Classica Sinica Medica

澹澹

dàn dàn

Dandan · unsteady

Also rendered: rocking (Good for the image, but too physical for a headache) · wavering (Close, but suggests indecision rather than motion)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
dàn dàn
Simplified
澹澹
Literal
澹 dàn, calm water, rippling; doubled and followed by 然, it describes a body that will not hold still — rocking, unsteady, adrift. Chapter 32 uses it once, for the kidney heat disease when the qi counterflows, and pairs it with 員員: one word for the spinning, one for the rocking.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：澹，水搖也，从水詹聲——**「澹」讀 dàn，本篇二見，皆疊用為「澹澹然」**，「項痛員員澹澹然」一句之中「澹」字二見，故本篇「澹」之字數為二而言「澹澹然」者惟一。**澹澹者，動搖不定之貌**：狀頭目眩暈而身若搖，與「員員」之狀旋轉者義近而各有其狀——**員員言其旋，澹澹言其動**，本篇以二詞連文而狀一證，是《素問》狀病之密處。「項」讀 xiàng，本篇四見；「痛」讀 tòng；「員」讀 yuán；「然」讀 rán，形容詞之語尾；「其」讀 qí；「逆」讀 nì；「則」讀 zé；「戊」讀 wù；「巳」讀 sì，詳見本站「所勝日」條。**「澹」與「淡」別**：「淡」言味之薄，「澹」言水之搖，本篇作「澹」，各從底本。**疊字狀病之例**，參本站「員員」「冥冥」（id 826）二條。

In brief

A reduplicative describing a rocking, unsteady sensation, as of something adrift on water. Chapter 32 uses it once, in the kidney heat disease: when the qi counterflows the nape aches, spins, and will not be still. It is set beside 員員, which describes the turning, so that the two words together give the quality of the pain from two sides.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Rocking, not spinning 澹澹然
澹澹者，動搖不定之貌
澹澹然 — Suwen 32
2
The kidney's counterflow 其逆則項痛員員澹澹然
腎熱氣逆，項痛而旋而動
其逆則項痛員員澹澹然 — Suwen 32
3
Paired with 員員 員員澹澹然
一狀其旋，一狀其動，二詞同狀一證
員員澹澹然 — Suwen 32
4
From the image of moving water 澹
《說文》訓水搖，故引申為身之搖動
澹澹 — Suwen 32
5
A reduplicative for a sensation 澹澹然
疊字加「然」為語尾，狀病之通例
澹澹然 — Suwen 32
6
Set within a dated prognosis 戊巳甚，壬癸大汗
項痛澹澹然之後，即言其甚日與汗日
戊巳甚，壬癸大汗 — Suwen 32

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·剌熱 Suwen 32 · 剌熱 Read in context →
熱爭，則項痛而強，䯒寒且痠，足下熱，不欲言，其逆則項痛員員澹澹然，戊巳甚，壬癸大汗，氣逆則戊己死。 热争，则项痛而强，䯒寒且酸，足下热，不欲言，其逆则项痛员员澹澹然，戊巳甚，壬癸大汗，气逆则戊己死。
Rè zhēng, zé xiàng tòng ér jiāng, héng hán qiě suān, zú xià rè, bù yù yán, qí nì zé xiàng tòng yuán yuán dàn dàn rán, wù sì shèn, rén guǐ dà hàn, qì nì zé wù jǐ sǐ.
When heat contends the nape aches and is stiff, the shank is cold and sore, the soles of the feet are hot, and there is no wish to speak. When it counterflows the nape aches with a spinning, unsteady sensation. It is worse on wu-si days and sweats greatly on ren-gui days; if the qi counterflows, death comes on a wu-ji day.
腎熱病「熱爭」與「氣逆」之證。「項」讀 xiàng，本篇四見；「痛」讀 tòng；「員」讀 yuán；**「澹」讀 dàn，本篇二見**；「然」讀 rán；「強」讀 jiāng——與第三十一篇「腰脊強」同讀，與同篇「強食之」之讀 qiǎng 者別；「䯒」讀 héng，本篇二見；「痠」讀 suān；「且」讀 qiě；「下」讀 xià；「足」讀 zú；「不」讀 bù；「欲」讀 yù；「言」讀 yán；「戊」讀 wù，「巳」讀 sì，「壬」「癸」讀 rén guǐ，「己」讀 jǐ。**「足下熱」與「䯒寒且痠」並見**：足心熱而脛反寒，上熱下寒之候；**「不欲言」者**，腎脉入肺循喉嚨，熱盛則不欲言。**「項痛員員澹澹然」與上肝熱病「頭痛員員」同一筆法**，惟此加「澹澹然」三字，狀益密。
Suwen 74 Suwen 74 · 至真要大論 Read in context →
太陽司天，寒淫所勝，則寒氣反至，水且冰。血變于中，發爲癰瘍，民病厥，心痛嘔血，血泄鼽衄，善悲時眩仆，運火炎烈，雨暴乃雹，胸腹滿，手熱，肘攣，掖衝心，澹澹大動，胸脅胃脘不安，面赤目黄，善噫，嗌乾，甚則色炲，渴而欲飲，病本于心。神門絶，死不治。所謂動氣知其藏也。 太阳司天，寒淫所胜，则寒气反至，水且冰。血变于中，发为痈疡，民病厥，心痛呕血，血泄鼽衄，善悲时眩仆，运火炎烈，雨暴乃雹，胸腹满，手热，肘挛，掖冲心，澹澹大动，胸胁胃脘不安，面赤目黄，善噫，嗌干，甚则色炲，渴而欲饮，病本于心。神门绝，死不治。所谓动气知其藏也。
Tài yáng sī tiān, hán yín suǒ shèng, zé hán qì fǎn zhì, shuǐ qiě bīng. Xuè biàn yú zhōng, fā wéi yōng yáng, mín bìng jué, xīn tòng ǒu xuè, xuè xiè qiú nǜ, shàn bēi shí xuàn pū, yùn huǒ yán liè, yǔ bào nǎi báo, xiōng fù mǎn, shǒu rè, zhǒu luán, yè chōng xīn, dàn dàn dà dòng, xiōng xié wèi wǎn bù ān, miàn chì mù huáng, shàn ài, yì gān, shèn zé sè tái, kě ér yù yǐn, bìng běn yú xīn. Shén mén jué, sǐ bù zhì. Suǒ wèi dòng qì zhī qí zàng yě.
When greater yang governs the heaven, and cold is in excess and prevails, cold qi comes out of season and water is about to freeze. Blood changes within and breaks out as abscess and sore. The people sicken with reversal, pain of the heart and vomiting of blood, blood passed below, snivelling and nosebleed, much sorrow, and dizziness with falling; the moving fire blazes fiercely and a violent rain turns to hail. The chest and belly are full, the two hands hot, the elbows cramped, the armpit rushing at the heart, a palpitating unrest, and no peace in the chest, ribs and stomach duct; the face is red and the eyes yellow, they belch often, the throat is dry, and in grave cases the colour is soot-dark with thirst and a wish to drink. The illness is rooted in the heart; the shenmen pulse is extinguished — death, not to be treated. This is what is meant by knowing the viscus from where the qi moves.
**「澹澹」本篇1見，止在此句**；**此段「澹澹大動，胸脅胃脘不安」，太陽司天寒淫所勝之病**

Compounds built on this term

澹澹然
dàn dàn rán
unsteady
本篇二見（同一句之中「澹」字二見）
員員
yuán yuán
spinning
本站本批已立目，與澹澹連文而義各有當
冥冥
míng míng
the dark and obscure
本站已立目（id 826），同為疊字狀病之例
項痛
xiàng tòng
pain in the nape
本篇一見，腎熱氣逆之證

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng(with) unsteadinessThey render the sense as a noun, which is safe but loses the motion the graph draws.
UnschuldwavingUnschuld keeps the water image literally, which is faithful to 澹 and reads strangely as a symptom.
This siteunsteadyWe take the result rather than the image. 澹 is water that moves; applied to a patient it means a body that will not hold still, and 'unsteady' says that without asking the reader to picture water.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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