Classica Sinica Medica

寒厥

hán jué

Cold inversion

Also rendered: Cold inversion (this site; 厥 rendered as elsewhere on the site) · Cold reversal (the rendering used where 厥 is taken as reversal)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
hán jué
Simplified
寒厥
Literal
寒厥 hán jué — the first of the two halves the chapter opens with: yang qi declines below and the hands and feet go cold. The cold climbs, and the chapter is precise about how far: it starts at the five toes, because that is where yin qi rises, gathers below the knee and collects above it, so that everything from the toes to above the knee is cold.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：寒，凍也，从人在宀下，以茻薦覆之，下有仌。「寒」讀 hán、**本篇9見**；「厥」讀 jué、**篇題之字**；**「其寒也，不從外，皆從内也」——此句為寒厥之眼目**，**寒自内生，非外寒所中**。

In brief

Inversion of the cold kind: yang qi fails below, yin qi is left alone, and the cold spreads up the leg from the toes to above the knee. The chapter lays the cause to conduct rather than weather — a robust man who spends himself through autumn and winter, when yang is meant to be kept — and notes expressly that the cold does not come in from outside.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 寒、厥
陽氣衰於下則寒，手足為之厥冷
則爲寒厥 — Suwen 45
2
Where it starts 五指之裏
陰氣起於五指之裏，故其寒自趾始
陰氣起於五指之裏 — Suwen 45
3
How far it climbs 至膝上寒
集於膝下、聚於膝上，故寒至膝上
則從五指至膝上寒 — Suwen 45
4
That it comes from within 不從外，皆從内也
寒自内生，非由外入，此與外感之寒迥別
其寒也，不從外 — Suwen 45
5
Why it happens 以秋冬奪於所用
秋冬陽衰之時而恣用其力，下氣上爭而不復
以秋冬奪於所用 — Suwen 45
6
How it ends 故手足爲之寒也
陽氣日損，陰氣獨在，手足失溫
故手足爲之寒也 — Suwen 45

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 45 Suwen 45 · 厥論 Read in context →
帝曰：寒厥之爲寒也，必從五指而上於膝者，何也？ 帝曰：寒厥之为寒也，必从五指而上于膝者，何也？
Dì yuē: hán jué zhī wéi hán yě, bì cóng wǔ zhǐ ér shàng yú xī zhě, hé yě?
The Emperor asks: in cold inversion the cold always goes up from the five toes to the knee — why is that?
**「帝曰：寒厥之爲寒也」——**「寒」讀 hán、**本篇9見**；**問語即點寒厥之形：必從五指而上於膝**；**下文「其寒也，不從外，皆從内也」，為寒厥與外寒之分際**。

Compounds built on this term

寒厥
hán jué
cold inversion
本篇答語之首所分
陽氣衰於下
yáng qì shuāi yú xià
yang qi declines below
寒厥之原
下氣上爭
xià qì shàng zhēng
the lower qi struggles upward
秋冬奪於所用之果
不從外，皆從内
bù cóng wài, jiē cóng nèi
not from without, all from within
寒厥之定性

How it has been translated

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

This sitecold inversion寒厥 follows the site's rendering of 厥, so the pair reads cold inversion / heat inversion
Unschuldcold inversionhe keeps 厥 as inversion in both halves
Wisemancold reversal寒厥 is cold reversal in his system

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-30

Search the glossary

Reading path

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

See all reading paths