they issue above and below is the well; where they flow is the spring; where they pour is the transport; where they move is the conduit; where they converge is the uniting point. The movement of the twenty-seven qi all lies in the five transports.

**「五腧」二字本篇3見**，二為正用，一在「二十五腧」之內；**「腧」字7見**。**此段為全篇數目之樞**：五藏二十五、六府三十六、經脉十二、絡脉十五、二十七氣，而二十七氣所行皆在五腧。**井滎腧經合五者，以氣之出、溜、注、行、合為次**，非以深淺為次，然深淺亦寓其中。

靈樞·本輸 Read in context →

陰尺動脉在五里，五腧之禁也。阴尺动脉在五里，五腧之禁也。

yīn chǐ dòng mài zài wǔ lǐ, wǔ shù zhī jìn yě.

The yin cubit moving vessel is at Wuli; this is the prohibition of the five transporting points.

「五腧之禁」四字，為全篇五腧之說作結。五腧為刺法之常，而陰尺之脉在五里，刺之易傷，故獨以為禁。

Compounds built on this term

五腧

wǔ shù

the five transport points

本篇本文

井滎腧經合

jǐng yíng shù jīng hé

well, gushing, transport, river, sea

五腧之名

二十五腧

èr shí wǔ shù

the twenty-five points

五藏之數

三十六腧

sān shí liù shù

the thirty-six points

六府之數

How it has been translated

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

This site	the five transport points	five to a channel, each named for the qi's motion there
Literal	the five conveyances	exact, and it does not read as anatomy
Clinical	the five shu-points	standard in needling literature, and it assumes the later term

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-24

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