Classica Sinica Medica

浮

fú

The floating quality · fu

Also rendered: the floating quality (Literal, and standard in pulse literature) · the superficial pulse (Clinical term; loses the image of riding on water) · the buoyant pulse (Suggests rising rather than lying near the surface) · fu pulse (Bare transliteration)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
fú
Simplified
浮
Literal
浮 to float, to ride on water (《說文》: 氾也 — drifting on the surface). Applied to the autumn pulse: the qi comes light and empty, riding near the surface, urgent on arrival and scattering as it goes.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：浮，氾也（段玉裁注：謂浮於水上；引申爲凡輕浮之稱）。

In brief

The autumn pulse. It is named for where the qi rides — near the skin — and for how it leaves: it arrives urgently and scatters. The season is the one in which the myriad things are gathered in, and the lung, metal of the west, is the viscus that matches. Excess is a pulse that feels hairy, hard in the middle and empty at both edges, and it brings counterflow qi and a smouldering pain between the shoulders. Deficiency is a pulse that is merely hairy and faint, and it brings panting, scant breath, coughing, blood in the qi above, and a sound in the chest below.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The autumn shape of the pulse 秋脉如浮
其氣來輕虚以浮，來急去散
故其氣來輕虚以浮，來急去散，故曰浮 — Suwen 19
2
Why autumn should look like this 收成
秋主收成，肺為西方之金
秋脉者肺也，西方金也，萬物之所以收成也 — Suwen 19
3
What excess looks like 毛而中央堅，兩傍虚
如毛而中堅傍虚，此謂太過
其氣來，毛而中央堅，兩傍虚，此謂太過，病在外 — Suwen 19
4
What deficiency looks like 毛而微
如毛而微弱無力，此謂不及
其氣來，毛而微，此謂不及，病在中 — Suwen 19
5
What each brings 逆氣而背痛 / 喘而欬
太過則氣逆背痛，不及則喘咳見血
太過則令人逆氣而背痛，愠愠然；其不及，則令人喘，呼吸少氣而欬，上氣見血，下聞病音 — Suwen 19

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
4 passages
素問·玉機真藏論 Suwen 19 · 玉機真藏論 Read in context →
秋脉如浮，何如而浮？歧伯曰：秋脉者肺也，西方金也，萬物之所以收成也。故其氣來輕虚以浮，來急去散，故曰浮，反此者病。 秋脉如浮，何如而浮？歧伯曰：秋脉者肺也，西方金也，万物之所以收成也。故其气来轻虚以浮，来急去散，故曰浮，反此者病。
Qiū mài rú fú, hé rú ér fú? Qí bó yuē: qiū mài zhě fèi yě, xī fāng jīn yě, wàn wù zhī suǒ yǐ shōu chéng yě. Gù qí qì lái qīng xū yǐ fú, lái jí qù sàn, gù yuē fú, fǎn cǐ zhě bìng.
The autumn pulse belongs to the lung, the metal of the west, that by which the myriad things are gathered and brought to completion. The qi arrives light and empty, floating; it comes urgently and departs scattering — hence “floating.”
本篇四時之脈，秋獨曰浮，以其氣來輕虚而應於皮膚之分，與第十八篇「秋胃微毛，曰平；毛多胃少，曰肺病；但毛无胃，曰死」同條——二篇皆以毛狀秋脈，第十八篇以胃氣之有無判之，本篇則以中央堅、兩傍虚判其太過，以毛而微判其不及。「來急去散」四字，尤見浮脈之勢：來則急，去則散而不收。
素問·病能論 Suwen 46 · 病能論 Read in context →
帝曰：有病厥者，診右脉沈而緊，左脉浮而遟，不然，病主安在？歧伯曰：冬診之，右脉固當沈緊，此應四時；左脉浮而遟，此逆四時。 帝曰：有病厥者，诊右脉沉而紧，左脉浮而迟，不然，病主安在？歧伯曰：冬诊之，右脉固当沉紧，此应四时；左脉浮而迟，此逆四时。
Dì yuē: yǒu bìng jué zhě, zhěn yòu mài chén ér jǐn, zuǒ mài fú ér chí, bù rán, bìng zhǔ ān zài? Qí bó yuē: dōng zhěn zhī, yòu mài gù dāng chén jǐn, cǐ yìng sì shí; zuǒ mài fú ér chí, cǐ nì sì shí.
The Emperor asks: here is one ill with inversion. On examination the right conduit is sunken and tight and the left is floating and slow. If that is not how it should be, where does the disease reside? Qi Bo says: examined in winter, the right conduit is naturally sunken and tight — this accords with the four seasons. The left conduit floating and slow runs counter to them.
「左脉「浮」讀 fú而「遟」讀 chí，此逆四時」——**本篇「浮」2見、「遟」2見**；**遟為「遲」之異體，讀 chí**；**左見肺脉之浮而當冬見腎脉之沈，故曰逆四時**；「左」讀 zuǒ、**左讀 zuǒ**。
素問·大奇論 Suwen 48 · 大奇論 Read in context →
腎肝并沈，爲石水。并浮，爲風水。并虚，爲死。并小絃，欲驚。 肾肝并沉，为石水。并浮，为风水。并虚，为死。并小弦，欲惊。
Shèn gān bìng chén, wéi shí shuǐ. Bìng fú, wéi fēng shuǐ. Bìng xū, wéi sǐ. Bìng xiǎo xián, yù jīng.
When the kidney and liver vessels are both sunken it is stone water. Both floating, wind water. Both empty, it is death. Both small and string-like, the person is about to startle.
「并「浮」讀 fú，爲風水」——「浮」讀 fú、**本篇7見，皆讀 fú**：**并浮、懸鈎浮、浮合、浮鼓肌中、浮揣切之、浮之小急，其一為脉之浮，其六在「脉至如某」諸象之内**。
素問·脉要精微論 Suwen 17 · 脉要精微論 Read in context →
有脉俱沉細數者，少陰厥也。沈細數散者，寒熱也。浮而散者，爲眴仆。 有脉俱沉细数者，少阴厥也。沉细数散者，寒热也。浮而散者，为眴仆。
yǒu mài jù chén xì shuò zhě, shào yīn jué yě. chén xì shuò sàn zhě, hán rè yě. fú ér sàn zhě, wéi xuàn pū.
When the pulse is at once sunken, fine and rapid, this is counterflow of the lesser yin. When it is sunken, fine, rapid and scattered, this is cold and heat. When it is floating and scattered, this becomes dizziness and falling.
「浮而散者，爲眴仆」，脉浮而散則陽浮於上、陰不守內，故為眩仆；本篇又見「春日浮，如魚之遊在波」「諸浮不躁者，皆在陽」。

Compounds built on this term

浮
fú
floating
說文：氾也
秋脉
qiū mài
the autumn pulse
肺之脈，其氣來輕虚以浮
輕虚
qīng xū
light and empty
浮脈之體
來急去散
lái jí qù sàn
arriving urgent, departing scattering
浮脈之勢
毛
máo
the hair quality
浮脈太過不及皆以毛狀之

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Fengfloating pulseStandard rendering for 浮 as a pulse quality.
UnschuldfloatingUsed throughout the Suwen translation.
This sitethe floating quality浮 in 說文 is 氾, drifting on water — the word describes a thing riding a surface it does not belong to, which is exactly what the autumn pulse does: it stays near the skin when the season has turned inward. Superficial would be defensible but belongs to the clinic's vocabulary of depth rather than to this text's vocabulary of images; quality keeps 浮 in the same grammatical slot as 弦、鈎、毛、石, the four other shapes the chapter names in the same breath.

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2026-09

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