Classica Sinica Medica

湯液 简体 汤液

tāng yè

Decoction

Also rendered: decoction (Standard pharmacological term) · medicinal broth (Keeps the grain-liquor sense of the Inner Canon) · soup (Too domestic; loses the medicinal use entirely)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
tāng yè
Simplified
汤液
Literal
湯 hot water, broth; 液 a liquid, a juice. In the Inner Canon the compound names a medicinal liquor made by boiling grain — the ancestor of the decoction, and in this chapter still a food rather than a drug.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：湯，熱水也；液，盡也（段注：引申為津液、汁液）。

In brief

The first resort of the physicians of middle antiquity: ten days of it, to drive out the illnesses of the eight winds and the five obstructions; and if ten days is not enough, herbs are added. The chapter grades eras by what they reach for — invocation in high antiquity, decoction in the middle, and in the late age both decoction and needle used too late. The Suwen has a whole chapter on the subject (湯液醪醴論), where the liquor is made from rice and fermented, and where the same pair 標本 appears.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
A grain liquor used as medicine 湯液
《湯液醪醴論》以稻米炊之、以稻薪炊之，為五穀之液
湯液十日 — Suwen 13
2
Ten days of it, first 湯液十日，以去八風五痺之病
王冰：「八風，謂八方之風；五痺，謂皮肉筋骨脈之痺也。」
湯液十日，以去八風五痺之病 — Suwen 13
3
Given too late, in the late age 湯液治其内
王冰：「言心意粗略，不精審也。」暮世之治病形已成而後用之
乃欲微鍼治其外，湯液治其内 — Suwen 13
4
Paired with the needle 微鍼治其外，湯液治其内
與第十二篇五方之法相發：藥治內、鍼治外
乃欲微鍼治其外，湯液治其内 — Suwen 13

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
素問·移精變氣論 Suwen 13 · 移精變氣論 Read in context →
中古之治病，至而治之。湯液十日，以去八風五痺之病。十日不已。治以草蘇草荄之枝。 中古之治病，至而治之。汤液十日，以去八风五痺之病。十日不已。治以草苏草荄之枝。
zhōng gǔ zhī zhì bìng, zhì ér zhì zhī. tāng yè shí rì, yǐ qù bā fēng wǔ bì zhī bìng. shí rì bù yǐ. zhì yǐ cǎo sū cǎo gāi zhī zhī.
In middle antiquity, when they treated illness they treated it as soon as it arrived: ten days of decoction, to drive out the illnesses of the eight winds and the five obstructions. If after ten days it has not stopped, one treats with the stems of herb leaves and herb roots.
王冰：「八風，謂八方之風。五痺，謂皮、肉、筋、骨、脈之痺也。」又：「草蘇，謂藥煎也；草荄，謂草根也；枝，謂莖也。」底本「十日不已」下作句號，諸本多作逗號連讀。
素問·湯液醪醴論 Suwen 14 · 湯液醪醴論 Read in context →
帝曰：上古聖人，作湯液醪醴，爲而不用，何也？歧伯曰：自古聖人之作湯液醪醴者，以爲備耳。夫上古作湯液，故爲而弗服也。中古之世，道德稍衰，邪氣時至，服之萬全。 帝曰：上古圣人，作汤液醪醴，为而不用，何也？岐伯曰：自古圣人之作汤液醪醴者，以为备耳。夫上古作汤液，故为而弗服也。中古之世，道德稍衰，邪气时至，服之万全。
dì yuē: shàng gǔ shèng rén, zuò tāng yè láo lǐ, wéi ér bù yòng, hé yě?qí bó yuē: zì gǔ shèng rén zhī zuò tāng yè láo lǐ zhě, yǐ wéi bèi ěr. fú shàng gǔ zuò tāng yè, gù wéi ér fú fú yě. zhōng gǔ zhī shì, dào dé shāo shuāi, xié qì shí zhì, fú zhī wàn quán.
The Emperor asks: the sages of high antiquity made decoctions and wines and then did not use them. Why? Qibo says: from of old the sages who made decoctions and wines made them simply as a provision. In high antiquity decoctions were made and therefore not taken. By middle antiquity the virtue of the age had somewhat declined and evil qi arrived from time to time, and taking them brought complete safety.
「湯液」於第十三篇為「湯液十日」之治，本篇則為篇題之半：「作湯液醪醴，為而不用」。王冰：「液，謂清液；醪醴，謂酒之屬也。」上古作而弗服，以其人恬淡、邪不能深入；中古道德稍衰，服之萬全；今世則必齊毒藥、鑱石鍼艾而後可。同一湯液，而世之用與不用異，此本篇之所以論也。
素問·玉版論要 Suwen 15 · 玉版論要 Read in context →
容色見上下左右，各在其要。其色見淺者，湯液主治，十日已。其見深者，必齊主治，二十一日已。其見大深者，醪酒主治，百日已。色夭面脱，不治，百日盡已。 容色见上下左右，各在其要。其色见浅者，汤液主治，十日已。其见深者，必齐主治，二十一日已。其见大深者，醪酒主治，百日已。色夭面脱，不治，百日尽已。
róng sè jiàn shàng xià zuǒ yòu, gè zài qí yào. qí sè jiàn qiǎn zhě, tāng yè zhǔ zhì, shí rì yǐ. qí jiàn shēn zhě, bì jì zhǔ zhì, èr shí yī rì yǐ. qí jiàn dà shēn zhě, láo jiǔ zhǔ zhì, bǎi rì yǐ. sè yāo miàn tuō, bù zhì, bǎi rì jìn yǐ.
The complexion appears above, below, left and right, each in its own place. Where the colour shows shallow, decoctions govern the treatment and it ends in ten days. Where it shows deep, compounded preparations must govern and it ends in twenty-one days. Where it shows very deep, fermented wine governs and it ends in a hundred days. When the colour is withered and the face fallen, it cannot be treated, and in a hundred days it is finished.
「其色見淺者，湯液主治，十日已」：本篇以湯液治色淺之病，十日可已；色深者必齊主治二十一日，大深者醪酒主治百日。與第十四篇「湯液醪醴」同條而用法不同：第十四篇論湯液之所以作與所以不用，本篇則以湯液為三級治法之最輕者，與「齊」「醪酒」遞進。

Compounds built on this term

湯
tāng
hot water, broth
說文：熱水也
液
yè
liquid, juice
說文：盡也；引申為津液
醪醴
láo lǐ
fermented medicinal wine
《湯液醪醴論》與湯液同類而異製
草蘇草荄
cǎo sū cǎo gāi
herb leaves and roots
十日不已則繼之以草藥，見本條

How it has been translated

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

Common EnglishdecoctionThe received term for a boiled medicinal preparation, and what most translations use here.
This sitedecoctionKept, with a caution: in this chapter 湯液 is still a grain liquor rather than a boiled herb formula — the herbs (草蘇草荄之枝) only come in after ten days have failed. Broth would be more accurate to the period and less accurate to the reader, who would not recognise a medicine in it.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

Search the glossary

Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

See all reading paths