昌陽简体昌阳

chāng yáng

Changyang · the flourishing yang vessel

Also rendered: The flourishing yang vessel (this site; the base text writes 昌陽) · Changyang (the name kept, with 復溜 noted as the later point)

Vessels

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: chāng yáng
Simplified: 昌阳
Literal: 昌陽 chāng yáng — flourishing yang, the vessel that later acupuncture knows as 復溜, the second point of the foot lesser yin above the inner ankle. Chapter 41 gives it the gravest picture in the whole chapter: the pain draws into the breast, the sight goes blank, and at its worst the body arches backward and the tongue curls so that the patient cannot speak. It is needled twice, at the inner sinew in front of the great sinew above the inner ankle, behind greater yin. Wang Bing names 復溜 plainly, and the signs the chapter lists — arched back, curled tongue, loss of speech — are the signs the tradition gives for the end of the lesser yin.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：昌，美言也——**从日从曰，日光之美盛**；**引申為昌明、昌盛**。「昌」讀 chāng、**本篇1見**，**皆在「昌陽之脉」一名**；**「昌陽之脉」1見**。**王冰註：昌陽，謂復溜**——**本篇作「昌陽」，後世作「復溜」**，**與上文「飛陽」之作「飛揚」者同例**。「膺」讀 yīng**「痛引膺」之膺，胸膺也，本篇1見**；「舌」讀 shé、「卷」讀 juǎn、**「舌卷不能言」之卷讀 juǎn**；「反」讀 fǎn**「甚則反折」見本站第五六四條**。

In brief

Flourishing yang — the vessel later acupuncture calls 復溜, on the foot lesser yin. Chapter 41 gives it the gravest entry in the chapter: pain into the breast, blank sight, and at its worst an arched back with the tongue curled and speech gone.

Senses in the classical corpus

What the graph says 昌陽

昌者美盛；後世作復溜，足少陰之穴

昌陽之脉 — Suwen 41

Where the pain runs 痛引膺

痛上引胸膺，是本篇最上之一引

痛引膺 — Suwen 41

The sight 目䀮䀮然

目昏無所見，與解脉、俠脊二條同辭

目䀮䀮然 — Suwen 41

At its worst 甚則反折

角弓反張，太陽之終證

甚則反折 — Suwen 41

The tongue 舌卷不能言

舌卷而失音，厥陰之終亦有其證

舌卷不能言 — Suwen 41

Where it is needled 内踝上大筋前，太陰後

內踝上大筋之前、太陰之後，上踝二寸

刺内筋爲二痏 — Suwen 41

Occurrences in the classics

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

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1 passages

Suwen 41 Suwen 41 · 刺腰痛 Read in context →

昌陽之脉，令人腰痛，痛引膺，目䀮䀮然，甚則反折，舌卷不能言，刺内筋爲二痏，在内踝上大筋前，太陰後，上踝二寸所。昌阳之脉，令人腰痛，痛引膺，目䀮䀮然，甚则反折，舌卷不能言，刺内筋为二痏，在内踝上大筋前，太阴后，上踝二寸所。

Chāng yáng zhī mài, lìng rén yāo tòng, tòng yǐn yīng, mù huāng huāng rán, shèn zé fǎn zhé, shé juǎn bù néng yán, cì nèi jīn wéi èr wěi, zài nèi huái shàng dà jīn qián, tài yīn hòu, shàng huái èr cùn suǒ.

The changyang vessel gives pain in the lower back that draws into the breast; the eyes go dim and blank, and at its worst the body arches backwards and the tongue curls so that the patient cannot speak. Needle the inner sinew twice, in front of the great sinew above the inner ankle and behind greater yin, two inches above the ankle.

**「目䀮䀮然」之「䀮」讀 huāng**——「䀮」讀 huāng**本篇6見**，**三處皆作「目䀮䀮然」，是本站第七一七條「䀮」之本證**。「卷」讀 juǎn**讀 juǎn，不讀 juàn**；「能」讀 néng、「言」讀 yán**「不能言」三字與厥陰之終同辭**；「筋」讀 jīn**本篇5見**，**大筋、内筋、郄陽筋，皆取穴之標**。

Compounds built on this term

昌陽之脉

chāng yáng zhī mài

the flourishing yang vessel

本篇一見

痛引膺

tòng yǐn yīng

pain drawing into the breast

昌陽之證

反折

fǎn zhé

arched-back reversal

見本站第五六四條

舌卷不能言

shé juǎn bù néng yán

the tongue curls and speech is lost

昌陽之極

How it has been translated

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

This site	the flourishing yang vessel	the chapter's name is kept and the later 復溜 noted; chang yang is given at the headword
Unschuld	chang yang	transliterates and follows Wang Bing to the later point
Wiseman	chang yang	the same; Wiseman gives 復溜 as the point

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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