Classica Sinica Medica

膿胕 简体 脓胕

nóng fù

Pus and rot · nong fu

Also rendered: Pus and swelling (follows the commonest reading of 胕, and it is wrong here) · Pus and putrefaction (exact, and it is the reading chapter 42 establishes)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-18

At a glance

Pinyin
nóng fù
Simplified
脓胕
Literal
膿 nóng — pus; 胕 fù — here not the swelling of 胕腫 but 腐, rotten. Pus and putrefaction: what a sinking pulse means once yin and yang are both cut off.
Shuowen
《說文》：膿，腫血也，從血，農聲，謂血肉腐化而成者。「胕」不見於《說文》，從肉、付聲；第四十二篇「有榮氣熱胕」，楊上善謂「扶付反，義當腐」，本篇「沈爲膿胕」之胕同讀 fù，不作浮腫之 fū（第三十三篇「面胕痝然」、第六十一篇「胕腫」）。本篇「膿胕」1見，即「沈爲膿胕」；「膿」字1見、「胕」字1見。

In brief

The sinking half of the chapter’s last pathological pair: 浮爲血瘕，沈爲膿胕. The graph 胕 is the difficulty. In chapter 33 (面胕痝然) and chapter 61 (胕腫) it is read fū and means swelling; in chapter 42 (有榮氣熱胕) Yang Shangshan glosses it 義當腐, and it is read fù meaning rotten. This chapter’s 膿胕 belongs with the second: pus and putrefaction, not pus and swelling. The collation note records the reading, and the entry records why the two senses must not be merged — the same graph carries a swelling in one place and a rot in another, and only the context decides. With 血瘕 it forms a closed pair: what floats is in the blood, what sinks is in the flesh and has already gone over into pus.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The name 沈爲膿胕
脉沉者病在裏而為膿腐
A sunken pulse means disease within, forming pus and putrefaction.
沈爲膿胕 — 素問·陰陽類論
2
胕 read fù 胕
通「腐」，與第四十二篇「熱胕」同讀
It stands for fu, 'rot', and is read as in 're fu' in chapter 42.
沈爲膿胕 — 素問·陰陽類論
3
Not the swelling 不作胕腫之胕
第三十三篇「面胕痝然」、第六十一篇「胕腫」之胕讀 fū，義為浮腫，與此異
The fu of 'mian fu mang ran' in chapter 33 and of 'fu zhong' in chapter 61 is read fū and means swelling; it differs from this.
— — 素問·陰陽類論
4
Why 膿 膿
血肉腐敗而化為膿
Flesh and blood rot and turn to pus.
沈爲膿胕 — 素問·陰陽類論
5
Why sinking 沈
沉者在裏、在陰，故以沉定之
What is sunken lies within and belongs to yin; hence the sunken pulse settles the matter.
沈爲膿胕 — 素問·陰陽類論
6
Its counterpart 浮爲血瘕
一浮一沉，一血一膿
One floating, one sunken; one blood, one pus.
浮爲血瘕 — 素問·陰陽類論

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·陰陽類論 Read in context →
二陽三陰，至陰皆在，陰不過陽，陽氣不能止陰，陰陽並絶，浮爲血瘕，沈爲膿胕。 二阳三阴，至阴皆在，阴不过阳，阳气不能止阴，阴阳并绝，浮为血瘕，沉为脓胕。
Èr yáng sān yīn, zhì yīn jiē zài, yīn bù guò yáng, yáng qì bù néng zhǐ yīn, yīn yáng bìng jué, fú wéi xuè jiǎ, chén wéi nóng fù.
Two yang and three yin: the utmost yin is all present; yin does not pass beyond yang, and yang qi cannot stay yin; yin and yang are cut off together. Floating, it is a blood mass; sinking, it is pus and putrefaction.
「膿胕」本篇1見，即「沈爲膿胕」；「膿」字1見、「胕」字1見。胕在此讀 fù，通「腐」，與第四十二篇「有榮氣熱胕」同讀；第三十三篇「面胕痝然」、第六十一篇「胕腫」則讀 fū 而訓浮腫，同形二讀，各隨其文，不可混并。

Compounds built on this term

沈爲膿胕
chén wéi nóng fù
sinking, it is pus and rot
本篇一見，陰陽並絕之候
浮爲血瘕
fú wéi xuè jiǎ
floating, it is a blood mass
與膿胕對舉
有榮氣熱胕
yǒu róng qì rè fù
the constructive qi is hot and rotten
第四十二篇，胕亦讀 fù
胕腫
fū zhǒng
swelling
第六十一篇，胕讀 fū，與此異讀

How it has been translated

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

This sitepus and rotpus and putrefaction, the sinking counterpart of the blood mass
Literalpus-fukeeps the graph, and the reader cannot choose the sense
Clinicalsuppurationclear, and it loses the pair with 血瘕

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-18

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Reading path

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