熇熇

hè hè

Scorching · he he

Also rendered: blazing (Closer to the literal fire, but loses the clinical sense of a fever at its height) · burning hot (Plain English, and says too little about the state of the disease)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: hè hè
Simplified: 熇熇
Literal: 熇 hè, blazing — the graph is 火 plus 高; doubled, as the base text does throughout this passage. It is the first of the three things a practitioner must not needle: a scorching heat, a turbulent pulse, a streaming sweat. The three are one rule seen three ways — at the height of the fit the disease is in counterflow, and needling then does harm.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：熇，火熱也，从火，高聲——**从火从高，火勢高張之貌**。「熇」讀 hè，本篇二見——**「熇熇」二字本篇立為專名**，讀 hè hè，與下文「渾渾」「漉漉」為三疊字之列。「經」讀 jīng，本篇 4 見；「言」讀 yán，本篇 5 見；「無」讀 wú，本篇 5 見，不作「无」（「无」）；「剌」讀 cì，本篇 4 見——**底本从束从刂，不作「刺」（「刺」）**，**本站已立專條，讀 cì**；「之」讀 zhī；「熱」讀 rè，本篇 22 見；「脉」讀 mài；「汗」讀 hàn；「故」讀 gù；「爲」讀 wéi，本篇 4 見，讀 wéi；「其」讀 qí；「病」讀 bìng；「逆」讀 nì，本篇 4 見；「未」讀 wèi，本篇 5 見；「可」讀 kě；「治」讀 zhì，本篇 2 見；「也」讀 yě。**「無剌」二字，是《素問》最嚴厲之禁戒**：熱盛、脉亂、汗多，三者皆不可犯。**與第三十三篇「病熱者，寒之乃已」之治熱者異**——**彼言其常，此言其變**：常熱可寒之，瘧熱則不可剌之，**以瘧之熱為陰陽交爭之熱，非外來之熱**。**三「無剌」之下即承「故爲其病逆，未可治也」，是禁而後釋之之筆法**。

In brief

Blazing heat, the first of the three states in which needling is forbidden. The rule the chapter draws from it is the one it is famous for: at the very height of a fit, any attack ruins; follow the decline and the undertaking prospers. Treating malaria is a matter of timing, not of force.

Senses in the classical corpus

The word 熇熇

从火从高，火勢高張

無剌熇熇之熱 — Suwen 35

The prohibition 無剌

熱盛之時不可剌

經言無剌熇熇之熱 — Suwen 35

The reason given 故爲其病逆

病勢上逆，剌之則傷

故爲其病逆，未可治也 — Suwen 35

The general rule 方其盛時必毁

盛時攻之必毀其正

方其盛時必毁 — Suwen 35

The other half of the rule 因其衰也，事必大昌

乘其衰而治之則大昌

因其衰也，事必大昌 — Suwen 35

When it may be treated 陰未并陽，陽未并陰

未並之時乃可調

夫瘧之未發也 — Suwen 35

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

2 passages

素問·瘧論 Suwen 35 · 瘧論 Read in context →

歧伯曰：經言無剌熇熇之熱，無剌渾渾之脉，無剌漉漉之汗，故爲其病逆，未可治也。歧伯曰：经言无刺熇熇之热，无刺浑浑之脉，无刺漉漉之汗，故为其病逆，未可治也。

Qí bó yuē: jīng yán wú cì hè hè zhī rè, wú cì hún hún zhī mài, wú cì lù lù zhī hàn, gù wéi qí bìng nì, wèi kě zhì yě.

Qi Bo says: the classic says — do not needle a scorching heat, do not needle a turbulent pulse, do not needle a streaming sweat. For its disease is in counterflow, and it cannot yet be treated.

第七答之綱，治瘧之第一義。「經」讀 jīng；「言」讀 yán；「無」讀 wú；「剌」讀 cì，不作「刺」（「刺」）；「熇」讀 hè；「之」讀 zhī；「熱」讀 rè；「渾」讀 hún，本篇 2 見，不作「浑」（「浑」）；「脉」讀 mài；「漉」讀 lù，本篇 2 見；「汗」讀 hàn；「故」讀 gù；「爲」讀 wéi；「其」讀 qí；「病」讀 bìng；「逆」讀 nì；「未」讀 wèi；「可」讀 kě；「治」讀 zhì；「也」讀 yě。**「無剌」三句，分屬證、診、候**：熇熇之熱（證）、渾渾之脉（診）、漉漉之汗（候），**三者合之，則為「病逆未可治」之全證**。**「熇熇」「渾渾」「漉漉」三疊字，本篇各二見**，**是《素問》狀病勢最有聲色之一組**，與第三十三篇「員員」「澹澹」「淅然」之狀證者同一筆法。**「剌」字本篇四見，皆不作「刺」**：本站已立「剌」專條（讀 cì），**底本作剌，讀如刺**，與第三十三篇「五十九剌」同例。**「故爲其病逆，未可治也」九字，是三禁之總釋**：**禁而後釋，是《素問》設禁之常法**。

素問·剌瘧 Suwen 36 · 剌瘧 Read in context →

足太陽之瘧，令人腰痛頭重，寒從背起，先寒後熱，熇熇暍暍然，熱止汗出難已，剌郄中出血。足太阳之疟，令人腰痛头重，寒从背起，先寒后热，熇熇暍暍然，热止汗出难已，刺郄中出血。

Zú tài yáng zhī nüè, lìng rén yāo tòng tóu zhòng, hán cóng bèi qǐ, xiān hán hòu rè, hè hè yē yē rán, rè zhǐ hàn chū nán yǐ, cì xī zhōng chū xuè.

Malaria of the foot greater yang makes the lower back ache and the head feel heavy; the cold rises from the back, cold first and heat after, blazing and sweltering. When the heat stops, sweat breaks out and the illness is hard to bring to an end. Needle the cleft centre and let blood.

「熇熇」之目於本站已立（id 1060），所收一條為第三十五篇「無剌熇熇之熱」——**為不可剌之三禁之一**。**本篇開篇「足太陽之瘧…先寒後熱，熇熇暍暍然，熱止汗出難已」是本站「熇熇」之第二見，而用為狀熱之詞，非為禁戒**。「足」讀 zú；「太」讀 tài；「陽」讀 yáng；「之」讀 zhī；「瘧」讀 nüè；「令」讀 lìng；「人」讀 rén；「腰」讀 yāo；「痛」讀 tòng；「頭」讀 tóu；「重」讀 zhòng；「寒」讀 hán；「從」讀 cóng；「背」讀 bèi；「起」讀 qǐ；「先」讀 xiān；「後」讀 hòu；「熱」讀 rè；「熇」讀 hè，讀 hè，本篇 2 見，**皆在此一句之重言**，與第三十五篇「熇熇」同字；「暍」讀 yē，讀 yē，本篇 2 見，**說文「傷暑也」**，**本篇惟此一處作重言「暍暍」**；「然」讀 rán；「止」讀 zhǐ；「汗」讀 hàn；「出」讀 chū；「難」讀 nán；「已」讀 yǐ；「剌」讀 cì；「郄」讀 xī；「中」讀 zhōng；「血」讀 xuè。**「熇熇暍暍然」五字，是本篇狀熱之最重者**：熇者火之熾，暍者暑之傷，**一熱一暑，並以重言狀之**——**而下文篇末之温瘧，正以暑為因（第三十五篇「因遇大暑」）**，**是本篇之首尾，以「暍」之一字暗相呼應**。**與第三十五篇「無剌熇熇之熱」相發**：**第三十五篇以熇熇為不可剌之時，本篇則以熇熇暍暍然狀太陽瘧之熱**——**正以其熱之熇熇，故不可於其時而剌之**：**狀其熱與禁其時，同是一「熇熇」而二篇各用其一**。**「熱止汗出難已」六字，與「熇熇暍暍然」為一盛一衰**：**熱雖止、汗雖出，而病猶難已**——**太陽之瘧之所以為十二瘧之首而獨言其難已者，正在此**。

Compounds built on this term

熇熇

hè hè

scorching

本篇二見，三疊字之一

渾渾

hún hún

turbulent

狀脉之亂，三疊字之二

漉漉

lù lù

streaming

狀汗之不止，三疊字之三

無剌

wú cì

do not needle

「剌」為底本之字，讀 cì，本篇四見

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	scorching heat	They keep 熇 as a heat word and let the prohibition carry the clinical weight.
Unschuld	glowing heat	Unschuld leans on the fire radical, which is what the graph shows.
This site	scorching	We keep one word for the doubled graph, as we do for 渾渾 and 漉漉, so the three prohibitions read as a set — which is how the chapter gives them: three states, one rule, one sentence of explanation.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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