亂經简体乱经

luàn jīng

Confounding the channels · luan jing

Also rendered: confounding the channels (Keeps 亂 as an act done to the warp) · disorder of the channels (Describes the state rather than what was done)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: luàn jīng
Simplified: 乱经
Literal: 亂 is thread in disorder — 說文 enters it as 治 with the radical for disentangling, the same graph used for both the tangle and the untangling of it — and 經 is the warp, the channel. 亂經 is the warp thrown into disorder, and chapter 26 gives it as the name for the worst of its three mistakes: treating when the moon's rim is empty. What follows is a cascade — yin and yang cross, true qi and evil can no longer be told apart, the evil sinks and lodges.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：亂，治也。从乙，乙治之也；从𤔔。段玉裁曰：亂本訓不治，轉注之法乃訓為治。經，織也。从糸巠聲，織之縱絲為經。本篇之目：月郭空而治，是謂亂經。「亂」讀 luàn；「經」讀 jīng。

In brief

The third and worst of chapter 26’s three named mistakes: treating when the moon’s rim is empty throws the channels into disorder. The chapter does not stop at the name — it lists what the disorder consists of: yin and yang cross, true qi and evil can no longer be distinguished, the evil sinks and lodges, the outside empties while the inside falls into disorder, and the licentious evil rises. It is the only one of the three in which the damage is described as self-perpetuating.

Senses in the classical corpus

The name of the mistake 是謂亂經

月郭空而治之名

月郭空而治，是謂亂經 — Suwen 26

Yin and yang cross 陰陽相錯

陰陽之序錯亂

陰陽相錯 — Suwen 26

True and evil indistinguishable 真邪不别

真氣與邪氣不復可分

真邪不别 — Suwen 26

The evil lodges 沈以留止

邪沉伏留止而不去

沈以留止 — Suwen 26

Outside empties, inside disorders 外虚内亂

外虛而內亂，淫邪乃起

外虚内亂，淫邪乃起 — Suwen 26

Its opposite in method 是謂得時而調之

得時則調之而治，失時則亂其經

是謂得時而調之 — Suwen 26

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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2 passages

素問·八正神明論 Suwen 26 · 八正神明論 Read in context →

月郭空而治，是謂亂經，陰陽相錯，真邪不别，沈以留止，外虚内亂，淫邪乃起。月郭空而治，是谓乱经，阴阳相错，真邪不别，沉以留止，外虚内乱，淫邪乃起。

Yuè guō kōng ér zhì, shì wèi luàn jīng, yīn yáng xiāng cuò, zhēn xié bù bié, chén yǐ liú zhǐ, wài xū nèi luàn, yín xié nǎi qǐ.

To treat when the moon’s rim is empty is called confounding the channels: yin and yang cross, true qi and evil cannot be told apart, the evil sinks and lodges, the outside empties and the inside falls into disorder, and the licentious evil rises.

三誤之中以此條為最重，因為另二誤是虛實之偏，此誤則是「不别」——真氣與邪氣混而難分，醫者再也無從下手。「亂」讀 luàn；「錯」讀 cuò；「真」讀 zhēn；「邪」讀 xié；**「别」讀 bié，底本作此形，不作「別」**；「止」讀 zhǐ；**「内」讀 nèi，底本不作「內」**；「淫」讀 yín；「起」讀 qǐ。「沈以留止」之沈讀 chén，即沉之本字。「外虚内亂」四字最見本篇的病機觀：外之衛氣已虛，內之營血反亂，邪無所制故「淫邪乃起」——「淫」是過度、蔓延之義，與第二十二篇「留淫日深」之淫同義。與上文「是謂得時而調之」遙對：得時則一調而愈，失時則一治而亂。

Suwen 74 Suwen 74 · 至真要大論 Read in context →

故大要曰：粗工嘻嘻，以爲可知，言熱未已，寒病復始，同氣異形，迷診亂經，此之謂也。夫標本之道，要而博，小而大，可以言一，而知百病之害。言標與本，易而勿損。察本與標，氣可令調，明知勝復，爲萬民式，天之道畢矣。故大要曰：粗工嘻嘻，以为可知，言热未已，寒病复始，同气异形，迷诊乱经，此之谓也。夫标本之道，要而博，小而大，可以言一，而知百病之害。言标与本，易而勿损。察本与标，气可令调，明知胜复，为万民式，天之道毕矣。

Gù dà yào yuē: cū gōng xī xī, yǐ wéi kě zhī, yán rè wèi yǐ, hán bìng fù shǐ, tóng qì yì xíng, mí zhěn luàn jīng, cǐ zhī wèi yě. Fú biāo běn zhī dào, yào ér bó, xiǎo ér dà, kě yǐ yán yī, ér zhī bǎi bìng zhī hài. Yán biāo yǔ běn, yì ér wù sǔn. Chá běn yǔ biāo, qì kě lìng tiáo, míng zhī shèng fù, wéi wàn mín shì, tiān zhī dào bì yǐ.

Hence the Great Essentials says: the coarse workman giggles and thinks he knows; before he has done speaking of heat the cold illness begins again — the same qi in different forms, a puzzled diagnosis and a confused canon; this is what is meant. As for the way of tip and root, it is essential yet broad, small yet great: one may speak of one and know the harm of the hundred illnesses. To speak of tip and root is easy and does no harm. To examine root and tip, the qi can be made harmonious, and to know prevalence and revenge clearly is a model for all the people; the way of heaven is complete.

**「亂經」本篇2見，二見皆在標本之末**；**此段「同氣異形，迷診亂經，此之謂也」，與上文「足以亂經」相接**

Compounds built on this term

亂經

luàn jīng

confounding the channels

月郭空而治之誤，本篇三誤之最

真邪

zhēn xié

true qi and evil

真邪不别，亂經之徵

淫邪

yín xié

licentious evil

外虚内亂則淫邪乃起

藏虚

zàng xū

emptying the depot

三誤之一，與亂經同列

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	throwing the channels into disorder	Wiseman's verbal form preserves 亂 as something the physician does, which is the chapter's point.
Unschuld	disordering the conduits	Unschuld's 'conduits' is his regular term for 經; 'disordering' keeps the act but reads as though disorder were the intended effect.
This site	confounding the channels	'Confounding' carries both the disorder and the loss of distinction the chapter goes on to describe — yin and yang crossed, true and evil no longer separable — which plain 'disordering' does not. We use 'channels' for 經 here, as elsewhere on the site.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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