Classica Sinica Medica

淅然

xī rán

Xiran · shivering

Also rendered: shuddering (Slightly stronger than the Chinese, which describes a fine shivering) · chilliness (Too mild: the text has the hair standing up)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
xī rán
Simplified
淅然
Literal
淅 xī, the sound of rain on leaves, of wind in the grass; with 然 it becomes the way a body shivers — a fine, rustling shudder rather than a shaking rigor. Chapter 32 uses it once, at the very beginning of the lung heat disease: the patient first shivers, and the fine body hair stands up.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：淅，汏米也，从水析聲——**「淅」讀 xī，本篇惟此一見**，「淅然」者，寒慄灑淅之貌，狀惡寒時毛髮森然之態；「然」讀 rán，本篇二見，形容之語尾。「肺」讀 fèi；「病」讀 bìng；「者」讀 zhě；「先」讀 xiān；「厥」讀 jué——此指手足逆冷，與上文「足厥陰」之「厥」同名而異用；「起」讀 qǐ；「毫」讀 háo；「毛」讀 máo；**「惡」讀 wù，本篇惟此一見**，惡風寒即畏惡風寒；「風」讀 fēng；「寒」讀 hán，本篇七見；「舌」讀 shé；「上」讀 shàng；「黃」讀 huáng，本篇二見；「身」讀 shēn；「熱」讀 rè。**「起毫毛」三字最見筆力**：肺主皮毛，邪客於肺，故毫毛先為之動，較他藏之先見痛、先見黃者尤為表淺，**宜其為五藏中主表之藏**。**本篇「然」字二見**：「淅然」「澹澹然」，一狀惡寒之細、一狀眩暈之動，皆形容語尾。

In brief

A fine shivering, the rustling shudder of someone taking a chill. Chapter 32 uses it once, to open the lung heat disease: the patient shivers, the fine body hair stands up, there is aversion to wind and cold, and the tongue is yellow on top. It is the most superficial of the five opening signs in the chapter, as it should be — the lung governs the skin and its hair.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The base graph and its reading 淅然
淅讀 xī，淅然者寒慄灑淅之貌
淅然 — Suwen 32
2
The opening sign of lung heat 先淅然厥
肺熱病之先，在惡寒而厥
先淅然厥 — Suwen 32
3
Followed by the standing of the hair 起毫毛
肺主皮毛，故毫毛先動
起毫毛 — Suwen 32
4
Followed by aversion to wind and cold 惡風寒
惡讀 wù，畏惡也
惡風寒 — Suwen 32
5
The most superficial of the five 淅然
五藏之先證，惟肺最表淺
淅然 — Suwen 32
6
Paired with 然 然
形容語尾，本篇二見（淅然、澹澹然）
然 — 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 →
肺熱病者，先淅然厥，起毫毛，惡風寒，舌上黃，身熱。 肺热病者，先淅然厥，起毫毛，恶风寒，舌上黄，身热。
Fèi rè bìng zhě, xiān xī rán jué, qǐ háo máo, wù fēng hán, shé shàng huáng, shēn rè.
In lung heat disease there is first a shivering chill with reversal, the fine body hair stands up, there is aversion to wind and cold, the tongue is yellow on top, and the body is hot.
肺熱病之先兆。「肺」讀 fèi；「病」讀 bìng；「者」讀 zhě；「先」讀 xiān；**「淅」讀 xī，本篇惟此一見**；「然」讀 rán；「厥」讀 jué，此指手足逆冷；「起」讀 qǐ；「毫」讀 háo；「毛」讀 máo；**「惡」讀 wù，本篇惟此一見**；「風」讀 fēng；「寒」讀 hán；「舌」讀 shé；「上」讀 shàng；**「黃」讀 huáng，本篇二見，底本不作「黄」**；「身」讀 shēn；「熱」讀 rè。**「起毫毛」三字最見筆力**：肺主皮毛，邪客於肺則毫毛先動，**五藏熱病之先證，惟此最為表淺**，與肝之小便先黃、腎之腰痛䯒痠、心之先不樂、脾之頭重頰痛者深淺各異而皆為「先見」之徵。下文「熱爭，則喘欬…汗出而寒」，與此之「先淅然厥」一寒一熱，表裡先後之序秩然。

Compounds built on this term

淅然
xī rán
shivering
本篇一見，肺熱病之先兆
起毫毛
qǐ háo máo
the standing of the fine hair
本篇一見，肺主皮毛之驗
惡風寒
wù fēng hán
aversion to wind and cold
本篇一見，惡讀 wù
澹澹然
dàn dàn rán
unsteady
本站本批已立目，本篇「然」字之另一見

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & FengshiveringThey take the whole sensation as one English word, which loses the sound-image in 淅 but reads cleanly.
Unschuld(with) shiveringUnschuld keeps the same word and adds the preposition, treating it as an attendant state rather than the first sign.
This siteshiveringWe use the one word. 淅 is the sound of rain or of wind in dry grass, and the body's version of that sound is a fine shiver; English 'shivering' carries it without the noise.

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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