癰瘍 简体 痈疡

yōng yáng

Abscesses and sores

Also rendered: abscesses and sores (Literal) · carbuncles and sores (Follows later nosology) · swellings and ulcers (Surgical reading)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
yōng yáng
Simplified
痈疡
Literal
癰 a swelling, later an abscess; 瘍 a sore. In this chapter a pair, as 癰瘍 in the east stands beside 攣痺 in the south — the signature illness of a place.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:癰,腫也;瘍,頭創也(引申為瘡瘍之通名)。

In brief

The illness of the east. Fish heats the inside, salt gets the better of the blood, and with the blood weakened and heat present the people readily break out in abscesses and sores. Wang Bing says exactly that. Because they are abscesses, the treatment is the stone: what has come to a head is opened. This is the chapter’s logic in miniature — the illness named and the method chosen in the same breath.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Swelling and sores 癰瘍
說文「癰,腫也」「瘍,頭創也」;後世為瘡瘍之通名
其病皆爲癰瘍 — Suwen 12
2
Heat with weakened blood 血弱而熱
王冰:「血弱而熱,故喜為癰瘍。」
魚者使人熱中,鹽者勝血…其病皆爲癰瘍 — Suwen 12
3
Opened, not dosed 其治宜砭石
已成膿者決而去之,故不用藥
其病皆爲癰瘍,其治宜砭石 — Suwen 12
4
The signature illness of a region 東方之病
本篇五方各舉一病,此東方之病
故東方之域…其病皆爲癰瘍 — Suwen 12

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
素問·異法方宜論 Suwen 12 · 異法方宜論 Read in context →
魚者使人熱中,鹽者勝血,故其民皆黑色疏理,其病皆爲癰瘍,其治宜砭石。 鱼者使人热中,盐者胜血,故其民皆黑色疏理,其病皆为痈疡,其治宜砭石。
yú zhě shǐ rén rè zhōng, yán zhě shèng xuè, gù qí mín jiē hēi sè shū lǐ, qí bìng jiē wéi yōng yáng, qí zhì yí biān shí.
Fish causes heat within a person; salt gets the better of the blood. Therefore its people are all dark of complexion and loose of grain, and their illnesses are abscesses and sores. Their treatment is suited to the stone needle.
東方之民食魚而嗜鹹,魚使人熱中、鹽勝血,故黑色疏理,其病皆爲癰瘍,治宜砭石。王冰:「血弱而熱,故喜為癰瘍。」「瘍」《說文》「頭創也」,引申為瘡瘍之通名。
素問·通評虚實論 Suwen 28 · 通評虚實論 Read in context →
所謂少鍼石者,非癰疽之謂也。癰疽不得頃時回,癰不知所,按之不應手,乍來乍已,剌手太陰傍三痏與纓脉各二。 所谓少针石者,非痈疽之谓也。痈疽不得顷时回,痈不知所,按之不应手,乍来乍已,刺手太阴傍三痏与缨脉各二。
Suǒ wèi shǎo zhēn shí zhě, fēi yōng jū zhī wèi yě.Yōng jū bù dé qǐng shí huí, yōng bù zhī suǒ, àn zhī bù yìng shǒu, zhà lái zhà yǐ, cì shǒu tài yīn páng sān wěi yǔ yīng mài gè èr.
What is meant by going lightly with needles and stones does not apply to abscesses and flat abscesses. Abscess and flat abscess allow no turning back for so much as an hour. When an abscess has no known location, does not answer to the hand when pressed, and comes and goes by turns, needle three wei beside the hand greater yin and two each at the throat vessels.
「所謂少鍼石者,非癰疽之謂也。癰疽不得頃時回」——癰之目見於此,本篇「癰」五見、「疽」二見。**「癰」讀 yōng,本篇五見**;**「疽」讀 jū,本篇二見**,與「疸」(黃疸之疸)形近而音義皆異;「非」讀 fēi;**「頃」讀 qǐng,本篇惟此一見**,「頃時」猶言頃刻;「回」讀 huí,遲回、猶豫也,底本作回,不作「迴」。癰疽之所以不從「少鍼石」之戒,正以其不可片刻遲回:本站此條癰瘍之目,於此得其急治之義。
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.
**「癰瘍」本篇1見,止在此句**;**此段「血變于中,發爲癰瘍」,太陽司天寒淫所勝之病**

Compounds built on this term

癰
yōng
swelling, abscess
說文:腫也
瘍
yáng
sore
說文:頭創也
熱中
rè zhōng
heat within
魚使人熱中,見本條
砭石
biān shí
the stone needle
癰瘍之治,見本條

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishcarbuncles and sores癰 is routinely read as carbuncle in modern TCM English.
This siteabscesses and soresThe 說文 glosses 癰 simply as 腫, a swelling; the specific nosology of 癰疽 came later. Carbuncle is a modern dermatological category, and using it here promotes a plain swollen sore into a named disease.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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