Fullness of the chest · xiong man

Also rendered: Fullness in the chest (Clinical) · Chest fullness (Literal)

Reviewed · 2026-10-28

At a glance

Pinyin: xiōng mǎn
Simplified: 胸满
Literal: 胸 xiōng is the chest; 滿 mǎn is fullness. The book's fullness is felt, not necessarily swollen: something is stopped in the chest and will not move. Here it follows a purge, and the pulse that comes with it is 促 — the sign that the chest's yang has been checked.
Shuowen: **《說文》：「胸，膺也。」「滿，盈溢也。」** **底本一見**（5-25）。**胸滿生於誤下**：太陽病本當汗解，反下之，裏氣受傷，胸中陽氣不布，故胸滿而脉促。**脉促非數而止**，乃脉來急促、去而復來之象，主胸陽受遏。**胸滿與心下滿别**：胸滿在胸膈，心下滿在胃脘；5-25 言胸滿，5-33 言心下滿，部位不同，方亦不同。

In brief

A stopped, full feeling in the chest, coming on after a purge. The book gives it once, with a hurried pulse: the exterior was not cleared and the interior was attacked instead, so the chest’s yang no longer spreads. The prescription withdraws the sour peony from cinnamon twig decoction, because sourness gathers and the chest wants dispersing. It is not the same as fullness below the heart, which lies in the stomach and calls for a different formula.

Senses in the classical corpus

Fullness after a purge 脉促胸滿者

誤下之後胸陽不布，故胸滿；脉促者，陽氣欲出而不得出

After a purge the chest's yang no longer spreads and the chest is full; the pulse runs hurriedly because the yang wants out and cannot get out. Cinnamon twig decoction without peony governs it.

太陽病，下之後，脉促胸滿者，桂枝去芍藥湯主之 — 傷寒論·辨太陽病脉證并治上第五

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

傷寒論·辨太陽病脉證并治上第五 Read in context →

太陽病，下之後，脉促胸滿者，桂枝去芍藥湯主之。若微惡寒者，去芍藥方中加附子湯主之。太阳病，下之后，脉促胸满者，桂枝去芍药汤主之。若微恶寒者，去芍药方中加附子汤主之。

tài yáng bìng xià zhī hòu mài cù xiōng mǎn zhě guì zhī qù sháo yào tāng zhǔ zhī ruò wēi wù hán zhě qù sháo yào fāng zhòng jiā fù zǐ tāng zhǔ zhī

In taiyang disease after purging, with a racing pulse and fullness in the chest, Cinnamon Twig Decoction without Peony governs. If there is slight aversion to cold, add aconite to the peony-free formula.

**「胸滿」五篇共1見**（經文，不含成注），本文引第5篇第25段。

Compounds built on this term

脉促胸滿

mài cù xiōng mǎn

a hurried pulse with a full chest

辨太陽病脉證并治上第五

心下滿

xīn xià mǎn

fullness below the heart

辨太陽病脉證并治上第五

胸滿微痛

xiōng mǎn wēi tòng

fullness of the chest with slight pain

辨太陽病脉證并治上第五

How it has been translated

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

This site	fullness of the chest	keeps the place, which decides the formula
Literal	chest full	exact, and could suggest swelling
Clinical	chest oppression	clear, and modern in register

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-28

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