黄帝问曰。愿闻刺浅深之分。（齐者。所以一之也。言刺有浅深一定之分。无使其太过不及。）岐伯对曰。刺骨者无
伤筋。刺筋者无伤肉。刺肉者无伤脉。刺脉者无伤皮。刺皮者无伤肉。刺肉者无伤筋。刺筋者无伤骨。（前四句言宜深者
勿浅。后三句言宜浅者勿深。所谓各至其理。无过其道。）帝曰。余未知其所谓。愿闻其解。岐伯曰。刺骨无伤筋者。
针至筋而去。不及骨也。刺筋无伤肉者。至肉而去。不及筋也。刺肉无伤脉者。至脉而去。不及肉也。刺脉无伤皮者。
至皮而去。不及脉也。（此申明刺宜深者。勿浅而去也。刺骨无伤筋者。言其病在骨。刺当及骨。若针至筋而去。不及于
骨。则反伤筋之气。而骨病不除。是刺骨而反伤其筋矣。盖皮肉筋骨。各有所主之气。故必当至其处。而候其主病之气
焉。卢良侯曰。脉在肉中。肉有溪谷。脉有脉道。理路各别者也。所谓至脉而去。不及肉者。谓刺在皮肤络脉之间。
不及里之筋骨。非针从脉而再入于肉也。是以略去刺脉无伤肉句者。使后学之意会也。）所谓刺皮无伤肉者。病在皮中。
针入皮中。无伤肉也。刺肉无伤筋者。过肉中筋也。刺筋无伤骨者。过筋中骨也。此之谓反也。（此言无过其道也。病在
皮。针入皮中以候皮气。不至于肉。则不伤其肉矣。如病在肉。针过肉而中筋。则伤其筋矣。此谓刺之反也。卢良侯曰。
皮肉筋骨。是属一道。而各有浅深之分。络脉经脉。另属一道。而亦有浅深之分。）
黄帝问道：我希望了解针刺深浅的区分。（“齐”字，是用来统一标准的。意思是针刺有浅深一定的界限，不要使其太过或不及。）岐伯回答说：刺骨的时候不要伤及筋，刺筋的时候不要伤及肉，刺肉的时候不要伤及脉，刺脉的时候不要伤及皮。刺皮的时候不要伤及肉，刺肉的时候不要伤及筋，刺筋的时候不要伤及骨。（前四句是说应当深刺的不要浅刺，后三句是说应当浅刺的不要深刺。这就是所说的各到达其应有的层次，不要超过那个限度。）黄帝说：我不明白您所说的意思，希望听听您的解释。岐伯说：所谓“刺骨无伤筋”，是指针到了筋就停止，没有达到骨。所谓“刺筋无伤肉”，是指针到了肉就停止，没有达到筋。所谓“刺肉无伤脉”，是指针到了脉就停止，没有达到肉。所谓“刺脉无伤皮”，是指针到了皮就停止，没有达到脉。（这是进一步阐明应当深刺的，不要浅刺就离开。所谓“刺骨无伤筋”，是说病在骨，针刺应当达到骨，如果针到了筋就停止，没有达到骨，反而伤了筋的气，而骨的病不能消除，这就是刺骨反而伤了筋。大概皮、肉、筋、骨，各自有主管的气，所以必须到达相应的部位，以候察主管该病的气。卢良侯说：脉在肉中，肉有溪谷（肌肉间隙），脉有脉道，纹理路径各不相同。所谓“至脉而去，不及肉”，是说针刺在皮肤络脉之间，没有达到里面的筋骨，并不是针从脉再进入肉中。因此省略了“刺脉无伤肉”这一句，让后学者自己去领会。）所谓“刺皮无伤肉”，是说病在皮中，针只入皮中，不伤及肉。所谓“刺肉无伤筋”，是指针超过了肉中到达了筋。所谓“刺筋无伤骨”，是指针超过了筋中到达了骨。这就叫做反了。（这是说不超过那个限度。病在皮，针入皮中以候察皮气，不到达肉，就不伤肉了。如果病在肉，针经过肉而中于筋，就会伤筋。这叫做针刺的反常。卢良侯说：皮、肉、筋、骨，属于一道，但各有浅深之分；络脉、经脉，另属一道，也各有浅深之分。）
Huangdi asked, saying: I wish to hear about the distinction in the depth of acupuncture. ("Qi" refers to unifying the standard. It means that acupuncture has fixed depths and shallowness; one should avoid excessive or insufficient depth.) Qibo replied, saying: When penetrating the bone, do not injure the tendons; when penetrating the tendons, do not injure the flesh; when penetrating the flesh, do not injure the vessels; when penetrating the vessels, do not injure the skin. When penetrating the skin, do not injure the flesh; when penetrating the flesh, do not injure the tendons; when penetrating the tendons, do not injure the bone. (The first four sentences indicate that what should be deep should not be shallow; the last three sentences indicate that what should be shallow should not be deep. This is referred to as reaching each respective principle without exceeding its proper path.) Huangdi said: I do not understand what you mean. I wish to hear your explanation. Qibo said: "Penetrating the bone without injuring the tendons" means the needle reaches the tendons and stops, failing to reach the bone. "Penetrating the tendons without injuring the flesh" means the needle reaches the flesh and stops, failing to reach the tendons. "Penetrating the flesh without injuring the vessels" means the needle reaches the vessels and stops, failing to reach the flesh. "Penetrating the vessels without injuring the skin" means the needle reaches the skin and stops, failing to reach the vessels. (This clarifies that for conditions requiring deep penetration, one must not withdraw superficially. "Penetrating the bone without injuring the tendons" implies that if the disease is in the bone, the needle should reach the bone. If the needle stops at the tendons and fails to reach the bone, it will contrary-wise injure the Qi of the tendons, and the bone disease will not be eliminated. Thus, penetrating the bone inadvertently injures the tendons. Generally, the skin, flesh, tendons, and bone each have their governing Qi; therefore, one must arrive at the specific location to await the Qi governing the disease. Lu Lianghou stated: The vessels lie within the flesh, and the flesh contains Xi Gu (valleys between muscles), while the vessels have their own pathways; their structural paths are distinct. Therefore, "reaching the vessels and stopping, failing to reach the flesh" refers to needling between the skin and collateral vessels, failing to reach the deeper tendons and bones, rather than the needle entering the flesh again from the vessels. Hence, the phrase "penetrating the vessels without injuring the flesh" was omitted to allow later learners to comprehend the intent through inference.) "Penetrating the skin without injuring the flesh" means the disease is in the skin, and the needle enters only the skin, causing no injury to the flesh. "Penetrating the flesh without injuring the tendons" means the needle passes through the flesh and strikes the tendons. "Penetrating the tendons without injuring the bone" means the needle passes through the tendons and strikes the bone. This is called a reversal. (This indicates not exceeding the proper limit. If the disease is in the skin, the needle enters the skin to await the skin's Qi; if it does not reach the flesh, it does not injure the flesh. However, if the disease is in the flesh and the needle passes through the flesh to strike the tendons, it will injure the tendons. This is termed an abnormality in needling. Lu Lianghou stated: Skin, flesh, tendons, and bone belong to one category but have different depths; collateral vessels and main vessels belong to another category and also have different depths.)