惡人與火简体恶人与火

wù rén yǔ huǒ

Aversion to people and fire · wu ren yu huo

Also rendered: aversion to people and fire (Keeps 惡 as aversion; the two objects left plain) · loathing people and fire (Stronger on the affect; less clinical in register)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: wù rén yǔ huǒ
Simplified: 恶人与火
Literal: Read literally the phrase is blunt: 惡 wù, to loathe or shrink from; 人, people; 與, and; 火, fire. Nothing in the four graphs says why, and that is the point — the chapter opens by naming two aversions that have no obvious connection to each other and spends the rest of its length showing that they have a single source. They are not fears in the ordinary sense: the patient is not afraid of what a person or a fire will do to him. He simply cannot bear their presence, and chapter 30 treats that inability as a sign about the state of the vessel rather than a state of mind.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：惡，過也，从心亞聲——「惡」本義為過惡，讀 è；**本篇六見皆讀 wù（憎惡、畏忌），不讀 è**；「人」讀 rén，本篇四見；「與」讀 yǔ，連及之詞；「火」讀 huǒ，本篇三見。二字連言惟開卷一見——「足陽明之脉病，惡人與火」——即以此二字提全篇之綱：以下三問三答，分釋惡木音、惡火、惡人三事。

In brief

The pair of aversions with which chapter 30 opens its case: a patient with disease of the foot Yangming vessel cannot bear the presence of people and cannot bear fire. The chapter gives each a separate mechanism — the loathing of fire comes from heat, since Yangming governs the flesh and its vessel is rich in blood and qi; the loathing of people comes from the distress of counterflow, since when Yangming rebels upward the patient pants and is oppressed within. Both are traced back to the same vessel, and neither is explained as anything happening in the mind.

Senses in the classical corpus

The two aversions named together 惡人與火

惡人、惡火二事並舉，為全篇之綱

足陽明之脉病，惡人與火 — Suwen 30

Loathing fire, from heat 惡火

陽明主肉，血氣盛，邪客之則熱，熱甚故惡火

熱甚則惡火 — Suwen 30

Loathing people, from distress 惡人

陽明厥則喘而惋，惋則惡人

惋則惡人 — Suwen 30

The alarm that stands beside them 聞木音則惕然而驚

土惡木，故聞木音而驚，與惡火、惡人同出於一脉

聞木音則惕然而驚 — Suwen 30

What the three share 其脉血氣盛

血氣盛則邪易化熱，熱、惋、驚皆由此出

陽明主肉，其脉血氣盛，邪客之則熱 — Suwen 30

The far end of the same scale 不避親疏

當其惋也惡人，及其陽盛也雖親疏不避，正相反照

陽盛則使人妄言駡詈，不避親疏 — Suwen 30

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·陽明脉解 Suwen 30 · 陽明脉解 Read in context →

黃帝問曰：足陽明之脉病，惡人與火，聞木音則惕然而驚，鐘鼓不爲動，聞木音而驚，何也？黄帝问曰：足阳明之脉病，恶人与火，闻木音则惕然而惊，钟鼓不为动，闻木音而惊，何也？

Huáng dì wèn yuē: zú yáng míng zhī mài bìng, wù rén yǔ huǒ, wén mù yīn zé tì rán ér jīng, zhōng gǔ bù wéi dòng, wén mù yīn ér jīng, hé yě?

The Yellow Emperor asks: when the vessel of foot Yangming is diseased, the patient is averse to people and to fire; he hears the sound of wood and starts in alarm, yet bells and drums do not move him. Why is it that the sound of wood alarms him?

此句是全篇之發端，亦是全篇之綱。「黃」讀 huáng，**底本作「黃」，不作「黄」**；「帝」讀 dì；「問」讀 wèn；「曰」讀 yuē；「足」讀 zú；「陽」讀 yáng；「明」讀 míng；「之」讀 zhī；**「脉」讀 mài，本篇四見，底本皆作「脉」，無一處作「脈」**；「病」讀 bìng；**「惡」讀 wù，本篇六見皆讀 wù**；「人」讀 rén；「與」讀 yǔ；「火」讀 huǒ；「聞」讀 wén；「木」讀 mù；「音」讀 yīn；「則」讀 zé；「惕」讀 tì；「然」讀 rán；「而」讀 ér；「驚」讀 jīng；「鐘」讀 zhōng；「鼓」讀 gǔ；「不」讀 bù；**「爲」讀 wéi，本篇惟此一見，底本不作「為」**；「動」讀 dòng；「何」讀 hé；「也」讀 yě。「惡人與火」與「聞木音而驚」三事並舉，而「鐘鼓不爲動」一句反襯之：金不剋土故不驚，木剋土故獨驚。

素問·脉解 Suwen 49 · 脉解 Read in context →

所謂甚則厥，惡人與火，聞木音則惕然而驚者，陽氣與陰氣相薄，水火相惡，故惕然而驚也。所谓甚则厥，恶人与火，闻木音则惕然而惊者，阳气与阴气相薄，水火相恶，故惕然而惊也。

Suǒ wèi shèn zé jué, wù rén yǔ huǒ, wén mù yīn zé tì rán ér jīng zhě, yáng qì yǔ yīn qì xiāng bó, shuǐ huǒ xiāng wù, gù tì rán ér jīng yě.

What is called inversion in severe cases, shrinking from people and from fire, and starting in alarm at the sound of wood: yang qi and yin qi press against one another and water and fire dislike one another; hence the starting in alarm.

「「惡」讀 wù人與火」——**本篇「惡人與火」1見**；**「惡」讀 wù——「惡」讀 wù，本篇4見皆讀 wù**；「火」讀 huǒ、**本篇2見**；**「聞木音則惕然而驚」，與第三十篇陽明聞木音而驚同證**。

Compounds built on this term

惡人與火

wù rén yǔ huǒ

aversion to people and fire

本篇開卷一見，提全篇之綱

惡火

wù huǒ

aversion to fire

本篇二見，熱甚則惡火

惡人

wù rén

aversion to people

本篇二見，惋則惡人

五惡

wǔ wù

the five aversions

本站已立目（id 740），五藏各有所惡，與本篇惡人惡火可互參

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	(aversion to) people and fire	They keep 惡 as aversion throughout the chapter, so that the three explanations — wood, heat, distress — are visibly answers to one question rather than three unrelated symptoms.
Unschuld	(he) hates human beings and fire	Unschuld uses 'hates', which is closer to the everyday force of 惡 wù but reads as a feeling where the text describes a reaction.
This site	aversion to people and fire	We keep 惡 as aversion and leave both objects unqualified. The chapter is careful to make these reactions, not dispositions: the same patient who cannot bear company while distressed will later spare neither kin nor stranger. A rendering that says 'hates' turns a sign into a character, which is exactly what the text refuses to do.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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