Classica Sinica Medica

小大

xiǎo dà

The lesser and the greater · xiao da

Also rendered: The lesser and the greater (this site; literal from the two graphs, and it keeps the chapter's own shorthand rather than naming the two passages for it) · Urine and stool (what the shorthand means; plain, and it loses the fact that the chapter never says either word)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-05

At a glance

Pinyin
xiǎo dà
Simplified
小大
Literal
小 xiǎo — small, the lesser; 大 dà — great, the greater. In this chapter the two graphs are a standing shorthand for the two passages, urine and stool, and the chapter uses it three times in two sentences. The first is the rule: 小大不利治其標，小大利治其本 — when the passages do not flow, treat the branch; when they flow, treat the root. It is the same reasoning the chapter has just used for fullness in the centre, and the same conclusion: an outlet that is shut has to be opened before anything else is worth doing. The second and third occurrences restate it from the other end, 先小大不利而後生病者，治其本, and that sentence has been argued over since 張介賓, because on its face it says the opposite of the first. He reads it as a restatement rather than a contradiction, and the base text is left as it stands.
Shuowen
**「小」讀 xiǎo，本篇8見；「大」讀 dà，本篇5見**；**「小大」本篇3見：「小大不利治其標」「小大利治其本」「先小大不利而後生病者」**；**「小大不利」本篇2見**；**小大者，大小便也：小謂溲，大謂便**；**《說文》：小，物之微也；大，天大、地大、人亦大，故大象人形**；**本篇言小便者4見，言小便閉者4見**；**「閉」讀 bì，本篇5見；「塞」讀 sè，「閉塞不通」本篇1見**；**張介賓以此句與上文「小大不利治其標」互明，非相反之文**

In brief

The lesser and the greater — 小 xiǎo, small; 大 dà, great — which in this chapter means urine and stool. The chapter sets the rule in four words: 小大不利治其標，小大利治其本. When the passages do not flow, the branch is treated; when they flow, the root is. It is the same reasoning it has just applied to fullness in the centre, and it is the second of only two situations in the chapter that reverse the order of treatment. Later the same rule is written from the other end — 先小大不利而後生病者，治其本 — and read plainly it contradicts the first sentence; 張介賓 takes the two as mutually explanatory rather than opposed, and the base text is printed as it stands. The catalogue that follows is full of the same thing in other words: 小便閉 four times, 閉塞不通 once, 腹脹 three times.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 小大
小者，溲也；大者，便也
小大不利治其標，小大利治其本。 — Suwen 65
2
The rule it carries 不利治其標
二便不通則治其標，通利則治其本
小大不利治其標，小大利治其本。 — Suwen 65
3
Read from the other end 治其本
先小大不利而後生病者治其本，張介賓以為與上文互明，非相反
先小大不利而後生病者，治其本。 — Suwen 65
4
How it stands beside fullness in the centre 治其標
本篇治標者五見：中滿二見，小大不利居其間
小大不利治其標，小大利治其本。 — Suwen 65
5
The same thing in the catalogue 小便閉
病傳之目言小便閉者四見，言閉塞不通者一見
五日閉塞不通，身痛體重 — Suwen 65
6
The order the chapter lays down 必且調之，乃治其他病
先調其一，而後乃治其他病
必且調之，乃治其他病。 — Suwen 65

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 65 Suwen 65 · 標本病傳論 Read in context →
謹察間甚，以意調之，閒者并行，甚者獨行。先小大不利而後生病者，治其本。 谨察间甚，以意调之，间者并行，甚者独行。先小大不利而后生病者，治其本。
Jǐn chá jiàn shèn, yǐ yì tiáo zhī, jiàn zhě bìng xíng, shèn zhě dú xíng. Xiān xiǎo dà bù lì ér hòu shēng bìng zhě, zhì qí běn.
Examine carefully the lightness and the severity, and regulate it by judgement: in the light cases the two proceed side by side, in the severe ones a single course is taken alone. When blockage of the lesser and the greater comes first and illness arises afterwards, treat the root.
**「小大」本篇3見：「小大不利治其標」「小大利治其本」「先小大不利而後生病者」**；**「小大不利」本篇2見**；**「小」讀 xiǎo，本篇8見；「大」讀 dà，本篇5見**；**小大者，大小便也：小謂溲，大謂便**；**本篇「治其標」5見，「治其本」12見**；**張介賓以「先小大不利而後生病者治其本」與上文「小大不利治其標」互明，非相反之文，此从底本之文**；**本篇又言「小便閉」4見、「閉塞不通」1見，皆二便不通之屬**

Compounds built on this term

小大不利
xiǎo dà bù lì
the lesser and the greater do not flow freely
本篇2見，治其標
小便閉
xiǎo biàn bì
stoppage of urine
本篇4見，見於脾、腎、胃、膀胱四病之目
閉塞不通
bì sè bù tōng
blockage and no passage
本篇1見，心病之目；「塞」讀 sè
腹脹
fù zhàng
distension of the abdomen
本篇3見；「脹」讀 zhàng，本篇7見

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe lesser and the greaterliteral from the graphs — 小 small, 大 great — and kept rather than replaced, because the chapter writes the shorthand and never spells it out, and that silence is part of the text
Later usagexiao da, small and greathow the phrase travels in English writing on Chinese medicine, transliterated with a gloss; faithful, and it leaves the reader to learn that it means the two passages
Clinicalurine and stoolwhat the shorthand stands for; indispensable for reading the rule, and it stops being a translation of the graphs at all

Entry status

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2026-10-05

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