Classica Sinica Medica

金匱 简体 金匮

jīn guì

The Golden Casket

Also rendered: The Golden Casket (this site; 匱 taken as the chest it is) · The Golden Treasury (where 匱 is read as a store rather than a box)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
jīn guì
Simplified
金匮
Literal
金匱 jīn guì — the third of the five books, and the one whose subject is starkest: it decides life and death. 匱 is a chest; a golden one is where a thing too precious to lose is kept, and the same word stands at the head of the fourth chapter of the Suwen.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：金，五色金也；匱，匣也，从匚貴聲。「金」讀 jīn、**本篇惟此一見**；「匱」讀 guì、**本篇惟此一見，讀 guì，通「櫃」**；**本站第四篇篇題即「金匱真言論」，與此同名**。

In brief

A lost book whose subject chapter 46 states in four graphs: it decides life and death. The chapter lists it third among the five it has drawn on, and the clause is the shortest it gives any of them — diagnosis at its most final. The name survives in the title of the Suwen’s own fourth chapter, 金匱真言論.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The two graphs 金、匱
匱者匣也，金匱者藏重器之匣
金匱者，決死生也 — Suwen 46
2
The reading jīn guì
匱讀 guì，通「櫃」，不讀 kuì
金匱者，決死生也 — Suwen 46
3
What it does 決死生
決讀 jué，判決也
金匱者，決死生也 — Suwen 46
4
Its place among the five 三
上經、下經、金匱、揆度、奇𢘆
揆度者，切度之也 — Suwen 46
5
The same name elsewhere 金匱真言論
本站第四篇之篇題
金匱者，決死生也 — Suwen 46
6
That it is lost 亡佚
其文不傳，惟存篇題與此釋
金匱者，決死生也 — Suwen 46

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
Suwen 46 Suwen 46 · 病能論 Read in context →
金匱者，決死生也。揆度者，切度之也。奇𢘆者，言奇病也。 金匮者，决死生也。揆度者，切度之也。奇恒者，言奇病也。
Jīn guì zhě, jué sǐ shēng yě. Kuí duó zhě, qiè duó zhī yě. Qí héng zhě, yán qí bìng yě.
The Golden Casket decides life and death. The Kui Duo feels the pulse and measures it. The Qi Heng speaks of strange diseases.
**「金匱者，決死生也」——**「金」讀 jīn、**本篇惟此一見**；「匱」讀 guì、**本篇惟此一見，讀 guì**；「決」讀 jué、**本篇2見**，**此為「決死生」之決，與上文「難決」之決同讀**；**「揆度」之度讀 duó，「奇𢘆」之𢘆為底本二形之一**。
素問·氣穴論 Suwen 58 · 氣穴論 Read in context →
帝乃辟左右而起，再拜曰：今日發蒙解惑，藏之金匱，不敢復出。 帝乃辟左右而起，再拜曰：今日发蒙解惑，藏之金匮，不敢复出。
Dì nǎi bì zuǒ yòu ér qǐ, zài bài yuē: jīn rì fā méng jiě huò, cáng zhī jīn guì, bù gǎn fù chū.
The Emperor then sends his attendants aside, rises, prostrates himself again and says: today my darkness has been dispelled and my doubts undone. I shall store it in the golden casket and not presume to bring it out again.
「帝乃辟左右而起，再拜曰：今日發蒙「解」讀 jiě惑，藏之「金」讀 jīn「匱」讀 guì，不敢復出。」——**本篇「金匱」2見，讀 jīn guì**；**一見於黄帝之請「請藏之金匱」，再見於既聞之後「藏之金匱，不敢復出」**；**本目第四十六篇所立：書之名也，四字定生死；此則為藏書之器**；**同一名而器與書並行，讀者當知篇中實指藏之於匱，非引其書**；「藏」讀 cáng、**「藏之金匱」之藏讀 cáng；本篇另有三見讀 zàng，「藏俞五十穴」是也——**「藏」**本篇同字兩讀**；「拜」讀 bài、**再拜之拜讀 bài，本篇3見**
素問·天元紀大論 Suwen 66 · 天元紀大論 Read in context →
帝曰：光乎哉道，明乎哉論。請著之玉版，藏之金匱，署曰天元紀。 帝曰：光乎哉道，明乎哉论。请著之玉版，藏之金匮，署曰天元纪。
Dì yuē: guāng hū zāi dào, míng hū zāi lùn. Qǐng zhù zhī yù bǎn, cáng zhī jīn guì, shǔ yuē tiān yuán jì.
Huang Di said: how radiant the dao, how clear the discourse. Let it be inscribed on jade tablets and stored in the golden cabinet, titled the Celestial Primordial Record.
「藏之金匱」——**「金匱」讀 jīn guì，本篇1見**；**本篇「匱」2見而二讀：此讀 guì，通「櫃」；第二十二段「簡而不匱」讀 kuì，乏也**；**「藏」讀 cáng；「簡」讀 jiǎn**；**金匱為藏重器之匣，本篇取以藏其書**

Compounds built on this term

金匱
jīn guì
the Golden Casket
本篇所釋五書之一
決死生
jué sǐ shēng
deciding life and death
金匱之用
金匱真言論
jīn guì zhēn yán lùn
the Golden Casket's true words
本站第四篇篇題
揆度
kuí duó
assessment
已見本站第五二八目，本篇所釋五書之四

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe Golden Casket金匱 rendered as a book title, with the image of the chest kept
Unschuldthe Golden Caskethe keeps the metal and the box
Wisemanthe Golden Coffer金匱 in his system

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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