Classica Sinica Medica

三藏

sān zàng

The three viscera · san zang

Also rendered: The three viscera (this site; the spleen, liver and kidney as this chapter counts them) · The three stores (literal, and it obscures that 藏 here is the viscera themselves)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-17

At a glance

Pinyin
sān zàng
Simplified
三藏
Literal
三 sān — three; 藏 zàng — the storing viscera. In this chapter the three are the spleen, the liver and the kidney: earth, wood and water, all of them below the diaphragm and near enough to one another that their pulses are confused.
Shuowen
《說文》：藏，匿也，藏讀 zàng 則為五藏之藏。「三藏」本篇3見：「若夫三藏」「復問所以三藏者」「若言三藏俱行」；王冰注「三藏，土木水參居」，謂脾肝腎同居鬲下。「藏」字本篇11見。

In brief

The three viscera are the spleen, liver and kidney, and the chapter names them 土木水參居, earth and wood and water dwelling together — a child knows that much, Huang Di says, because they sit side by side below the diaphragm and their pulses therefore come out looking like one another. That is exactly why they matter: 脾虚浮似肺，腎小浮似脾，肝急沈散似腎, and a physician who does not match kinds will read one for another. The chapter’s correction comes at the end of the case: 一人之氣，病在一藏也，若言三藏俱行，不在法也 — one man’s qi falls ill in one viscus, and to say all three act together is not within the rule.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The three named 三藏
脾、肝、腎
The spleen, liver and kidney.
若夫三藏 — 素問·示從容論
2
Where they sit 土木水參居
三藏同居鬲下，故曰參居
The three viscera all dwell below the diaphragm, hence 'thrice dwelling'.
土木水參居 — 素問·示從容論
3
What a child knows 此童子之所知
部位相近，人所易知
Their positions are close together, something even a child can know.
此童子之所知 — 素問·示從容論
4
The question about them 復問所以三藏者
借三藏以比類
The three viscera are used as a case for comparison.
復問所以三藏者 — 素問·示從容論
5
The error of adding them 若言三藏俱行，不在法也
病在一藏，不當三藏俱言
If the disease lies in one viscus, one should not speak of all three at once.
若言三藏俱行 — 素問·示從容論

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·示從容論 Read in context →
若夫三藏，土木水參居，此童子之所知，問之何也？ 若夫三藏，土木水参居，此童子之所知，问之何也？
Ruò fú sān zàng, tǔ mù shuǐ cān jū, cǐ tóng zǐ zhī suǒ zhī, wèn zhī hé yě?
As for those three viscera, earth and wood and water dwelling together — a child knows that much. Why ask it?
「三藏」本篇3見，此為首見；「土木水參居」一句，王冰以脾肝腎同居鬲下釋之；此段下接雷公「頭痛筋攣骨重」之問，三藏之辨由此展開
靈樞·九鍼論 Read in context →
黃帝曰：願聞身形應九野奈何？歧伯曰：請言身形之應九野也。左足應立春，其日戊寅己丑；左脅應春分，其日乙夘；左毛應立夏，其日戊辰己巳；膺喉首頭應夏至，其日丙午；右手應立秋，其日戊申己未；右脅應秋分，其日辛酉；右足應立冬，其日戊戌己亥；腰尻下竅應冬至，其日壬子。六府膈下三藏應中州，其大禁，大禁太一所在之日，及諸戊巳。凡此九者，善𠉀八正所在之處，所主左右上下。身體有癰腫者，欲治之，無以其所直之日潰治之，是謂天忌日也。 黄帝曰：愿闻身形应九野奈何？歧伯曰：请言身形之应九野也。左足应立春，其日戊寅己丑；左胁应春分，其日乙卯；左毛应立夏，其日戊辰己巳；膺喉首头应夏至，其日丙午；右手应立秋，其日戊申己未；右胁应秋分，其日辛酉；右足应立冬，其日戊戌己亥；腰尻下窍应冬至，其日壬子。六府膈下三藏应中州，其大禁，大禁太一所在之日，及诸戊巳。凡此九者，善𠉀八正所在之处，所主左右上下。身体有痈肿者，欲治之，无以其所直之日溃治之，是谓天忌日也。
Huáng Dì yuē: yuàn wén shēn xíng yīng jiǔ yě nài hé? Qí Bó yuē: qǐng yán shēn xíng zhī yīng jiǔ yě yě. zuǒ zú yīng lì chūn, qí rì wù yín jǐ chǒu; zuǒ xié yīng chūn fēn, qí rì yǐ mǎo; zuǒ máo yīng lì xià, qí rì wù chén jǐ sì; yīng hóu shǒu tóu yīng xià zhì, qí rì bǐng wǔ; yòu shǒu yīng lì qiū, qí rì wù shēn jǐ wèi; yòu xié yīng qiū fēn, qí rì xīn yǒu; yòu zú yīng lì dōng, qí rì wù xū jǐ hài; yāo kāo xià qiào yīng dōng zhì, qí rì rén zǐ. liù fǔ gé xià sān zàng yīng zhōng zhōu, qí dà jìn, dà jìn tài yī suǒ zài zhī rì, jí zhū wù sì. fán cǐ jiǔ zhě, shàn hòu bā zhèng suǒ zài zhī chù, suǒ zhǔ zuǒ yòu shàng xià. shēn tǐ yǒu yōng zhǒng zhě, yù zhì zhī, wú yǐ qí suǒ zhí zhī rì kuì zhì zhī, shì wèi tiān jì rì yě.
The Emperor said: I wish to hear how the body answers to the nine wilds. Qi Bo said: Let me speak of the body’s answering to the nine wilds. The left foot answers to the beginning of spring, its days wu-yin and ji-chou; the left flank to the spring equinox, its day yi-mao; the left shoulder to the beginning of summer, its days wu-chen and ji-si; the chest, throat, head and nape to the summer solstice, its day bing-wu; the right hand to the beginning of autumn, its days wu-shen and ji-wei; the right flank to the autumn equinox, its day xin-you; the right foot to the beginning of winter, its days wu-xu and ji-hai; the loins, rump and lower orifice to the winter solstice, its day ren-zi. The six bowels and the three viscera below the diaphragm answer to the central province; the great prohibition is the day where the Great One is, and all the wu and ji days. Of these nine, one must be good at waiting on where the eight uprights are, and what they govern left and right, above and below. When the body has abscess and swelling and one wishes to treat it, do not lance it on its corresponding day: this is called a day of heaven’s taboo.
「三藏」九鍼論第17段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

五藏
wǔ zàng
the five viscera
另有專目；本篇四見
真藏
zhēn zàng
the true viscus
另有專目；本篇一見
參居
cān jū
dwelling together
本篇一見
脾精
pí jīng
the essence of the spleen
本篇一見，另立一目

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe three viscerathe spleen, liver and kidney, whose pulses are told apart by the Congrong
Literalthree storesexact as a gloss, and it reads as three granaries
Descriptivethe spleen, liver and kidneyclear, and it loses the numeral the chapter builds on

Entry status

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2026-10-17

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