藏結简体藏结

zàng jié

Visceral knot · zang jie

Also rendered: Visceral knot (Literal) · Zang knot (Pinyin) · Yin-side knotted chest (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin: zàng jié
Simplified: 藏结
Literal: 藏 zàng is the viscera — the storehouse organs, as against the 府 which pass things through; the graph is also read cáng, 'to store'. 結 jié is to tie, to knot, a binding that will not come loose. The compound therefore names a knot lodged in the yin viscera, and it is built to stand opposite 結胸, the knot in the chest: one in the yang, one in the yin; one that may be attacked, one that may not.
Shuowen: **《說文》：「藏，匿也。」「結，締也。」** 藏本匿藏之義，醫書借爲五藏字，讀 zàng。成無己注：「結胸者，邪結在胸；藏結者，邪結在藏。二者皆下後邪氣乘虚入裏所致。」**六至十篇共五見**，俱在第七篇（行306 三見、308 一見、414 一見）。**與「結胸」對舉**：結胸寸脉浮、關脉沉，按之痛；藏結亦寸脉浮，而關脉小細沉緊，飲食如故、時時下利、舌上白胎滑。一實一虛，一可下一下、一不可攻，界在陽證之有無。

In brief

A knot in the viscera, the yin counterpart of 結胸. It arises, as 成無己 says, when the exterior is mistakenly purged and the pathogen takes advantage of the vacuity to enter the interior; knotted in the yang it makes a knotted chest, knotted in the yin it makes a visceral knot. Its signs keep the chest knot’s floating pulse at the inch, but the bar position is small, fine, deep and tight; the patient still eats and drinks, has looseness from time to time, and a white slippery coating on the tongue. Because there is no yang sign — no alternating chill and fever, and the patient lies quiet instead of restless — it must not be attacked. When the mass runs from the hypochondrium to the navel and drags at the genitals, the chapter calls it a fatal visceral knot.

Senses in the classical corpus

提綱脈證名曰藏結

如結胸之狀而飲食如故、時時下利；寸脉浮同乎結胸，關脉小細沉緊則異，舌上白胎滑者難治——陽證未現而陰結已成，故不以攻下爲治

The chapter's definition by contrast: it looks like a knotted chest, yet the patient still eats and drinks and has looseness from time to time. The inch pulse floats as in a chest knot, but the bar is small, fine, deep and tight; a white slippery coating makes it hard to treat. Yang signs are absent while the yin knot has already formed, so purging is not the way.

如結胸狀，飲食如故，時時下利，寸脉浮，關脉小細、沉、緊，名曰藏結。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

不可攻藏結無陽證

無陽證、不往來寒熱、其人反靜、舌上胎滑，四者俱屬陰象，故曰不可攻；攻之則陽氣隨盡

No yang sign, no alternating chill and fever, the patient quiet rather than restless, the tongue coated and slippery — four marks of yin. The chapter's verdict is that it must not be attacked, for an attack would carry the yang qi away with it.

藏結無陽證，不徃來寒熱，其人反靜，舌上胎滑者，不可攻也。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

死證藏結”死

脅下素有痞，連在臍傍，痛引少腹，入陰筋，是陰寒固結、由脅及腹下貫前陰，故直書曰死

A long-standing mass under the hypochondrium, joined to the navel, pain dragging at the lower abdomen and entering the genitals: yin cold has bound itself fast and runs from the flank down through the front yin. The chapter writes the single word, death.

病脅下素有痞，連在臍傍，痛引少腹，入陰筋者，此名“藏結”死。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

3 passages

辨太陽病脉證并治下第七·辨太陽病脉證并治下第七 Read in context →

問曰：病有結胸，有藏結，其狀何如？答曰：按之痛，寸脉浮，關脉沉，名曰結胸也。“何謂藏結？”答曰：如結胸狀，飲食如故，時時下利，寸脉浮，關脉小細、沉、緊，名曰藏結。舌上白胎滑者，難治。问曰：病有结胸，有藏结，其状何如？答曰：按之痛，寸脉浮，关脉沉，名曰结胸也。“何谓藏结？”答曰：如结胸状，饮食如故，时时下利，寸脉浮，关脉小细、沉、紧，名曰藏结。舌上白胎滑者，难治。

wèn yuē bìng yǒu jié xiōng yǒu zàng jié qí zhuàng hé rú dá yuē àn zhī tòng cùn mài fú guān mài chén míng yuē jié xiōng yě hé wèi zàng jié dá yuē rú jié xiōng zhuàng yǐn shí rú gù shí shí xià lì cùn mài fú guān mài xiǎo xì chén jǐn míng yuē zàng jié shé shàng bái tāi huá zhě nán zhì

A question: the disease has chest binding and visceral binding; what is each like? The answer: pain on pressure, a floating pulse at the inch and a deep pulse at the bar, is called chest binding. What is called visceral binding? The answer: like chest binding, with food and drink as usual, frequent diarrhoea, a floating pulse at the inch, and a small, fine, deep, tense pulse at the bar, is called visceral binding. When the tongue coating is white and slippery, it is hard to cure.

結胸、藏結同段並問，一浮一沉、一實一虛，全篇辨陰陽之界自此立。

辨太陽病脉證并治下第七·辨太陽病脉證并治下第七 Read in context →

藏結無陽證，不徃來寒熱，其人反靜，舌上胎滑者，不可攻也。藏结无阳证，不往来寒热，其人反静，舌上胎滑者，不可攻也。

zàng jié wú yáng zhèng bù wǎng lái hán rè qí rén fǎn jìng shé shàng tāi huá zhě bù kě gōng yě

Visceral binding has no yang signs: no alternating cold and heat, and the patient is instead quiet. When the tongue coating is slippery, it must not be attacked.

「無陽證」三字爲不可攻之據；反靜與煩躁對看，正是陰證之靜。

辨太陽病脉證并治下第七·辨太陽病脉證并治下第七 Read in context →

病脅下素有痞，連在臍傍，痛引少腹，入陰筋者，此名“藏結”死。病胁下素有痞，连在脐傍，痛引少腹，入阴筋者，此名“藏结”死。

bìng xié xià sù yǒu pǐ lián zài qí bàng tòng yǐn shào fù rù yīn jīn zhě cǐ míng zàng jié sǐ

When a mass has long been present in the flank, joined to the side of the navel, its pain drawing into the lower abdomen and into the genital sinews, this is called visceral binding and is fatal.

痞連臍傍、痛引少腹、入陰筋，陰結之下行者，故曰死。

Compounds built on this term

藏結

zàng jié

visceral knot

辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

結胸

jié xiōng

knotted chest

辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

藏結無陽證

zàng jié wú yáng zhèng

the visceral knot has no yang sign

辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

舌上白胎滑

shé shàng bái tāi huá

white slippery coating on the tongue

辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

How it has been translated

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

This site	visceral knot	keeps 藏 as the viscera and 結 as a knot
Literal	storehouse knot	exact, but 藏 reads oddly in English
Clinical	yin-side knotted chest	clear by contrast, but adds a word the text lacks

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-31

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