Bodily pain · ti tong

Also rendered: Generalised pain (Clinical) · Body pain (Literal)

Reviewed · 2026-10-28

At a glance

Pinyin: tǐ tòng
Simplified: 体痛
Literal: 體 tǐ is the whole body, not one limb; 痛 tòng is pain. The phrase says the pain is everywhere at once, which is what cold does when it binds the exterior: the sinews and flesh are contracted and every part complains.
Shuowen: **《說文》：「體，總十二屬也。」謂首、身、手、足之屬合一而名體；「痛，病也。」** **底本一見**（5-03），而此一見即傷寒之定義。**體痛與身疼之别**：體痛者通身皆痛，身疼者或偏着一處；本書卷四濕病作「一身盡疼」，卷五傷寒作「體痛」，用字各隨其文，義則相通。**體痛在傷寒為必具之證**，與惡寒、嘔逆、脉緊並列，四者合而傷寒之名立。

In brief

Pain throughout the body, the sign of cold binding the exterior. It stands in the one sentence that defines cold damage, beside aversion to cold, retching and a tight pulse in both positions. The book’s other word for generalised pain, 一身盡疼, belongs to dampness in chapter four; the two are the same kind of complaint under different names, and the chapter’s usage, not a rule, decides which is written.

Senses in the classical corpus

One of the four that name cold damage 體痛嘔逆

惡寒、體痛、嘔逆、脉緊四者並見，則名曰傷寒；體痛者，寒邪束表，通身筋脉拘急而痛

Aversion to cold, pain throughout the body, retching and a tight pulse in both positions: with these four the disease is named cold damage. The pain is cold binding the exterior, so that every sinew draws and aches.

太陽病，或已發熱，或未發熱，必惡寒，體痛嘔逆，脉陰陽俱緊者，名曰傷寒 — 傷寒論·辨太陽病脉證并治上第五

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

傷寒論·辨太陽病脉證并治上第五 Read in context →

太陽病，或已發熱，或未發熱，必惡寒，體痛嘔逆，脉陰陽俱緊者，名曰傷寒。太阳病，或已发热，或未发热，必恶寒，体痛呕逆，脉阴阳俱紧者，名曰伤寒。

tài yáng bìng huò yǐ fā rè huò wèi fā rè bì wù hán tǐ tòng ǒu nì mài yīn yáng jù jǐn zhě míng yuē shāng hán

In taiyang disease, whether fever has appeared or not, there is certain aversion to cold, bodily pain, vomiting with counterflow, and both the yin and yang pulses are tight: this is called cold damage.

**「體痛」五篇共1見**（經文，不含成注），本文引第5篇第03段。

Compounds built on this term

體痛嘔逆

tǐ tòng ǒu nì

bodily pain with retching

辨太陽病脉證并治上第五

身重而疼痛

shēn zhòng ér téng tòng

the body heavy and aching

辨痓濕暍脉證第四

一身盡疼

yī shēn jìn téng

the whole body aching

辨痓濕暍脉證第四

How it has been translated

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

This site	bodily pain	keeps the whole body in the word
Literal	body pain	exact, and could be read as one place
Clinical	generalised myalgia	clear, and modern in register

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-28

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