Classica Sinica Medica

恚嗔

huì chēn

Resentment and anger · hui chen

Also rendered: Resentment and anger (this site; it keeps both graphs, because the chapter is naming a held grievance and its flare) · Hui chen (transliteration; used where the pair is being read with the other emotions of the 養生 chapters)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-08

At a glance

Pinyin
huì chēn
Simplified
恚嗔
Literal
恚 huì — resentment, a grievance held (《說文》: 恚，恨也); 嗔 chēn — anger, ire (通行本多作瞋). 恚嗔 is resentment and anger together, the held grievance and the flare of it. The chapter says the sage has no heart of it — and puts the denial between the appetites he measures and the anxious thought he does not have, so that what the sage lacks is named as precisely as what he does.
Shuowen
**「恚」讀 huì，本篇1見**；**「嗔」讀 chēn，本篇1見**；**「恚嗔」本篇1見**；**《說文》：恚，恨也**；**「嗔」通行本多作「瞋」，本篇從底本作嗔**

In brief

Resentment and anger: the pair the sage of Suwen 1 does not have. The chapter names it in the middle of a list of what he does and does not do — he measures his appetites among the customs of the age, has no heart of resentment or anger, does not seek to stand apart from the world, does not weary the body or burden the mind — and it is the only emotion named anywhere in the chapter’s closing ladder. Its absence is what makes the tranquillity that follows possible.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 恚嗔
恚者恨也，嗔者怒也
无恚嗔之心 — Suwen 1
2
Resentment 恚
怨之蓄於中者
无恚嗔之心 — Suwen 1
3
Anger 嗔
怒之發於外者，通行作瞋
无恚嗔之心 — Suwen 1
4
What the sage lacks 无恚嗔之心
聖人之心無有怨恨忿怒
无恚嗔之心 — Suwen 1
5
Beside the appetites 適嗜欲於世俗之間，无恚嗔之心
嗜欲有節，故無恚嗔
適嗜欲於世俗之間，无恚嗔之心 — Suwen 1
6
Before the tranquillity 以恬愉爲務
無恚嗔，故能恬愉
以恬愉爲務 — Suwen 1

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·上古天真論 Suwen 1 · 上古天真論 Read in context →
其次有聖人者，處天地之和，從八風之理，適嗜欲於世俗之間，无恚嗔之心，行不欲離於世，被服章舉不欲觀於俗，外不勞形於事，内无思想之患，以恬愉爲務，以自得爲功，形體不敝，精神不散，亦可以百數。 其次有圣人者，处天地之和，从八风之理，适嗜欲于世俗之间，无恚嗔之心，行不欲离于世，被服章举不欲观于俗，外不劳形于事，内无思想之患，以恬愉为务，以自得为功，形体不敝，精神不散，亦可以百数。
Qí cì yǒu shèng rén zhě, chǔ tiān dì zhī hé, cóng bā fēng zhī lǐ, shì shì yù yú shì sú zhī jiān, wú huì chēn zhī xīn, xíng bù yù lí yú shì, bèi fú zhāng jǔ bù yù guān yú sú, wài bù láo xíng yú shì, nèi wú sī xiǎng zhī huàn, yǐ tián yú wéi wù, yǐ zì dé wéi gōng, xíng tǐ bù bì, jīng shén bù sàn, yì kě yǐ bǎi shù.
Next there were the shengren · sages. They dwelt in the harmony of heaven and earth and followed the order of the eight winds; they measured their appetites among the customs of the age, and had no heart of resentment or anger. In their conduct they did not seek to stand apart from the world, and in their dress and bearing they did not seek to be stared at by the common. Outwardly they did not weary the body with affairs, and inwardly they had no affliction of anxious thought. They made tranquillity and ease their task and counted self-possession their achievement; the body was not worn out and the spirit was not scattered. These too could reach their hundred years.
**「恚嗔」本篇1見**；**「嗔」讀 chēn，通行本多作「瞋」，本篇從底本**；**「无恚嗔之心」作无，與篇中「無」字本篇二形並見**；**「適嗜欲於世俗之間」之適讀 shì**

Compounds built on this term

恬愉
tián yú
tranquil and pleased
本篇1見
嗜欲
shì yù
appetites
本篇2見
聖人
shèng rén
the sage
本篇2見
思想之患
sī xiǎng zhī huàn
the affliction of anxious thought
本篇1見

How it has been translated

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

This siteResentment and angerliteral to both graphs: 恚 is the grievance held, 嗔 the anger shown
Transliterationhui chenright about the referent, and it tells an English reader nothing
Descriptiveill willwhat it amounts to; it loses the two-stage movement the pair carries

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-08

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