Classica Sinica Medica

五輸 简体 五输

wǔ shū

The five transports · wu shu

Also rendered: The five transports (keeps 輸 as transport) · The five transport points (anatomical, and it is longer) · The five shu (transliterated, and it asks the reader to learn a word)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
wǔ shū
Simplified
五输
Literal
五 wǔ — five; 輸 shū — to transport, and by extension the point at which a channel's qi is transported. Not the general class of 俞 points, but the five within one channel.
Shuowen
《說文》：輸，委輸也。从車俞聲。「五輸」本篇5見，謂井滎輸經合五者，五藏各五，合二十五輸。

In brief

The five transport points of a channel, matched one by one to the five changes of the viscera. The arithmetic is explicit: five viscera, five changes each, five transports each, twenty-five transports answering the five seasons. What makes the passage unusual is the correspondence it builds rather than the anatomy it assumes — the store governs winter and the well is needled in winter; colour governs spring and the spring point in spring; the season governs summer and the stream in summer; tone governs long summer and the river then; flavour governs autumn and the sea in autumn. A transport is thus not only a place but a season, and the same five points are read twice, once by position and once by calendar. The chapter adds the source points as a sixth for the palaces, and the count becomes thirty-six.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The five within a channel 五變有五輸
五变各有五输
The five changes have five transports.
五變有五輸 — 靈樞·順氣一日分爲四時
2
The count 故五五二十五輸，以應五時
所以五五二十五输，以应五时
Thus five fives make twenty-five transports, answering the five seasons.
故五五二十五輸，以應五時 — 靈樞·順氣一日分爲四時
3
Winter and the well 藏主冬，冬刺井
藏主冬，冬天刺井穴
The store governs winter; in winter needle the well.
藏主冬，冬刺井 — 靈樞·順氣一日分爲四時
4
Spring and the spring point 色主春，春刺榮
色主春，春天刺荥穴
Colour governs spring; in spring needle the spring point.
色主春，春刺榮 — 靈樞·順氣一日分爲四時

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·順氣一日分爲四時 Read in context →
歧伯曰：人有五藏，五藏有五變，五變有五輸，故五五二十五輸，以應五時。 歧伯曰：人有五藏，五藏有五变，五变有五输，故五五二十五输，以应五时。
Qí Bó yuē: rén yǒu wǔ zàng, wǔ zàng yǒu wǔ biàn, wǔ biàn yǒu wǔ shū, gù wǔ wǔ èr shí wǔ shū, yǐ yìng wǔ shí.
Qi Bo said: Man has five viscera; the five viscera have five changes; the five changes have five transporting points. So five times five makes twenty-five transporting points, answering to the five seasons.
「五輸」本篇5見，五藏各有五變，五變各有五輸，合為二十五，以應五時；下文言井滎輸經合之配。
靈樞·官能 Read in context →
明於五輸，徐疾所在，屈伸出入，皆有條理。言陰與五，合於五行，五藏六府，亦有所藏，四時八風，盡有陰陽，各得其位，合於明堂。各處色部，五藏六府，察其所痛，左右上下，知其寒温，何經所在。審皮膚之寒温滑濇，知其所苦，膈有上下，知其氣所在。先得其道，稀而疏之，稍深以留，故能徐入之。 明于五输，徐疾所在，屈伸出入，皆有条理。言阴与五，合于五行，五藏六府，亦有所藏，四时八风，尽有阴阳，各得其位，合于明堂。各处色部，五藏六府，察其所痛，左右上下，知其寒温，何经所在。审皮肤之寒温滑涩，知其所苦，膈有上下，知其气所在。先得其道，稀而疏之，稍深以留，故能徐入之。
míng yú wǔ shū, xú jí suǒ zài, qū shēn chū rù, jiē yǒu tiáo lǐ. yán yīn yǔ wǔ, hé yú wǔ xíng, wǔ zàng liù fǔ, yì yǒu suǒ zàng, sì shí bā fēng, jìn yǒu yīn yáng, gè dé qí wèi, hé yú míng táng. gè chù sè bù, wǔ zàng liù fǔ, chá qí suǒ tòng, zuǒ yòu shàng xià, zhī qí hán wēn, hé jīng suǒ zài. shěn pí fū zhī hán wēn huá sè, zhī qí suǒ kǔ, gé yǒu shàng xià, zhī qí qì suǒ zài. xiān dé qí dào, xī ér shū zhī, shāo shēn yǐ liú, gù néng xú rù zhī.
Be clear about the five transports, where slow and fast are; the bending, stretching, exit and entry all have their order. Speak of yin and the five, joining them to the five phases; the five viscera and six bowels each have what they store; the four seasons and eight winds all have yin and yang, each attaining its place and joining at the bright hall. Each occupies its colour region; of the five viscera and six bowels observe where pain is, left and right, above and below, know its cold or warmth, and in which channel it lies. Examine the skin’s cold, warmth, slippery or rough, and know what he suffers; the diaphragm has above and below, know where the qi is. First get its way, then use few and sparse points, go a little deeper and retain, and so you can insert slowly.
「五輸」官能第6段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

二十五輸
èr shí wǔ shū
the twenty-five transports
五藏五輸之總數
六六三十六輸
liù liù sān shí liù shū
thirty-six transports
併原穴而言

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 transportsthe text's own verb
Literalfive conveyancesexact, and it is misleading
Clinicalthe five transport points of a channelclear, and it is a description

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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Reading path

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