Classica Sinica Medica

崩

bēng

Flooding · beng

Also rendered: Flooding (this site; it keeps the collapse in the word, which the clinical names for uterine bleeding do not) · Beng (transliteration; how the word appears where this pulse verdict is cited)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-11

At a glance

Pinyin
bēng
Simplified
崩
Literal
崩 bēng — a mountain coming down (《說文》: 崩，山壞也). Used of a woman's blood the word is a collapse: what should be held gives way at once and comes down, and the quantity is the point. It is not the slow loss of a long illness; it is the side of a hill.
Shuowen
**「崩」本篇1見，止在此句**；**《說文》：崩，山壞也；从山朋聲**；**「陰虚陽搏」本篇1見，止在「謂之崩」之上**；**本篇「陰」凡38見、「陽」凡43見，此句以二氣之虚搏立病名**；**「虚」與「搏」對舉：虚者陰不足，搏者陽有餘**

In brief

The chapter’s word for a woman’s blood breaking out and not stopping: 陰虚陽搏，謂之崩 — the yin is empty, the yang beats, and that is called 崩. It stands immediately after 陰搏陽别，謂之有子 in the same paragraph, and the two together are the chapter’s sharpest piece of pulse reading. There the yin is full and beats and the yang stands apart, and the woman is with child; here the yin is empty and the yang beats, and the blood comes down. One pulse, two verdicts, and the whole difference is whether the yin is full or empty. 崩 itself is a collapse: a mountain coming down, and the blood coming down with it.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 崩
崩者山壞；血下如崩，言其暴
陰虚陽搏，謂之崩 — Suwen 7
2
The sign 陰虚陽搏
陰分虚而陽脈摶擊，血失所守
陰虚陽搏 — Suwen 7
3
Against 有子 陰搏陽别／陰虚陽搏
一陰盛、一陰虚，同一部脉而虚實相反
陰虚陽搏，謂之崩 — Suwen 7
4
What it is 血下不止
崩言暴下，非久久淋漓之候
陰虚陽搏，謂之崩 — Suwen 7
5
The verdict before it 陽加於陰謂之汗
同段第三判，亦以陰陽相加之勢言之
陽加於陰謂之汗 — Suwen 7
6
How it was taken up 崩
後世有崩中、血崩、崩漏之名，皆本此
陰虚陽搏，謂之崩 — Suwen 7

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·陰陽别論 Suwen 7 · 陰陽别論 Read in context →
陰搏陽别，謂之有子。陰陽虚，腸辟死。陽加於陰謂之汗。陰虚陽搏，謂之崩。 阴搏阳别，谓之有子。阴阳虚，肠辟死。阳加于阴谓之汗。阴虚阳搏，谓之崩。
yīn bó yáng bié, wèi zhī yǒu zǐ. yīn yáng xū, cháng pì sǐ. yáng jiā yú yīn wèi zhī hàn. yīn xū yáng bó, wèi zhī bēng.
When the yin beats and the yang stands apart, it is called having a child. When yin and yang are both depleted and there is flux of the bowel, death follows. Yang added to yin is called sweating. When yin is depleted and yang beats, it is called flooding.
**「崩」本篇1見，止此一句**；**本段四判之末，前有「陰搏陽别，謂之有子」，二判以同一部脉相對**；**「陰虚」與「陽搏」對舉：虚者陰之不足，搏者陽之有餘**；**「陰陽虚，腸辟死」之「腸辟」底本作「辟」，讀 pì，本站第八六九條**；**本站新立此目，與「有子」同段**
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
敦阜之紀，是謂廣化，厚德清靜，順長以盈，至陰内實，物化充成，煙埃朦鬱，見於厚土，大雨時行，濕氣乃用，燥政乃辟，其化圓，其氣豐，其政靜，其令周備，其動濡積并蓄，其德柔潤重淖，其變震驚、飄驟、崩潰，其榖稷、麻，其畜牛、犬，其果棗、李，其色黅、𤣥、蒼，其味甘、鹹、酸，其象長夏，其經足太陰、陽明，其藏脾、腎，其蟲倮毛，其物肌核，其病腹滿，四支不舉，大風迅至，邪傷脾也。 敦阜之纪，是谓广化，厚德清静，顺长以盈，至阴内实，物化充成，烟埃朦郁，见于厚土，大雨时行，湿气乃用，燥政乃辟，其化圆，其气丰，其政静，其令周备，其动濡积并蓄，其德柔润重淖，其变震惊、飘骤、崩溃，其谷稷、麻，其畜牛、犬，其果枣、李，其色黅、𤣥、苍，其味甘、咸、酸，其象长夏，其经足太阴、阳明，其藏脾、肾，其虫倮毛，其物肌核，其病腹满，四支不举，大风迅至，邪伤脾也。
Dūn fù zhī jì, shì wèi guǎng huà, hòu dé qīng jìng, shùn zhǎng yǐ yíng, zhì yīn nèi shí, wù huà chōng chéng, yān āi méng yù, xiàn yú hòu tǔ, dà yǔ shí xíng, shī qì nǎi yòng, zào zhèng nǎi bì, qí huà yuán, qí qì fēng, qí zhèng jìng, qí lìng zhōu bèi, qí dòng rú jī bìng xù, qí dé róu rùn zhòng nào, qí biàn zhèn jīng, piāo zhòu, bēng kuì, qí gǔ jì, má, qí chù niú, quǎn, qí guǒ zǎo, lǐ, qí sè jīn, xuán, cāng, qí wèi gān, xián, suān, qí xiàng zhǎng xià, qí jīng zú tài yīn, yáng míng, qí zàng pí, shèn, qí chóng luǒ máo, qí wù jī hé, qí bìng fù mǎn, sì zhī bù jǔ, dà fēng xùn zhì, xié shāng pí yě.
The era of Mounded Height is called widened transformation: its thick virtue is clear and still, it follows growth and fills, the utmost yin is full within, and beings are transformed and brought to fullness; smoke and dust are murky and pent up and appear upon the thick earth; great rain moves in its season, the damp qi comes into use and the governance of dryness is turned aside. Its transformation round, its qi abundant, its governance still, its command complete all round, its movement dampness accumulating and gathering together, its virtue soft, moist, heavy and muddy, its change thunder-shaking, wind-driven rain and collapse, its grain panicled millet and hemp, its domestic animal the ox and the dog, its fruit the jujube and the plum, its colour yellow, black and blue-green, its flavour sweet, salty and sour, its image late summer, its channels the foot greater yin and yang brightness, its viscera the spleen and kidney, its creature the naked and the hairy, its thing flesh and pit, its illness abdominal fullness and limbs that cannot be raised. A great wind comes swiftly and evil injures the spleen.
**「崩」本篇1見，止在敦阜之紀「其變震驚、飄驟、崩潰」**；**前句「其德柔潤重淖」，德與變相對；土太過則飄驟崩潰，是大風迅至之由**

Compounds built on this term

陰搏陽别
yīn bó yáng bié
the yin beats and the yang stands apart
本篇1見；有子之脉，與崩相對，本站「有子」條
有子
yǒu zǐ
with child
本篇1見；本站新立目
陽加於陰
yáng jiā yú yīn
the yang added to the yin
本篇1見；謂之汗
血
xuè
blood
本篇1見；本站第四〇二條

How it has been translated

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

This siteflooding崩 is a mountain coming down, and the word is kept so that the suddenness stays in it
Transliterationbenghow the word is written in discussions of this paragraph; right about the referent, and it loses the collapse
Descriptivesudden heavy uterine bleedingexact, and it is a clinical description: the chapter names the pulse and the word, not the amount

Entry status

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2026-10-11

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