Classica Sinica Medica

譫言 简体 谵言

zhān yán

Delirious speech · zhan yan

Also rendered: delirious speech (Keeps 言 as speech; 譫 as delirious) · raving (Shorter and closer to 譫; loses the fact that it is speech)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
zhān yán
Simplified
谵言
Literal
譫 zhān, to rave or speak wildly; 言 yán, speech or words. The phrase is a symptom name and nothing more: the patient talks, and what he says is disordered. Chapter 31 puts it on the second day of the double-affected case, where 陽明 and 太陰 are both diseased, and lists it alongside abdominal fullness, body heat and loss of appetite.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：言，直言曰言，論難曰語，从口䇂聲——「言」讀 yán，本篇一見；**「譫」讀 zhān，本篇一見，疾言妄語也**——「譫」字《說文》未收，為後起之形聲字，从言詹聲；**底本作「譫」，不作「谵」**。「二」讀 èr；「日」讀 rì；「則」讀 zé；「陽」讀 yáng；「明」讀 míng；「與」讀 yǔ；「太」讀 tài；「陰」讀 yīn；「俱」讀 jù；「病」讀 bìng；「腹」讀 fù；「滿」讀 mǎn；「身」讀 shēn；「熱」讀 rè；「不」讀 bù；「欲」讀 yù；「食」讀 shí。**「譫言」與第三十篇「妄言駡詈」狀近而因別**：本篇為陽明熱盛，第三十篇為陽盛使人妄言。

In brief

Raving, disordered speech. In chapter 31 it appears only in the double-affected case, on the second day, when 陽明 and 太陰 are both diseased and the patient has abdominal fullness, body heat, no desire to eat and delirious speech. The significance is prognostic rather than descriptive: delirious speech belongs to the three-day descent that ends with no fluid going down, failure to recognise anyone, and death on the sixth day. It is one of the signs that the disease has gone inward and cannot be sweated out.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The symptom named 不欲食，譫言
兩感第二日之證
腹滿身熱，不欲食，譫言 — Suwen 31
2
The day it belongs to 二日，則陽明與太陰俱病
二日二經俱病，譫言屬陽明之熱
二日，則陽明與太陰俱病 — Suwen 31
3
What makes it raving 腹滿身熱
陽明熱盛則譫，太陰腹滿則不欲食
腹滿身熱，不欲食，譫言 — Suwen 31
4
Where it leads 水漿不入，不知人，六日死
譫言之後繼以不識人、水漿不入
水漿不入，不知人，六日死 — Suwen 31
5
Its counterpart in the single course 耳聾囊縮而厥
三日少陽與厥陰俱病之狀
耳聾囊縮而厥 — Suwen 31
6
The kindred symptom elsewhere 身熱目疼而鼻乾，不得卧也
陽明受邪之常證，未至譫言
身熱目疼而鼻乾，不得卧也 — Suwen 31

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·熱論 Suwen 31 · 熱論 Read in context →
二日，則陽明與太陰俱病，則腹滿身熱，不欲食，譫言； 二日，则阳明与太阴俱病，则腹满身热，不欲食，谵言；
Èr rì, zé yáng míng yǔ tài yīn jù bìng, zé fù mǎn shēn rè, bù yù shí, zhān yán;
on the second day 陽明 and 太陰 are both diseased, hence abdominal fullness, heat in the body, no desire to eat and delirious speech;
兩感第二日之狀。「二」讀 èr；「日」讀 rì；「則」讀 zé；「陽」讀 yáng；「明」讀 míng；「與」讀 yǔ；「太」讀 tài；「陰」讀 yīn；「俱」讀 jù；「病」讀 bìng；「腹」讀 fù；「滿」讀 mǎn；「身」讀 shēn；「熱」讀 rè；「不」讀 bù；「欲」讀 yù；「食」讀 shí；**「譫」讀 zhān，本篇一見**；「言」讀 yán。**腹滿不欲食者太陰之證，身熱譫言者陽明之證**，二經之證同日並見，故曰俱病。
素問·厥論 Suwen 45 · 厥論 Read in context →
厥陰厥逆，攣腰痛，虚滿前閉，譫言，治主病者。 厥阴厥逆，挛腰痛，虚满前闭，谵言，治主病者。
Jué yīn jué nì, luán yāo tòng, xū mǎn qián bì, zhān yán, zhì zhǔ bìng zhě.
In counterflow inversion of ceasing yin there is cramping pain in the lower back, empty fullness and closure in front, and delirious speech; treat what governs the disease.
「虚滿前閉，譫言」——**本篇「譫」讀 zhān**；**「前閉」謂小便不通，前即前陰之竅**；**「攣腰痛」之攣讀 luán**。

Compounds built on this term

譫言
zhān yán
delirious speech
本篇一見
譫語
zhān yǔ
delirious speech
後世通行之名，本篇作「譫言」
妄言
wàng yán
wild speech
第三十篇陽明脉解之語，與此狀近而因別
不知人
bù zhī rén
recognising no one
本篇一見，譫言之進一層

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Fengdelirious speechThey keep 言 as speech so that the symptom is filed with the other things the patient says or fails to say, rather than with states of mind.
Unschulddelirious talkUnschuld uses 'talk', which is a little less clinical and matches his practice of keeping 言 plain.
This sitedelirious speechWe keep 譫 as delirious and 言 as speech. The word is a symptom in a list, and it should read as one.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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