Classica Sinica Medica

六脉

liù mài

The six pulses · liu mai

Also rendered: The six vessels (plain, and it suggests six tubes rather than six readings) · The six channel-pulses (exact, and it makes the compound that the chapter avoids)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-10-18

At a glance

Pinyin
liù mài
Simplified
六脉
Literal
六 liù — six; 脉 mài — the vessel, and by extension what is felt in it. Not six vessels among others but the six channels taken as one body of evidence: 三陽, 二陽, 一陽, 三陰, 二陰, 一陰.
Shuowen
《說文》：六，易之數，陰變六、陽變九，六為老陰之數。《說文》：脉，血理分衺行體中者，底本作「脉」，為「脈」之異寫。本篇「六脉」1見，即「此六脉者，乍陰乍陽」；「脉」字8見，「六」字2見（另一為「六經之所主」）。六脉之名，本篇以數目冠陰陽：三陽、二陽、一陽、三陰、二陰、一陰，與他篇直稱太陽、陽明、少陽、太陰、少陰、厥陰者異，此其所以獨稱「六脉」。

In brief

The chapter’s own name for the six channels read at the wrist, and the point at which its two answers meet. The first answer names them one by one and gives each its pulse-shape at the hand great yin; the second gives them their places in a family and then runs them in pairs. What makes them ‘six’ rather than ‘six separate things’ is the sentence that follows the list: 此六脉者，乍陰乍陽，交屬相并，繆通五藏，合於陰陽 — they are now yin, now yang, they join and belong to one another, and they thread the five viscera in crisscross. So no pulse belongs to one viscus, and no viscus is read from one pulse. The rule for reading them is given last: 先至爲主，後至爲客 — what arrives first is host, what arrives after is guest. The six are therefore a system with a time-order, not a list of correspondences.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The six named 此六脉者
三陽、二陽、一陽、三陰、二陰、一陰
Three yang, two yang, one yang, three yin, two yin, one yin.
此六脉者 — 素問·陰陽類論
2
All read at one place 至手太陰
六脉皆診於手太陰，非六處分診
All six vessels are felt at the hand tai yin; they are not felt at six separate places.
三陽脉至手太陰 — 素問·陰陽類論
3
Now yin, now yang 乍陰乍陽
六脉不固定分屬，隨至而變
The six vessels have no fixed allotment; they change with whichever arrives.
乍陰乍陽 — 素問·陰陽類論
4
Joined to one another 交屬相并
交相連屬而并合為一
They join one another and merge into one.
交屬相并 — 素問·陰陽類論
5
Threading the viscera 繆通五藏
交錯而通，非一脉專主一藏
They run crosswise into one another; no single vessel is solely in charge of one viscus.
繆通五藏 — 素問·陰陽類論
6
Host and guest 先至爲主，後至爲客
以先後定主客，診六脉之要法
Settling host and guest by what arrives first and last is the key method of reading the six vessels.
先至爲主，後至爲客 — 素問·陰陽類論

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·陰陽類論 Read in context →
此六脉者，乍陰乍陽，交屬相并，繆通五藏，合於陰陽。先至爲主，後至爲客。 此六脉者，乍阴乍阳，交属相并，缪通五藏，合于阴阳。先至为主，后至为客。
Cǐ liù mài zhě, zhà yīn zhà yáng, jiāo shǔ xiāng bìng, miù tōng wǔ zàng, hé yú yīn yáng. Xiān zhì wéi zhǔ, hòu zhì wéi kè.
These six pulses are now yin, now yang; they join and belong to one another, thread the five viscera in crisscross, and are matched to yin and yang. What arrives first is host; what arrives after is guest.
「六脉」本篇1見，即「此六脉者」；「脉」字8見、「六」字2見。此句為全篇六脉之總斷：前分叙六脉之形，此合言其變，「乍陰乍陽」「交屬相并」「繆通五藏」三句，皆所以破「一脉主一藏」之見，而以「先至爲主，後至爲客」定其讀法。

Compounds built on this term

此六脉者
cǐ liù mài zhě
these six pulses
一篇之綱，六脉之總稱
三陽脉
sān yáng mài
the pulse of the three yang
至手太陰而弦浮
六經
liù jīng
the six channels
六脉所本，三陰三陽之經
先至爲主
xiān zhì wéi zhǔ
what arrives first is host
主客之辨由此起

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe six pulsesthe six channels read together at the wrist
Literalsix vesselsexact for the characters, and it loses the reading
Clinicalthe six-pulse systemclear, and it adds a system the text only implies

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-18

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