Classica Sinica Medica

不更衣

bù gēng yī

No change of clothes · bu geng yi

Also rendered: No change of clothes (This site) · Has not retired (Literal euphemism) · No bowel movement (Clinical)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin
bù gēng yī
Simplified
不更衣
Literal
更 gēng is to change, to alter; 衣 yī is clothing. 更衣, 'to change one's clothes', was the polite phrase for retiring to the privy — the Han histories use it of an emperor rising from a feast. 不更衣 therefore says, without saying it, that the patient has not been to the stool: a euphemism worn smooth by use, and in these chapters a measured way of counting days of constipation.
Shuowen
**《說文》：「更，改也。」「衣，依也，上曰衣，下曰裳。」** 更衣爲如廁之婉辭，《史記·外戚世家》「是日，武帝起更衣」即其例。**六至十篇二見**，俱在第八篇（行467、592）。**與「内實」「大便難」連文**：不更衣言其日數，内實言其結，大便難言其出之不順，三語一意而各有所指。

In brief

A euphemism for not having moved the bowels, and in the yang brightness chapter a way of dating the constipation. It appears twice. In the first, the chapter explains how yang brightness is reached at all: sweating, purging or promoting urine drains the fluids, the stomach dries, and the disease turns inward — no change of clothes, repletion within, difficult stool, and that is called yang brightness. In the second, a taiyang patient whose pulse has slackened at the inch, floated at the bar and weakened at the cubit, with fever, sweating and no vomiting, may go ten days without a movement and suffer nothing: the stool is hard but there is no distress, and the rule is to give warm water in small sips rather than to purge. The same phrase thus covers both the repletion that must be attacked and the hardness that must be left alone.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
轉屬陽明之由 不更衣，内實，大便難者
汗、下、利小便三者亡津液，胃中乾燥，因而轉屬陽明；不更衣、内實、大便難三語，正是陽明之驗
Sweating, purging and promoting urine all drain the fluids; the stomach dries and the disease turns into yang brightness. No change of clothes, repletion within, difficult stool — these three are the proof of it.
太陽病，發汗，若下，若利小便，此亡津液，胃中乾燥，因轉屬陽明。不更衣，内實，大便難者，此名陽明也。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八
2
十日無所苦 不更衣十日，無所苦也
小便數則大便必鞕，然雖十日不更衣而腹無所苦，不可遽下；渴者少少與水，或宜五苓散
Frequent urination makes the stool hard, yet ten days without a movement and no distress in the abdomen is no warrant for a purge. If thirsty, give water in small sips; where the pattern calls for it, five-ingredient powder with poria.
小便數者，大便必鞕，不更衣十日，無所苦也。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
問曰：“何緣得陽明病？”答曰：“太陽病，發汗，若下，若利小便，此亡津液，胃中乾燥，因轉屬陽明。不更衣，内實，大便難者，此名陽明也。” 问曰：“何缘得阳明病？”答曰：“太阳病，发汗，若下，若利小便，此亡津液，胃中干燥，因转属阳明。不更衣，内实，大便难者，此名阳明也。”
wèn yuē hé yuán dé yáng míng bìng dá yuē tài yáng bìng fā hàn ruò xià ruò lì xiǎo biàn cǐ wáng jīn yè wèi zhōng gān zào yīn zhuǎn shǔ yáng míng bù gēng yī nèi shí dà biàn nán zhě cǐ míng yáng míng yě
A question: how does one contract yangming disease? The answer: in Taiyang disease, sweating, purging, or promoting urine drains the fluids, the stomach dries, and the disease turns to belong to yangming. Not changing clothes, internal excess, and difficult stool, this is called yangming.
陽明之來路，一語道盡：亡津液、胃中乾燥。不更衣三字，婉而可數。
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
太陽病，寸緩關浮尺弱，其人發熱汗出，復惡寒不嘔，但心下痞者，此以醫下之也。如其不下者，病人不惡寒而渴者，此轉屬陽明也。小便數者，大便必鞕，不更衣十日，無所苦也。渴欲飲水，少少與之，但以法救之，渴者宜五苓散。 太阳病，寸缓关浮尺弱，其人发热汗出，复恶寒不呕，但心下痞者，此以医下之也。如其不下者，病人不恶寒而渴者，此转属阳明也。小便数者，大便必硬，不更衣十日，无所苦也。渴欲饮水，少少与之，但以法救之，渴者宜五苓散。
tài yáng bìng cùn huǎn guān fú chǐ ruò qí rén fā rè hàn chū fù wù hán bù ǒu dàn xīn xià pǐ zhě cǐ yǐ yī xià zhī yě rú qí bù xià zhě bìng rén bù wù hán ér kě zhě cǐ zhuǎn shǔ yáng míng yě xiǎo biàn shuò zhě dà biàn bì yìng bù gēng yī shí rì wú suǒ kǔ yě kě yù yǐn shuǐ shāo shāo yǔ zhī dàn yǐ fǎ jiù zhī kě zhě yí wǔ líng sǎn
In Taiyang disease with a moderate pulse at the inch, floating at the bar, and weak at the cubit, fever, sweat, aversion to cold without vomiting, and fullness only below the heart, this is because the physician purged. If there was no purging, and the patient has no aversion to cold but thirst, the disease has turned to belong to yangming. With frequent urine the stool must be hard, and ten days without a movement may cause no distress. If there is thirst for water, give a little, and rescue by the proper method; for thirst, Five-Ingredient Powder with Poria is suitable.
十日不更衣而無所苦，是鞕而非實；此處最易誤下，故以「無所苦」三字止之。

Compounds built on this term

不更衣
bù gēng yī
no change of clothes
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
更衣
gēng yī
to change clothes, to retire
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
内實
nèi shí
repletion within
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
大便難
dà biàn nán
difficult stool
辨陽明病脉證并治第八

How it has been translated

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

This siteno change of clotheskeeps the euphemism the text keeps
Literalnot changing garmentsexact, opaque to a modern reader
Clinicalconstipated for ten daysclear, but flattens a deliberate indirection

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-31

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Reading path

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