Classica Sinica Medica

怒狂

nù kuáng

Rage and mania

Also rendered: Rage and mania (this site; 怒 and 狂 read as one state) · Anger and madness (where the two are kept apart as temper and loss of reason)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
nù kuáng
Simplified
怒狂
Literal
怒狂 nù kuáng — how the chapter's fifth case presents itself: a person ill with anger and wildness. The question asked is not how to calm him but where the illness is born, and the answer is yang. The name given to it once the mechanism is clear is 陽厥.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：怒，恚也，从心奴聲；狂，狾犬也，从犬㞷聲。「怒」讀 nù、「狂」讀 kuáng、**本篇各一見**；**「怒狂」連言惟此一見，為陽厥外發之狀**。

In brief

Anger and wildness as an illness rather than a temperament. Chapter 46 places it in yang: yang qi abruptly checked and unable to resolve leaves a person quick to rage, and the sign is a pulse at the neck that should be still and is not. The cure is to stop feeding yang — withhold food, and give iron filings to send the qi down.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The two graphs 怒、狂
怒者恚，狂者狾，皆陽氣之發越
有病怒狂者 — Suwen 46
2
The question asked 此病安生
不問何以治，先問何以生
此病安生 — Suwen 46
3
The answer 生於陽也
怒狂之生，本於陽氣
生於陽也 — Suwen 46
4
How yang produces it 暴折而難決
陽氣受挫而不得決，故善怒
因暴折而難決 — Suwen 46
5
Its name 陽厥
既得其機，乃名之曰陽厥
病名曰陽厥 — Suwen 46
6
Its treatment 奪食與生鐵洛
奪食以絕陽之資，鐵洛以下其氣
奪其食即已 — Suwen 46

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 46 Suwen 46 · 病能論 Read in context →
帝曰：有病怒狂者，此病安生？歧伯曰：生於陽也。 帝曰：有病怒狂者，此病安生？歧伯曰：生于阳也。
Dì yuē: yǒu bìng nù kuáng zhě, cǐ bìng ān shēng? Qí bó yuē: shēng yú yáng yě.
The Emperor asks: here is one ill with rage and mania — where is this disease born? Qi Bo says: it is born in yang.
**「有病怒狂者，此病安生」——**「怒」讀 nù、**本篇惟此一見**；「狂」讀 kuáng、**本篇惟此一見**；**問語先問「安生」而不問「何以治」，下文乃言「生於陽也」**；**陽氣暴折之「折」讀 zhé**。

Compounds built on this term

怒狂
nù kuáng
rage and mania
本篇第五問所舉之病
陽厥
yáng jué
yang inversion
怒狂之病名
善怒
shàn nù
prone to anger
陽厥之發
生鐵洛
shēng tiě luò
iron filings
怒狂之藥，下氣最疾

How it has been translated

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

This siterage and mania怒狂 kept as a pair, since the chapter treats them as one illness with one origin
Unschuldrage and maniahe keeps the pair
Wisemananger and mania怒狂 in his system

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-30

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Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

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