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浮脉惟从肉上行，如循榆荚似毛轻。三秋得令知无恙，久病逢之却可惊。
—— 濒湖脉学 · 浮脉 · 体状诗
The floating pulse travels upon the flesh, brushing the fingers like elm pods or down feathers. In the third month of autumn it is the seasonal ruler and presages health; but in a long-standing illness, its arrival is cause for alarm.
轻取即得，重按稍减而不空。脉位表浅，如木漂水面，举之有余，按之不足。
Obtained with light pressure at the skin surface; when pressed heavily it diminishes somewhat but is not empty. The pulse sits near the surface like wood floating on water—abundant when lifted, insufficient when pressed.
主表证，亦主虚阳外越。外感风寒风热初起，邪在肌表，正气抗邪于外，故脉浮。若久病见浮大无力，则为阳气浮越之危候。
Chiefly indicates exterior patterns; may also reflect deficient yang floating outward. In early wind-cold or wind-heat invasion, pathogen sits at the exterior and upright qi rises to resist it, hence the floating quality. Yet in chronic illness, a large floating pulse without strength signals yang qi deserting outward—a critical sign.
@misc{bencaodian-fu-mai,
author = {{Bencaodian Editorial}},
title = {Fú mài 浮脉 (Floating)},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Bencao Dian: A Bilingual Knowledge Graph of Traditional Chinese Medicine},
url = {https://bencaodian.org/en/pulses/fu-mai},
urldate = {2026-04-09},
note = {CC BY-SA 4.0}
}