大丁

dà dīng

The great boil · da ding

Also rendered: The great boil (this site; 丁 is read as 疔, so the word is a sore with a root rather than a heavenly stem) · Da ding (transliteration; used when the row of yang-qi injuries is quoted together)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-10

At a glance

Pinyin: dà dīng
Simplified: 大丁
Literal: 大 dà — great; 丁 dīng — the fourth of the heavenly stems, and here read as 疔, the sore with a deep root (《說文》: 丁，夏時萬物皆丁實：the time when things are full and hard). Suwen 3 says that a diet of fine grain and rich meat is enough to raise a great boil, and that the body takes it up as readily as an empty vessel takes what is poured in.
Shuowen: **「大」讀 dà，本篇7見**；**「丁」讀 dīng，本篇1見**；**「大丁」本篇1見**；**丁通疔，讀 dīng，惡瘡之根深者**；**《說文》：丁，夏時萬物皆丁實**

In brief

The boil that comes of eating too well. Suwen 3 lists it among the things that happen when the yang qi is opened and then met by something: sweat that meets dampness gives pimples and prickly heat, and rich food gives a great boil — and one takes it as though holding an empty vessel, which is to say that nothing in the body resists it. 丁 is read as 疔, the sore whose root goes deep.

Senses in the classical corpus

The graphs 大丁

丁讀為疔，惡瘡之根深者

高梁之變，足生大丁 — Suwen 3

What brings it 高梁之變

高，膏也；梁，粱也；厚味生熱

高梁之變，足生大丁 — Suwen 3

How easily 受如持虚

如持空器以受物，言其易得

足生大丁，受如持虚 — Suwen 3

Its company 汗出見濕，乃生痤疿

同類並見，皆由腠理開而邪入

汗出見濕，乃生痤疿 — Suwen 3

What follows the same cause 勞汗當風，寒薄爲齇

勞汗受風寒則為齇，鬱則為痤

勞汗當風，寒薄爲齇，鬱乃痤 — Suwen 3

The force of 足足生大丁

足，足以也；言厚味足以生之

高梁之變，足生大丁 — Suwen 3

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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1 passages

素問·生氣通天論 Suwen 3 · 生氣通天論 Read in context →

汗出偏沮，使人偏枯。汗出見濕，乃生痤疿。高梁之變，足生大丁，受如持虚。勞汗當風，寒薄爲齇，鬱乃痤。汗出偏沮，使人偏枯。汗出见湿，乃生痤疿。高梁之变，足生大丁，受如持虚。劳汗当风，寒薄为齇，郁乃痤。

Hàn chū piān jǔ, shǐ rén piān kū. hàn chū jiàn shī, nǎi shēng cuó fèi. gāo liáng zhī biàn, zú shēng dà dīng, shòu rú chí xū. láo hàn dāng fēng, hán bó wéi zhā, yù nǎi cuó.

If one half of the body sweats and the other does not, the person wastes away on that side. Sweating that meets dampness brings pimples and prickly heat. Fine grain and rich meat suffice to raise a great boil on the foot; one takes it up as though holding an empty vessel. When the sweat of toil meets wind and cold presses in, there is redness of the nose; if it builds up, there are pimples.

**「大丁」本篇1見**；**「丁」讀 dīng，通疔**；**「高梁」之梁讀 liáng，通粱，見本站第一一六八條**

Compounds built on this term

高梁之變

gāo liáng zhī biàn

the change brought by rich grain

本篇1見；本站第一一六八條

受如持虚

shòu rú chí xū

received as though holding an empty vessel

本篇1見

痤疿

cuó fèi

pimples and prickly heat

本篇1見；本站第二二三條

鬱乃痤

yù nǎi cuó

stagnation makes pimples

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 site	The great boil · da ding	keeps 丁 as the sore: the chapter is listing what the flesh grows when it is fed too well
Literal	the great ding	useless in English, where the stem carries no such sense
Descriptive	a large carbuncle	the clinical word; the right size and the wrong register

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-10

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