mài zhàng
Also rendered: Vessel distension (keeps the site) · Distension of the channels (anatomical, and 脉 is wider than 經) · Vascular swelling (modern, and it suggests inflammation)
Reviewed · 2026-10-25
At a glance
Distension of the vessels themselves, and the first of the two forms from which the chapter derives all the rest. The distinction is made by where the defensive qi has gone: when the nutrient qi keeps to the vessels and the defensive runs counter to them, the vessels distend; when the defensive runs alongside the vessels in the spaces between, the skin distends. The pair is given before any organ distension is listed, the argument being that every named form is an instance of one of the two. Both are treated at Sanli and drained quickly, whether the case looks vacuous or replete.
Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.
Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.
| This site | vessel distension | where the qi has gone |
| Literal | mai distension | exact, and it needs the graph |
| Clinical | distension within the vessels | clear, and it is a description |
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