Classica Sinica Medica

前陰 简体 前阴

qián yīn

The front yin

Also rendered: The front yin (this site; both graphs kept, as the text writes them) · The anterior yin (where the pair is read as the lower orifice rather than the region)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
qián yīn
Simplified
前阴
Literal
前陰 qián yīn — the place the chapter names when asked what a person has lost to bring cold inversion on. It is where the ancestral sinews gather, and where greater yin and yang brightness join; from there the chapter can go straight to the seasons, to excess, and to the lower qi struggling upward.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：前，不行而進謂之歬；陰，闇也，水之南、山之北也。「前」讀 qián、**本篇3見**；「陰」讀 yīn、**本篇21見**；**「宗筋之所聚，太陰陽明之所合」——一句兼言形與經**；**下文「前閉」「不得前後」之前亦謂前陰之竅**。

In brief

The front yin: the genital region and its openings. The chapter gives it a double description — the gathering place of the ancestral sinews, and the meeting place of greater yin and yang brightness — and then uses it to account for what excess costs the lower body. The same 前 recurs below in 前閉 and 不得前後 for the front passage.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 前、陰
前者身之前，陰者前後二陰之陰
前陰者，宗筋之所聚 — Suwen 45
2
What gathers there 宗筋之所聚
宗筋為諸筋之會，聚於前陰
宗筋之所聚 — Suwen 45
3
Which vessels meet there 太陰陽明之所合
太陰陽明相合於此，故脾胃之氣亦歸之
太陰陽明之所合也 — Suwen 45
4
Why the chapter names it 寒厥何失而然也
問寒厥之失，答以前陰者，失在房室之過
帝曰：寒厥何失而然也 — Suwen 45
5
The same graph below 虚滿前閉
前閉者，小便不通；前指前陰之竅
虚滿前閉 — Suwen 45
6
Front and back together 不得前後
前後謂二便，前為溺、後為糞
不得前後 — Suwen 45

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 45 Suwen 45 · 厥論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：前陰者，宗筋之所聚，太陰陽明之所合也。 歧伯曰：前阴者，宗筋之所聚，太阴阳明之所合也。
Qí bó yuē: qián yīn zhě, zōng jīn zhī suǒ jù, tài yīn yáng míng zhī suǒ hé yě.
Qi Bo says: the front yin is where the ancestral sinews gather, and where greater yin and yang brightness meet.
**「前陰者，宗筋之所聚」——**「前」讀 qián、**本篇3見，前陰、前閉、不得前後各一**；「宗」讀 zōng、**「宗筋」已見本站 id 1263**；**下文「前閉」之前，即此前陰之竅而言**。

Compounds built on this term

前陰
qián yīn
the front yin
本篇一見
前閉
qián bì
closure in front
厥陰厥逆之證
不得前後
bù dé qián hòu
neither front nor back passes
三陰俱逆之候
宗筋之所聚
zōng jīn zhī suǒ jù
where the ancestral sinews gather
本篇形容前陰之語

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe front yin前陰 is kept as front and yin, without collapsing it into a single anatomical word
Unschuldthe front yinhe keeps the same two halves
Wisemanthe anterior yin前陰 is anterior yin in his system, often the genitals specifically

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-30

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Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

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