維筋 简体 维筋

wéi jīn

The stay sinews · wei jin

Also rendered: Stay sinews (plain, and it keeps the image of a rope) · Linking sinews (clear, and it loses the rigging)

Reviewed · 2026-10-24

At a glance

Pinyin
wéi jīn
Simplified
维筋
Literal
維 wéi — the rope that holds a net, the cord that binds a corner; 筋 jīn — sinew. The stays are the sinews that run up the neck and hold the head square, and the chapter names their crossing as a disease.
Shuowen
《說文》:維,車蓋維也。「維筋」本篇2見,一在病候,一在病名,皆屬足少陽之筋。

In brief

The sinews of the neck that act as stays. When the foot shaoyang sinew is diseased they tighten from left to right, the right eye cannot open, and because the left is bound to the right the injury falls on the left corner while the right foot becomes useless. The chapter names this 維筋相交, the crossing of the stays, and it is the only place in the book where a sinew disease is described by the side it crosses to.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The tightened stays 頸維筋急
颈部维筋拘急
The stay sinews of the neck tighten.
頸維筋急 — 靈樞·經筋
2
Their crossing 命曰維筋相交
名叫维筋相交
It is called the crossing of the stay sinews.
命曰維筋相交 — 靈樞·經筋

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·經筋 Read in context →
足少陽之筋,起于小指次指,上結外踝,上循脛外廉,結于膝外廉;其支者,别起外輔骨,上走髀;前者結于伏兔之上,後者結于尻;其直者,上乘䏚季脅,上走腋前廉,繫于膺乳,結于缺盆;直者,上出腋,貫缺盆,出太陽之前,循耳後,上額角,交巔上,下走頷,上結于頄;支者,結于目眦,爲外維。其病小指次指支轉筋,引膝外轉筋,膝不可屈伸,膕筋急,前引髀,後引尻,即上乘䏚季,脅痛,上引缺盆、膺乳,頸維筋急,從左之右,右目不開,上過右角,並蹻脉而行,左絡于右,故傷左角,右足不用,命曰維筋相交。治在燔鍼刼刺,以知爲數,以痛爲輸,名曰孟春痺也。 足少阳之筋,起于小指次指,上结外踝,上循胫外廉,结于膝外廉;其支者,别起外辅骨,上走髀;前者结于伏兔之上,后者结于尻;其直者,上乘䏚季胁,上走腋前廉,系于膺乳,结于缺盆;直者,上出腋,贯缺盆,出太阳之前,循耳后,上额角,交巅上,下走颔,上结于頄;支者,结于目眦,为外维。其病小指次指支转筋,引膝外转筋,膝不可屈伸,腘筋急,前引髀,后引尻,即上乘䏚季,胁痛,上引缺盆、膺乳,颈维筋急,从左之右,右目不开,上过右角,并𫏋脉而行,左络于右,故伤左角,右足不用,命曰维筋相交。治在燔针劫刺,以知为数,以痛为输,名曰孟春痹也。
zú shào yáng zhī jīn, qǐ yú xiǎo zhǐ cì zhǐ, shàng jié wài huái, shàng xún jìng wài lián, jié yú xī wài lián; qí zhī zhě, bié qǐ wài fǔ gǔ, shàng zǒu bì; qián zhě jié yú fú tù zhī shàng, hòu zhě jié yú kāo; qí zhí zhě, shàng chéng miǎo jì xié, shàng zǒu yè qián lián, xì yú yīng rǔ, jié yú quē pén; zhí zhě, shàng chū yè, guàn quē pén, chū tài yáng zhī qián, xún ěr hòu, shàng é jiǎo, jiāo diān shàng, xià zǒu hàn, shàng jié yú qiú; zhī zhě, jié yú mù zì, wéi wài wéi. qí bìng xiǎo zhǐ cì zhǐ zhī zhuǎn jīn, yǐn xī wài zhuǎn jīn, xī bù kě qū shēn, guó jīn jí, qián yǐn bì, hòu yǐn kāo, jí shàng chéng miǎo jì, xié tòng, shàng yǐn quē pén, yīng rǔ, jǐng wéi jīn jí, cóng zuǒ zhī yòu, yòu mù bù kāi, shàng guò yòu jiǎo, bìng qiāo mài ér xíng, zuǒ luò yú yòu, gù shāng zuǒ jiǎo, yòu zú bù yòng, mìng yuē wéi jīn xiāng jiāo. zhì zài fán zhēn jié cì, yǐ zhī wéi shù, yǐ tòng wéi shū, míng yuē mèng chūn bì yě.
The sinews of foot shaoyang begin at the fourth toe, knot at the outer ankle, ascend along the outer side of the shin and knot at the outer side of the knee. A branch separates from the outer shin bone and runs up to the thigh; the front part knots above the crouching rabbit, the back part knots at the sacrum. The straight branch rides up over the hollow below the lateral ribs, runs up the front of the axilla, ties at the breast and nipple and knots at the supraclavicular fossa. The straight branch emerges from the axilla, pierces the supraclavicular fossa, comes out in front of taiyang, follows behind the ear, ascends to the corner of the forehead and crosses at the vertex, then runs down the chin and knots above at the cheekbone. A branch knots at the canthus and forms the outer stay. Its diseases: the fourth toe pulls and cramps, the outer knee cramps, the knee cannot bend or stretch, the popliteal sinews tighten, the front pulls the thigh, the back pulls the sacrum, and it rides up over the hollow of the lateral ribs so that the ribs hurt; it pulls upward at the supraclavicular fossa and the breast, the stay of the neck tightens, and the trouble passes from left to right so that the right eye cannot open. It crosses the right corner of the forehead and runs with the qiao vessels; the left is bound to the right, and so when the left corner is injured the right foot is useless. This is called the crossing of the stays. Treat with heated needle and swift piercing, taking recovery as the measure and the painful spot as the point. It is called the first-spring bi.
「維筋」本篇2見,皆在足少陽之筋一節:先言「頸維筋急」,後言「命曰維筋相交」。

Compounds built on this term

維筋相交
wéi jīn xiāng jiāo
the crossing of the stay sinews
病名
頸維
jǐng wéi
the neck stays
頸維筋急

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe stay sinewsthe text's own image
Literalbinding sinewsexact, and it blurs with 筋
Clinicalthe cervical sinew chainclear, and it is modern

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-24

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Reading path

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