Classica Sinica Medica

暝

míng

Ming · darkness

Also rendered: closing the eyes (The reading implied by the eye-radical variant; loses the base graph) · gloom (Too literary for a symptom)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
míng
Simplified
暝
Literal
暝 míng, darkness, the failing of the light. Chapter 32 uses it once: a heat disease that begins with heaviness in the body, pain in the bones, deafness and a liking for darkness. The base text writes the sun radical; many editions write the eye radical instead, and the two graphs are read alike and mean almost the same thing.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：暝，幽也（从日冥聲）；瞑，翕目也（从目冥聲）——**「暝」讀 míng，本篇惟此一見**，**底本從日，一作從目之「瞑」**。二字音同而義近：暝者昏暗，瞑者閉目；**本篇「好暝」二字，從日則為好就昏暗（畏光而喜暗），從目則為好閉其目（嗜臥）**，二義皆可通，各從底本作「暝」。「好」讀 hào，喜好也，與「惡」之讀 wù 者對文；「身」讀 shēn；**「重」此讀 zhòng**，身體沉重也，與下文「重逆則死」之讀 chóng 者同形異讀；「骨」讀 gǔ，本篇二見；「痛」讀 tòng；「耳」讀 ěr；「聾」讀 lóng，本篇一見；「剌」讀 cì；「足」讀 zú；「少」讀 shào；「陰」讀 yīn；「病」讀 bìng；「先」讀 xiān。**「身重骨痛、耳聾好暝」皆少陰之證**：腎主骨、開竅於耳，少陰病則但欲寐，故見於此；與第三十一篇「少陰…口燥舌乾而渴」同屬少陰而見證各異。

In brief

Darkness — either the failing of light or, in the variant graph, the closing of the eyes. Chapter 32 uses it once, in a heat disease that begins with heaviness, bone pain, deafness and a liking for darkness, and needles the foot shaoyin for it. The base text writes 暝 with the sun radical; many editions write 瞑 with the eye radical. The two are read alike and the difference barely matters clinically, but the site transcribes the one the base text has.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Darkness, and the base graph 暝
本篇從日作暝，一作從目之瞑
暝 — Suwen 32
2
A liking for darkness 好暝
好讀 hào，喜好也
好暝 — Suwen 32
3
Among the shaoyin signs 耳聾好暝
腎開竅於耳，少陰病則但欲寐
耳聾好暝 — Suwen 32
4
With heaviness and bone pain 身重骨痛
腎主骨，故骨痛屬少陰
身重骨痛 — Suwen 32
5
The severe case follows 病甚爲五十九剌
此證之甚者用五十九剌
病甚爲五十九剌 — Suwen 32
6
Needled at the foot shaoyin 剌足少陰
從其經之所過而取之
剌足少陰 — Suwen 32

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·剌熱 Suwen 32 · 剌熱 Read in context →
熱病先身重骨痛，耳聾好暝，剌足少陰。 热病先身重骨痛，耳聋好暝，刺足少阴。
Rè bìng xiān shēn zhòng gǔ tòng, ěr lóng hào míng, cì zú shào yīn.
When a heat disease begins with heaviness of the body and pain in the bones, deafness and a liking for darkness, needle the foot shaoyin.
熱病始於少陰之刺法。「病」讀 bìng；「先」讀 xiān；**「身」讀 shēn；「重」此讀 zhòng**——與下文「重逆則死」之讀 chóng 者同形異讀；「骨」讀 gǔ，本篇二見；「痛」讀 tòng；「耳」讀 ěr；「聾」讀 lóng，本篇惟此一見；**「好」讀 hào**——與本篇「惡」之讀 wù 者對文；**「暝」讀 míng，本篇惟此一見**，底本從日，一作「瞑」；「剌」讀 cì；「足」讀 zú；「少」讀 shào；「陰」讀 yīn。**此節與上「熱病始於足脛者」同為「始」之例**：彼言所起之部（足脛），此言所起之證（身重骨痛耳聾好暝），而上、中、下三部之分（頭首、手臂、足脛）至此一變而為辨證，**本篇刺法於此由分部而入於分經**。下文「病甚爲五十九剌」復綴其後，與上「病甚者爲五十九剌」同例。

Compounds built on this term

好暝
hào míng
a liking for darkness
本篇一見，少陰病之證
耳聾
ěr lóng
deafness
本篇一見，腎開竅於耳
身重
shēn zhòng
heaviness of the body
本篇二見，重讀 zhòng
不時卧
bù shí wò
sleep out of season
本站已立目（id 897），亦言卧之失常者

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & FengdarknessThey take the sun radical at face value, which matches this base text exactly.
Unschuld(likes) to close the eyesUnschuld follows the eye-radical variant, which is the reading most printed editions suggest.
This sitedarknessWe follow this base text, which writes 暝 with the sun radical. The variant 瞑 is read the same and the clinical sense barely shifts; we note the variant and transcribe the graph that is here.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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

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