濁陰简体浊阴

zhuó yīn

Turbid yin · zhuo yin

Also rendered: The turbid yin (this site; kept as two words so that it stays visibly parallel with the clear yang) · Zhuo yin (transliteration; used when the four clauses are quoted whole)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-11

At a glance

Pinyin: zhuó yīn
Simplified: 浊阴
Literal: 濁 zhuó — muddy, turbid, what will not run clear (《說文》: 濁，水。出齊郡厲嬀山：a river name, borrowed for muddiness); 陰 yīn — yin, the heavy and sinking half. Where the clear yang is refined and rises, the turbid yin is the gross remainder and sinks. Suwen 5 gives it the exact mirror of every clause it gives the clear yang: it becomes earth, it leaves by the lower orifices, it walks the five viscera, it goes home to the six palaces, and at the last it returns to earth.
Shuowen: **「濁陰」本篇5見**；**「濁」讀 zhuó，本篇8見**；**「陰」讀 yīn，本篇48見**；**《說文》：濁，水。出齊郡厲嬀山；陰，闇也**；**本篇以濁陰與清陽四句對舉，清升濁降之義盡在其中**

In brief

The heavy, turbid half of qi, the half that sinks. Suwen 5 uses it as the exact mirror of 清陽: as the clear makes heaven, the turbid makes earth; as the clear leaves by the upper orifices, the turbid leaves by the lower; as the clear opens the interstices and fills the four limbs, the turbid walks the viscera and goes home to the palaces. The word is not a synonym for evil here — in this chapter it is what remains after the clear part has been taken up, and its whole business is to descend. The chapter’s pathology follows from the direction: 清氣在下，則生飱泄；濁氣在上，則生䐜脹 — the disorder is put as a reversal of the two directions.

Senses in the classical corpus

The graphs 濁陰

濁者重濁，陰者沉下，合為重濁之氣

濁陰爲地 — Suwen 5

Where it goes first 濁陰出下竅

濁陰之氣出於下竅

濁陰出下竅 — Suwen 5

Where it walks 濁陰走五藏

濁陰內走於五藏

濁陰走五藏 — Suwen 5

Where it returns 濁陰歸六府

濁陰外歸於六府

濁陰歸六府 — Suwen 5

Where it ends 濁陰歸地

濁陰下歸於地

濁陰歸地 — Suwen 5

What it is set against 清陽

清陽上天、出上竅、發腠理、實四支

清陽上天 — Suwen 5

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·陰陽應象大論 Suwen 5 · 陰陽應象大論 Read in context →

故清陽爲天，濁陰爲地。地氣上爲雲，天氣下爲雨，雨出地氣，雲出天氣。故清陽出上竅，濁陰出下竅。清陽發腠理，濁陰走五藏；清陽實四支，濁陰歸六府。故清阳为天，浊阴为地。地气上为云，天气下为雨，雨出地气，云出天气。故清阳出上窍，浊阴出下窍。清阳发腠理，浊阴走五藏；清阳实四支，浊阴归六府。

gù qīng yáng wéi tiān, zhuó yīn wéi dì. dì qì shàng wéi yún, tiān qì xià wéi yǔ, yǔ chū dì qì, yún chū tiān qì. gù qīng yáng chū shàng qiào, zhuó yīn chū xià qiào. qīng yáng fā còu lǐ, zhuó yīn zǒu wǔ zàng; qīng yáng shí sì zhī, zhuó yīn guī liù fǔ.

Thus clear yang is heaven and turbid yin is earth. Earth qi rising becomes cloud; heaven qi descending becomes rain. Rain issues from earth qi, cloud from heaven qi. Therefore clear yang exits by the upper orifices, turbid yin by the lower orifices. Clear yang spreads through the interstices, turbid yin travels to the five viscera; clear yang fills the four limbs, turbid yin returns to the six bowels.

**「濁陰」本篇5見**；**「清陽」本篇5見，見本站新目**；**「濁氣」本篇1見，見本站第四三八條**；**「五藏」本篇6見，見本站第二二九條**

Compounds built on this term

濁陰爲地

zhuó yīn wéi dì

the turbid yin becomes earth

本篇1見

濁陰出下竅

zhuó yīn chū xià qiào

the turbid yin leaves by the lower orifices

本篇1見

濁陰走五藏

zhuó yīn zǒu wǔ zàng

the turbid yin walks the five viscera

本篇1見

濁陰歸六府

zhuó yīn guī liù fǔ

the turbid yin goes home to the six palaces

本篇1見

How it has been translated

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

This site	Turbid yin · zhuo yin	the mirror of 清陽, and the pair is kept symmetrical because the chapter never uses one without the other
Literal	turbid yin	plain and exact; reads as a term, not a description
Expanded	the yin that is turbid	gives the sense in full at the cost of the symmetry

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-11

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