鼻淵简体鼻渊

bí yuān

Deep-source nose · bi yuan

Also rendered: Deep-source nose (this site; 淵 rendered as source rather than abyss, since the discharge has an origin the chapter is tracing) · Nose pool (too literal; 淵 in a medical name means source, not standing water)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: bí yuān
Simplified: 鼻渊
Literal: 鼻淵 bí yuān — nose, and deep water. 淵 is a pool with no visible bottom, and the chapter uses it for a discharge with no visible end: turbid snivel running down without stopping. It is produced when the gallbladder shifts heat into the brain, and the pathway is worth noticing — the gallbladder channel runs to the head, and the chapter is tracing a route, not just listing symptoms. Of all the names coined in chapter 37 this is the one that survived: 鼻淵 is still the ordinary Chinese medical term for chronic sinusitis, two thousand years on. The chapter also records the step that follows if it is left: 傳爲衄衊瞑目, nosebleed, defiled blood, darkened sight.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：淵，回水也——**本義為回旋之水**，**引申為深、為源**；**「鼻淵」者，鼻中深處之病**。「鼻」讀 bí，本篇2見；「淵」讀 yuān，本篇2見，**不作「渊」（「渊」讀 yuān）**；「辛」讀 xīn；「頞」讀 è，**鼻梁也，本篇惟此一見**；「濁」讀 zhuó、「涕」讀 tì。

In brief

A discharge from the nose that does not stop; produced when the gallbladder shifts heat into the brain. Still the standard Chinese medical name for chronic sinusitis.

Senses in the classical corpus

What the graphs say 鼻淵

鼻，鼻也；淵，回水也，引申為深源

膽移熱於腦，則辛頞鼻淵 — Suwen 37

The chapter's own definition 鼻淵

濁涕下不止也

鼻淵者，濁涕下不止也 — Suwen 37

The route 鼻淵

膽脉上頭，熱循經而上入於腦

膽移熱於腦 — Suwen 37

The sore bridge 辛頞

頞者鼻梁，辛者辛酸

則辛頞鼻淵 — Suwen 37

What follows if it is left 鼻淵

傳爲衄衊瞑目

傳爲衄衊瞑目 — Suwen 37

The name outlives the theory 鼻淵

今之鼻竇炎仍用此名

鼻淵者，濁涕下不止也 — Suwen 37

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 37 Suwen 37 · 氣厥論 Read in context →

膽移熱於腦，則辛頞鼻淵，鼻淵者，濁涕下不止也。胆移热于脑，则辛頞鼻渊，鼻渊者，浊涕下不止也。

Dǎn yí rè yú nǎo, zé xīn è bí yuān, bí yuān zhě, zhuó tì xià bù zhǐ yě.

When the gallbladder shifts heat into the brain, the bridge of the nose is hot and sore and it becomes deep-source nose. Deep-source nose is turbid snivel running down without stopping.

**「膽移熱於腦，則辛頞鼻淵，鼻淵者，濁涕下不止也」二十字，是熱移十變之末變，亦為全篇唯一之自注句**。**本篇第二處文字裁定在此**——**底本此句作「膽，移熱於腦」，「膽」字下有一逗，介於主謂之間**，**與第三十四篇「中非：有寒氣也」之衍冒號同例**；**用戶裁定：刪去此逗，正文作「膽移熱於腦」，校勘記一筆**。**「鼻淵者，濁涕下不止也」九字是全篇唯一以「者…也」自釋其名者**——**本篇條列十五變而別無自注，惟此一見**；**與第三十六篇「舌下兩脉者，廉泉也」同例**。**「辛」「辛」讀 xīn者，辛酸痛楚也**；**「頞」「頞」讀 è，鼻梁也，本篇惟此一見**；**「淵」「淵」讀 yuān2見，不作「渊」**；**「濁」「濁」讀 zhuó，不作「浊」**；**「下」「下」讀 xià者，下流也**——**與上文「上爲口麋」之「上」字相對成文**。**「鼻淵」之名沿用至今，為本篇最長壽之病名**。

Compounds built on this term

辛頞

xīn è

a hot, sore bridge of the nose

本篇之語，「頞」為鼻梁，讀 è

濁涕下不止

zhuó tì xià bù zhǐ

turbid snivel running down without stopping

本篇自釋鼻淵之語，全篇唯一自注句

衄衊

nǜ miè

nosebleed and defiled blood

鼻淵不已之所傳，本篇篇末之語

腦

nǎo

the brain

本篇「膽移熱於腦」；《素問》「腦」字罕見

How it has been translated

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

This site	deep-source nose	the name is still current in Chinese medicine, so the rendering is made to travel back to it
Unschuld	deep source [nasal] congestion	adds congestion, which the text does not mention
Wiseman	deep source nasal congestion	the standard modern term

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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