鼻淵 简体 鼻渊

bí yuān

Deep-source nose · bi yuan

Also rendered: Deep-source nose (this site; 淵 rendered as source rather than abyss, since the discharge has an origin the chapter is tracing) · Nose pool (too literal; 淵 in a medical name means source, not standing water)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
bí yuān
Simplified
鼻渊
Literal
鼻淵 bí yuān — nose, and deep water. 淵 is a pool with no visible bottom, and the chapter uses it for a discharge with no visible end: turbid snivel running down without stopping. It is produced when the gallbladder shifts heat into the brain, and the pathway is worth noticing — the gallbladder channel runs to the head, and the chapter is tracing a route, not just listing symptoms. Of all the names coined in chapter 37 this is the one that survived: 鼻淵 is still the ordinary Chinese medical term for chronic sinusitis, two thousand years on. The chapter also records the step that follows if it is left: 傳爲衄衊瞑目, nosebleed, defiled blood, darkened sight.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:淵,回水也——**本義為回旋之水**,**引申為深、為源**;**「鼻淵」者,鼻中深處之病**。「鼻」讀 bí,本篇2見;「淵」讀 yuān,本篇2見,**不作「渊」(「渊」讀 yuān)**;「辛」讀 xīn;「頞」讀 è,**鼻梁也,本篇惟此一見**;「濁」讀 zhuó、「涕」讀 tì。

In brief

A discharge from the nose that does not stop; produced when the gallbladder shifts heat into the brain. Still the standard Chinese medical name for chronic sinusitis.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the graphs say 鼻淵
鼻,鼻也;淵,回水也,引申為深源
膽移熱於腦,則辛頞鼻淵 — Suwen 37
2
The chapter's own definition 鼻淵
濁涕下不止也
鼻淵者,濁涕下不止也 — Suwen 37
3
The route 鼻淵
膽脉上頭,熱循經而上入於腦
膽移熱於腦 — Suwen 37
4
The sore bridge 辛頞
頞者鼻梁,辛者辛酸
則辛頞鼻淵 — Suwen 37
5
What follows if it is left 鼻淵
傳爲衄衊瞑目
傳爲衄衊瞑目 — Suwen 37
6
The name outlives the theory 鼻淵
今之鼻竇炎仍用此名
鼻淵者,濁涕下不止也 — Suwen 37

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
Suwen 37 Suwen 37 · 氣厥論 Read in context →
膽移熱於腦,則辛頞鼻淵,鼻淵者,濁涕下不止也。 胆移热于脑,则辛頞鼻渊,鼻渊者,浊涕下不止也。
Dǎn yí rè yú nǎo, zé xīn è bí yuān, bí yuān zhě, zhuó tì xià bù zhǐ yě.
When the gallbladder shifts heat into the brain, the bridge of the nose is hot and sore and it becomes deep-source nose. Deep-source nose is turbid snivel running down without stopping.
**「膽移熱於腦,則辛頞鼻淵,鼻淵者,濁涕下不止也」二十字,是熱移十變之末變,亦為全篇唯一之自注句**。**本篇第二處文字裁定在此**——**底本此句作「膽,移熱於腦」,「膽」字下有一逗,介於主謂之間**,**與第三十四篇「中非:有寒氣也」之衍冒號同例**;**用戶裁定:刪去此逗,正文作「膽移熱於腦」,校勘記一筆**。**「鼻淵者,濁涕下不止也」九字是全篇唯一以「者…也」自釋其名者**——**本篇條列十五變而別無自注,惟此一見**;**與第三十六篇「舌下兩脉者,廉泉也」同例**。**「辛」「辛」讀 xīn者,辛酸痛楚也**;**「頞」「頞」讀 è,鼻梁也,本篇惟此一見**;**「淵」「淵」讀 yuān2見,不作「渊」**;**「濁」「濁」讀 zhuó,不作「浊」**;**「下」「下」讀 xià者,下流也**——**與上文「上爲口麋」之「上」字相對成文**。**「鼻淵」之名沿用至今,為本篇最長壽之病名**。
Suwen 74 Suwen 74 · 至真要大論 Read in context →
少陰之復,燠熱内作,煩躁鼽嚏,少腹絞痛,火見燔爇,嗌燥,分注時止,氣動於左,上行於右,欬皮膚痛,暴喑心痛,鬱冒不知人,乃洒淅惡寒,振慄譫妄,寒已而熱,渴而欲飲,少氣骨痿,隔腸不便,外爲浮腫,噦、噫,赤氣後化,流水不冰,熱氣大行,介蟲不復,病疿、胗、瘡瘍,癰疽、痤、痔,甚則入肺,欬而鼻淵,天府絶,死不治。 少阴之复,燠热内作,烦躁鼽嚏,少腹絞痛,火见燔爇,嗌燥,分注时止,气动于左,上行于右,咳皮肤痛,暴喑心痛,郁冒不知人,乃洒淅恶寒,振栗谵妄,寒已而热,渴而欲饮,少气骨痿,隔肠不便,外为浮肿,哕、噫,赤气后化,流水不冰,热气大行,介虫不复,病疿、胗、疮疡,痈疽、痤、痔,甚则入肺,咳而鼻渊,天府绝,死不治。
Shào yīn zhī fù, yù rè nèi zuò, fán zào qiú tì, shào fù jiǎo tòng, huǒ xiàn fán ruò, yì zào, fēn zhù shí zhǐ, qì dòng yú zuǒ, shàng xíng yú yòu, kài pí fū tòng, bào yīn xīn tòng, yù mào bù zhī rén, nǎi xiǎn xī wù hán, zhèn lì zhān wàng, hán yǐ ér rè, kě ér yù yǐn, shǎo qì gǔ wěi, gé cháng bù biàn, wài wéi fú zhǒng, yuě, ài, chì qì hòu huà, liú shuǐ bù bīng, rè qì dà xíng, jiè chóng bù fù, bìng fèi, zhěn, chuāng yáng, yōng jū, cuó, zhì, shèn zé rù fèi, kài ér bí yuān, tiān fǔ jué, sǐ bù zhì.
When lesser yin takes revenge, pent heat is generated within, with fretfulness and agitation, snivelling and sneezing, cramping pain of the lower belly, fire appearing and burning, a dry throat, and a pouring that stops and starts; qi moves on the left and goes up on the right; there is cough with pain of the skin, sudden loss of voice and pain of the heart, a clouded faintness in which a man does not know others, and then shivering aversion to cold, trembling and wild talk; when the cold is over heat comes, with thirst and a wish to drink, short qi and flaccid bones; the bowel is blocked and the stool does not pass, and outwardly there is swelling, retching and belching. The red qi transforms late, running water does not freeze, heat qi runs its course, and the shelled creatures do not breed again; there are prickly heat, rashes, sores, abscesses, boils, acne and piles, and in grave cases it enters the lung, with cough and a running nose. The tianfu pulse is extinguished — death, not to be treated.
**「鼻淵」本篇1見,止在此句**;**此段「欬而鼻淵,天府絶,死不治」,少陰之復之死證**

Compounds built on this term

辛頞
xīn è
a hot, sore bridge of the nose
本篇之語,「頞」為鼻梁,讀 è
濁涕下不止
zhuó tì xià bù zhǐ
turbid snivel running down without stopping
本篇自釋鼻淵之語,全篇唯一自注句
衄衊
nǜ miè
nosebleed and defiled blood
鼻淵不已之所傳,本篇篇末之語
腦
nǎo
the brain
本篇「膽移熱於腦」;《素問》「腦」字罕見

How it has been translated

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

This sitedeep-source nosethe name is still current in Chinese medicine, so the rendering is made to travel back to it
Unschulddeep source [nasal] congestionadds congestion, which the text does not mention
Wisemandeep source nasal congestionthe standard modern term

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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