Classica Sinica Medica

膽癉 简体 胆瘅

dǎn dān

Gallbladder dan

Also rendered: Gallbladder dan (this site; the same 癉 as in 脾癉, and the pairing is the point) · Gallbladder heat (where the emphasis falls on the heat rather than on the illness)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
dǎn dān
Simplified
胆瘅
Literal
膽癉 dǎn dān — the illness of a mouth that tastes bitter, and the chapter's second case of the same word. Where the spleen dan came of eating, this one comes of deciding: the liver is the general within, the gallbladder is where the decision is taken, and a person who plans and ponders often without concluding leaves the gallbladder empty, so that its qi rises instead of staying down.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：膽，連肝之府，从肉詹聲。「膽」讀 dǎn、**本篇4見**；「癉」讀 dān、**本篇2見**；**底本「膽」从肉不从「胆」之省**。

In brief

The same word 癉 set in the gallbladder, showing itself as a bitter taste in the mouth. Chapter 47 gives the mechanism in one sentence: the liver is the general within, decision is taken from the gallbladder, and the throat is its envoy; someone who deliberates often and never decides empties the gallbladder, its qi overflows upward, and the mouth is bitter. The treatment is the gallbladder’s alarm and transport points.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graph 膽癉
癉讀 dān，熱也；與「疸」形近而音別
病名曰膽癉 — Suwen 47
2
Where the decision sits 肝者，中之將也
肝為内中之將，取決於膽
夫肝者，中之將也 — Suwen 47
3
The envoy 咽爲之使
咽喉為膽之外使
咽爲之使 — Suwen 47
4
The cause 數謀慮不決
謀慮頻數而不決，膽氣以虚
此人者，數謀慮不決 — Suwen 47
5
Why the mouth is bitter 膽虚氣上溢
膽虚則氣上溢，口為之苦
故膽虚氣上溢，而口爲之苦 — Suwen 47
6
The treatment 膽募俞
取膽之募穴與俞穴，俞讀 shù
治之以膽募俞 — Suwen 47

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 47 Suwen 47 · 奇病論 Read in context →
帝曰：有病口苦，取陽陵泉，口苦者，病名爲何？何以得之？歧伯曰：病名曰膽癉。 帝曰：有病口苦，取阳陵泉，口苦者，病名为何？何以得之？歧伯曰：病名曰胆瘅。
Dì yuē: yǒu bìng kǒu kǔ, qǔ yáng líng quán, kǒu kǔ zhě, bìng míng wéi hé? Hé yǐ dé zhī? Qí bó yuē: bìng míng yuē dǎn dān.
The Emperor asks: a person with a bitter taste in the mouth, for whom one takes Yang Mound Spring — what is the bitter mouth named, and how was it got? Qi Bo answers: the illness is named gallbladder dan.
**「病名曰膽癉」——**「膽」讀 dǎn、**本篇4見**；「癉」讀 dān、**本篇2見**；「苦」讀 kǔ、**本篇3見**；**「取陽陵泉」一句，為本篇治口苦之穴**。

Compounds built on this term

膽癉
dǎn dān
gallbladder dan
本篇口苦之病名
取決於膽
qǔ jué yú dǎn
decision is taken from the gallbladder
膽主決斷
膽募俞
dǎn mù shù
the alarm and transport points of the gallbladder
治膽癉之法
陽陵泉
yáng líng quán
Yang Mound Spring
本篇口苦所取之穴

How it has been translated

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

This sitegallbladder dan癉 is rendered the same way in both compounds, so that the chapter's pairing stays visible
Unschuldgallbladder danhe keeps the transcription and glosses it
Wisemangallbladder heathis system renders 癉 as heat throughout

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09-30

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Reading path

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

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