寒中

hán zhōng

Cold within · han zhong

Also rendered: Cold within (this site; literal from the two graphs, and it keeps 中 as a place rather than an event) · Cold in the middle burner (the fuller phrasing, which says where the middle is and adds a term the chapter does not use)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-05

At a glance

Pinyin: hán zhōng
Simplified: 寒中
Literal: 寒 hán — cold; 中 zhōng — within, in the middle. Cold within. The chapter names it once, in the third line of the six that open it: 太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中. 太陰 is the spleen, the spleen governs the flesh, and the spleen sits in the middle — so a surplus of 太陰, which is dampness winning, gives cold in the flesh and cold in exactly that place. The reading of 中 is worth stating, because this chapter uses the same graph with the other reading thirty-four paragraphs later: 中心、中肝、中肺、中腎、中脾, where 中 is zhòng, to be struck. Cold within is zhōng; to be struck is zhòng.
Shuowen: **「寒」讀 hán，本篇2見**；**「中」讀 zhōng，内也、中也；本篇「中」9見而二讀：****「寒中」之「中」讀 zhōng，中傷之「中」讀 zhòng**；**「中」讀 zhòng 者本篇1見之屬：中心、中肝、中肺、中腎、中脾，皆刺傷之義**；**「寒中」本篇1見，在「太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中」一句**；**太陰為脾，脾主肌肉而位乎中焦，故太陰有餘則濕勝而肉痺寒中**；**「肉痺」讀 ròu bì，本篇1見；「痺」讀 bì，本篇13見**；**「脾痺」讀 pí bì，本篇1見，太陰不足之病**；**本篇又有「寒慄」1見，讀 hán lì，秋刺筋骨之變，與「寒中」之寒同字而異用**；**第十六段「冬者蓋藏，血氣在中」之「中」亦讀 zhōng**

In brief

Cold within — 寒 hán, cold; 中 zhōng, within, in the middle — and this chapter names it once: 太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中. 太陰 is the spleen; the spleen governs the flesh and holds the middle; and a surplus of it means dampness winning, which is why the disease it gives is cold in the flesh and cold in the centre at once. The graph 中 is read zhōng here — within, not struck — and the chapter itself supplies the contrast: thirty-four paragraphs on, in the list of what happens when the needle goes into a depot, the same graph is read zhòng, to be struck — 中心、中肝、中肺、中腎、中脾. One graph, two readings, and the chapter uses both. The chapter also has 寒 in a second compound, 寒慄 hán lì, shivering, which is what puncturing the sinews and bones in autumn does; that is cold felt, not cold located.

Senses in the classical corpus

The graphs 寒中

寒者，寒氣也；中者，内也、中焦也；寒氣在内謂之寒中

太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中。 — Suwen 64

Why the spleen's surplus gives it 太陰有餘

太陰為脾，主肌肉而位乎中焦；有餘則濕勝，故肉痺而寒中

太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中。 — Suwen 64

The reading of 中中，zhōng

此讀 zhōng，内也；與下文「中心」「中肝」之讀 zhòng 者別

太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中。 — Suwen 64

The other reading, later in the chapter 中，zhòng

本篇第三十七段「中心」「中肝」「中肺」「中腎」「中脾」之「中」讀 zhòng，中傷也

刺五藏，中心，一日死，其動爲噫；中肝，五日死 — Suwen 64

The same graph, the other reading, in the middle of the chapter 在中

「冬者蓋藏，血氣在中」之「中」亦讀 zhōng，與「寒中」同讀

冬者蓋藏，血氣在中，内著骨髓，通於五藏。 — Suwen 64

Cold elsewhere in the chapter 寒慄

本篇又有「寒慄」1見，讀 hán lì，秋刺筋骨之變，與「寒中」同字而異用

秋刺筋骨，血氣内散，令人寒慄； — Suwen 64

Occurrences in the classics

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

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3 passages

Suwen 64 Suwen 64 · 四時刺逆從論 Read in context →

太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中。太阴有余，病肉痹寒中。

Tài yīn yǒu yú, bìng ròu bì hán zhōng.

When greater yin is in surplus the disease is flesh obstruction with cold in the centre.

**「寒中」本篇1見，在「太陰有餘，病肉痺寒中」一句**；**「寒」讀 hán，本篇2見**；**「中」讀 zhōng，内也、中也；本篇「中」9見而二讀**；**讀 zhòng 者見於第三十七段：中心、中肝、中肺、中腎、中脾，皆刺傷之義**；**「冬者蓋藏，血氣在中」之「中」亦讀 zhōng**；**太陰為脾，脾主肌肉而位乎中焦，故有餘則濕勝而肉痺寒中**；**「肉痺」讀 ròu bì，本篇1見；「脾痺」讀 pí bì，本篇1見**；**本篇又有「寒慄」1見，讀 hán lì，與「寒中」同字而異用**

素問·氣交變大論 Suwen 69 · 氣交變大論 Read in context →

歲土不及，風乃大行，化氣不令，草木茂榮，飄揚而甚，秀而不實，上應歲星。民病飱泄霍亂，體重腹痛，筋骨繇復，肌肉瞤酸，善怒，藏氣舉事，蟄蟲早附，咸病寒中，上應歲星、鎮星。岁土不及，风乃大行，化气不令，草木茂荣，飘扬而甚，秀而不实，上应岁星。民病飧泄霍乱，体重腹痛，筋骨繇复，肌肉瞤酸，善怒，藏气举事，蛰虫早附，咸病寒中，上应岁星、镇星。

Suì tǔ bù jí, fēng nǎi dà xíng, huà qì bù lìng, cǎo mù mào róng, piāo yáng ér shèn, xiù ér bù shí, shàng yìng suì xīng. Mín bìng sūn xiè huò luàn, tǐ zhòng fù tòng, jīn gǔ yáo fù, jī ròu shùn suān, shàn nù, zàng qì jǔ shì, zhé chóng zǎo fù, xián bìng hán zhōng, shàng yìng suì xīng, zhèn xīng.

In a year of earth falling short, wind then moves greatly, the qi of transformation issues no command, and though plants and trees grow lush they are tossed about and flower without setting fruit; it answers above to Jupiter. The people are ill with gruel diarrhoea and sudden turmoil, a heavy body and pain in the abdomen, sinews and bones that shake and return, flesh that twitches and is sore, and quickness to anger; the qi of storage takes up its work, the hibernating creatures attach themselves early, and all are ill with cold in the centre; it answers above to Jupiter and Saturn.

「藏氣舉事，蟄蟲早附，咸病寒中，上應歲星、鎮星」——**「寒中」本篇2見：此「咸病寒中」一見、「寒中腸鳴」一見**；**寒中者，寒氣在於内；本篇二見皆土氣不及、藏氣舉事之候**；**「中」此讀 zhōng；本篇「中」11見而二讀，惟「上下中寒」讀 zhòng**

素問·金匱真言論 Suwen 4 · 金匱真言論 Read in context →

故春善病鼽衄，仲夏善病胸脅，長夏善病洞泄寒中，秋善病風瘧，冬善病痺厥。故春善病鼽衄，仲夏善病胸胁，长夏善病洞泄寒中，秋善病风疟，冬善病痹厥。

gù chūn shàn bìng qiú nǜ, zhòng xià shàn bìng xiōng xié, cháng xià shàn bìng dòng xiè hán zhōng, qiū shàn bìng fēng nüè, dōng shàn bìng bì jué.

Thus in spring one is prone to snivelling and nosebleed; in midsummer to disease of the chest and flanks; in late summer to pouring diarrhoea with cold within; in autumn to wind malaria; in winter to impediment inversion.

「長夏善病洞泄寒中」——洞泄為飱之屬，寒中言其中寒；**「寒中」本篇2見**

Compounds built on this term

肉痺

ròu bì

flesh impediment

本篇1見，與「寒中」同在太陰有餘之變；「痺」讀 bì

脾痺

pí bì

spleen impediment

本篇1見，太陰不足之病，與有餘之「肉痺寒中」對舉

寒慄

hán lì

shivering

本篇1見，秋刺筋骨之變；「慄」讀 lì，底本从「慄」，不从「栗」

太陰

tài yīn

the greater yin

本篇1見；本篇六經各有有餘、不足、滑、濇四變

How it has been translated

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

This site	cold within	literal from the graphs — 寒 cold, 中 within — and kept short, because the chapter is locating the cold rather than describing a feeling of it: the spleen governs the flesh and sits in the middle, and that is where its surplus puts the cold
Later usage	cold in the middle burner	the phrasing commentary prefers; right about where, and it supplies 中焦, which this chapter does not say
Clinical	interior cold	the modern term, which is the right half of the picture and loses the other half — that the cold arrived with a surplus of the greater yin and with dampness

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-05

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