The nine methods · jiu bian

Also rendered: The nine changes (literal, and it matches 三變) · The nine methods (clear, and it loses the correspondence)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-10-24

At a glance

Pinyin: jiǔ biàn
Simplified: 九变
Literal: 九 jiǔ — nine; 變 biàn — change. The nine are methods rather than instruments, each named for what it does to the disease.
Shuowen: 《說文》：變，更也。「九變」本篇1見。底本作「凡刺有九日，應九變」，「日」為「以」之訛，與下文「十二節」「五藏」同一句法。

In brief

Nine methods answering to the nine changes of disease: shu, distant, channel, luo, partition, great-drain, hair, ju and scorch needling. The list moves outward from the point itself to the opposite side of the body and finally to fire, and it is the earliest taxonomy of technique in the book. Its companion list, the twelve sections, follows immediately and works by compound insertions instead.

Senses in the classical corpus

The nine methods 應九變

九種刺法應九種病變

Nine methods answer to the nine changes.

凡刺有九日，應九變 — 靈樞·官鍼

Local and distant 遠道刺

病在上取之下

Distant needling: disease above, take below.

二曰遠道刺 — 靈樞·官鍼

Fire 焠刺

燔鍼取痺

Scorch needling: a heated needle takes bi.

九曰焠刺 — 靈樞·官鍼

Occurrences in the classics

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

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1 passages

靈樞·官鍼 Read in context →

凡刺有九日，應九變。一曰輸刺。輸刺者，刺諸經滎輸藏腧也。二曰遠道刺。遠道刺者，病在上，取之下刺府腧也。三曰經刺。經刺者，刺大經之結絡經分也。四曰絡刺。絡刺者，刺小絡之血脉也。五曰分刺。分刺者，刺分肉之間也。六曰大寫刺。大寫刺者，刺大膿以鈹鍼也。七曰毛刺。毛刺者，刺浮痺皮膚也。八曰巨刺。巨刺者，左取右，右取左。九曰焠刺。焠刺者，刺燔鍼則取痺也。凡刺有九日，应九变。一曰输刺。输刺者，刺诸经荥输藏腧也。二曰远道刺。远道刺者，病在上，取之下刺府腧也。三曰经刺。经刺者，刺大经之结络经分也。四曰络刺。络刺者，刺小络之血脉也。五曰分刺。分刺者，刺分肉之间也。六曰大写刺。大写刺者，刺大脓以铍针也。七曰毛刺。毛刺者，刺浮痹皮肤也。八曰巨刺。巨刺者，左取右，右取左。九曰焠刺。焠刺者，刺燔针则取痹也。

fán cì yǒu jiǔ rì, yīng jiǔ biàn. yī yuē shū cì. shū cì zhě, cì zhū jīng yíng shū zàng shù yě. èr yuē yuǎn dào cì. yuǎn dào cì zhě, bìng zài shàng, qǔ zhī xià cì fǔ shù yě. sān yuē jīng cì. jīng cì zhě, cì dà jīng zhī jié luò jīng fēn yě. sì yuē luò cì. luò cì zhě, cì xiǎo luò zhī xuè mài yě. wǔ yuē fēn cì. fēn cì zhě, cì fēn ròu zhī jiān yě. liù yuē dà xiě cì. dà xiě cì zhě, cì dà nóng yǐ pī zhēn yě. qī yuē máo cì. máo cì zhě, cì fú bì pí fū yě. bā yuē jù cì. jù cì zhě, zuǒ qǔ yòu, yòu qǔ zuǒ. jiǔ yuē cuì cì. cuì cì zhě, cì fán zhēn zé qǔ bì yě.

Needling has nine methods, answering to the nine changes. The first is shu needling: it needles the ying and shu of the several channels and the shu of the zang and fu. The second is distant needling: the disease is above and one takes below, needling the shu of the fu. The third is channel needling: it needles the knotted luo and the channel divisions of the great channels. The fourth is luo needling: it needles the blood vessels of the small luo. The fifth is partition needling: it needles between the partition flesh. The sixth is great-drain needling: it needles great pus with the pi needle. The seventh is hair needling: it needles floating bi in the skin. The eighth is ju needling: for the left take the right, for the right take the left. The ninth is scorch needling: it needles with a heated needle and so takes bi.

「九變」本篇1見，統攝九種刺法。九法之中，輸刺、巨刺、毛刺、焠刺皆後世常用，而「大寫刺」即大瀉刺，與《小鍼解》「大寫」相應。

Compounds built on this term

輸刺

shū cì

shu needling

九變之首

巨刺

jù cì

ju needling

左取右，右取左

毛刺

máo cì

hair needling

刺浮痺皮膚

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 nine methods	what the list actually is
Literal	the nine changes	exact, and it sounds passive
Technical	the nine needling techniques	clear, and it is long

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-24

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