Classica Sinica Medica

疸

dǎn

Jaundice · dan

Also rendered: jaundice (The established English word) · the yellow disease (Literal of the 說文 gloss) · dan (Pinyin, used when the distinction from modern jaundice matters) · icterus (Technical, and now archaic)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
dǎn
Simplified
疸
Literal
疸 the yellow disease (《說文》: 黃病也). Sickness marked by yellow — in the eyes, in the urine, in the skin.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：疸，黃病也（段注：謂身目皆黃之病）。與「疽」（《說文》：癰也，深部之瘡）形近而義別。

In brief

Jaundice, in three signs. Chapter 18 gives urine that is yellow and red while the patient lies quietly; eyes that are yellow; and 胃疸, hunger returning as soon as food has been taken, which is the central wasting under another name. One point about the text: the first of these is written in the base text with 疽 , the graph for a deep abscess, while the third is written with 疸 , the graph 說文 glosses as 黃病也. The two are kept as the base text gives them and the difference noted, since 疸 is plainly what the chapter means in both places.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The yellow disease 疸
說文：黃病也
目黄者曰黄疸 — Suwen 18
2
From the urine 溺黄赤安卧者
溺黃赤而安臥，疸之候
溺黄赤安卧者，黄疽 — Suwen 18
3
From the eyes 目黄者曰黄疸
目黃為疸之確徵
目黄者曰黄疸 — Suwen 18
4
Stomach jaundice 胃疸
已食而飢，胃熱之疸，即中消
已食如飢者，胃疸 — Suwen 18
5
The base-text variant 黄疽
底本作「疽」（癰疽之疽），與「疸」別
溺黄赤安卧者，黄疽 — Suwen 18

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·平人氣象論 Suwen 18 · 平人氣象論 Read in context →
溺黄赤安卧者，黄疽。已食如飢者，胃疸。面腫曰風。足脛腫曰水。目黄者曰黄疸。 溺黄赤安卧者，黄疽。已食如饥者，胃疸。面肿曰风。足胫肿曰水。目黄者曰黄疸。
niào huáng chì ān wò zhě, huáng jū. yǐ shí rú jī zhě, wèi dǎn. miàn zhǒng yuē fēng. zú jìng zhǒng yuē shuǐ. mù huáng zhě yuē huáng dǎn.
Urine that is yellow and red, with the person lying at rest, indicates jaundice. Having eaten and yet being hungry indicates stomach jaundice. Swelling of the face indicates wind. Swelling of the foot and shin indicates water. Yellowing of the eyes indicates jaundice.
本篇疸證三見：「溺黄赤安卧者，黄疽」「已食如飢者，胃疸」「目黄者曰黄疸」。其中首條底本作「疽」（癰疽之疽），與末條之「疸」（說文：黃病也）不同，二字同篇互見，各從底本，其義則並為疸。
素問·通評虚實論 Suwen 28 · 通評虚實論 Read in context →
黄帝曰：黃疸，暴痛，癲疾、厥狂，久逆之所生也。 黄帝曰：黄疸，暴痛，癫疾、厥狂，久逆之所生也。
Huáng dì yuē: huáng dǎn, bào tòng, diān jí, jué kuáng, jiǔ nì zhī suǒ shēng yě.
The Yellow Emperor says: jaundice, sudden pain, epilepsy, and inversion with mania are born of counterflow that has lasted long.
本站此條立「疸」一目，本篇「黃疸」二字連文，正為此條之屬。**「黃」讀 huáng，本篇惟此一見**，作「黃疸」之黃；**「疸」讀 dǎn，本篇惟此一見**；而同句「黄帝」之「黄」作「黄」（本篇二見），**同篇二形並見**，各從底本。「疸」與「疽」（癰疽之疽，本篇二見）形近而音義皆異，「疽」讀 jū、「疸」讀 dǎn；又與「癉」（消癉之癉，本篇二見）形近而音異（癉讀 dān）。本篇三字並見而各不相混。「黃疸」在本篇不以黃立論，而與暴痛、癲疾、厥狂同列為「久逆之所生」，是本篇論病必推其本之一例。

Compounds built on this term

疸
dǎn
the yellow disease
說文：黃病也
疽
jū
a deep abscess
說文：癰也，與疸形近義別
黄
huáng
yellow
疸之色
溺
niào
urine
溺音 niào
胃疸
wèi dǎn
stomach jaundice
食已而飢，即中消

How it has been translated

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

Common EnglishjaundiceUniversal, and the chapter's signs — yellow urine, yellow eyes — are the signs of jaundice.
This sitejaundice疸 in 說文 is 黃病也, the yellow disease, and the chapter's own two signs are yellow urine and yellow eyes, so the ordinary English word is the right one. The one thing it costs is 胃疸, which is not jaundice in the modern sense but the hunger that returns with eating; that is handled by keeping 胃疸 as stomach jaundice and saying in the note that it is the central wasting seen from the stomach's side.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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