Muddled · kui kui

Also rendered: Muddled (This site) · Confused and disordered (Literal) · Clouded consciousness (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin: kuì kuì
Simplified: 愦愦
Literal: 憒 kuì is disorder in the heart — 《說文》 gives it simply as 亂, confusion; doubled, 憒憒 describes a mind that cannot hold a thought steady, not unconsciousness but a clouded, obstructed wakefulness. It is the state in which a patient is still able to speak, and speaks wrongly.
Shuowen: **《說文》：「憒，亂也。」** 重言「憒憒」，狀心神昏亂而不甚劇；與「昏不知人」有別，與「鄭聲」相近而不同：鄭聲言其聲，憒憒言其心。**六至十篇一見**，在第八篇行543。**與「怵惕」「懊憹」同段**：一因誤汗，一因燒鍼，一因誤下，三候各隨所誤而生。

In brief

A clouded mind — the heart confused but not yet darkened. In the chapter it arises from a specific error: a yang brightness patient with floating, tight pulse, dry throat, bitter taste, full abdomen and panting is sweated, the sweat dries him further, and the heart grows muddled and then raves. The sequence is the point. Muddling comes before raving, as confusion comes before speech that has lost all contact with the world; and in the same paragraph a cautery needle produces 怵惕, a purge produces 懊憹, each symptom the signature of one mistaken treatment. 憒憒 names the mind’s state; 鄭聲 names the voice that state produces.

Senses in the classical corpus

誤汗致憒憒心憒憒

脉浮緊、咽燥口苦、腹滿而喘，本屬陽明裏熱；發汗則津液愈傷，燥熱上擾，故心憒憒而反讝語

Floating tight pulse, dry throat, bitter taste, full abdomen and panting already mean heat within. To sweat him dries the fluids further; the dry heat rises and harasses the heart, so the mind grows muddled and he raves instead.

若發汗，則燥，心憒憒，反讝語，若加燒鍼，必怵惕煩燥不得眠。 — 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.

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1 passages

辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →

陽明病，脉浮而緊，咽燥口苦，腹滿而喘，發熱汗出，不惡寒，反惡熱，身重。若發汗，則燥，心憒憒，反讝語，若加燒鍼，必怵惕煩燥不得眠。若下之，則胃中空虚，客氣動隔，心中懊憹，舌上胎者，梔子豉湯主之。阳明病，脉浮而紧，咽燥口苦，腹满而喘，发热汗出，不恶寒，反恶热，身重。若发汗，则燥，心愦愦，反讝语，若加烧针，必怵惕烦燥不得眠。若下之，则胃中空虚，客气动隔，心中懊𢙐，舌上胎者，栀子豉汤主之。

yáng míng bìng mài fú ér jǐn yàn zào kǒu kǔ fù mǎn ér chuǎn fā rè hàn chū bù wù hán fǎn wù rè shēn zhòng ruò fā hàn zé zào xīn kuì kuì fǎn zhān yǔ ruò jiā shāo zhēn bì chù tì fán zào bù dé mián ruò xià zhī zé wèi zhōng kōng xū kè qì dòng gé xīn zhōng ào náo shé shàng tāi zhě zhī zǐ shì tāng zhǔ zhī

In yangming disease with a floating, tense pulse, dry throat, bitter mouth, full abdomen, panting, fever, sweat, no aversion to cold but aversion to heat, and a heavy body: sweating brings dryness and a confused heart with delirium; adding burning needles brings fearful restlessness, irritation, and sleeplessness. Purging empties the stomach, and guest qi stirs the diaphragm, with a troubled heart; if the tongue has a coating, Gardenia and Fermented Soy Decoction governs it.

憒憒在讝語之先，是昏亂之初；同一段中汗、鍼、下三誤，各生一候。

Compounds built on this term

憒憒

kuì kuì

muddled

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

怵惕

chù tì

frightened and restless

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

懊憹

ào náo

restless and annoyed

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

讝語

zhān yǔ

raving

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 site	muddled	short, and keeps the reduplication's vagueness
Literal	confused, confused	exact, but reads as a repetition
Clinical	clouded consciousness	clearer, suggests a worse state than the text

Entry status

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2026-10-31

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