Classica Sinica Medica

腸癰 简体 肠痈

cháng yōng

Intestinal abscess

Also rendered: Intestinal abscess (this site; 癰 rendered as abscess) · Bowel abscess (where 腸 is taken as the bowel rather than the intestine)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09-30

At a glance

Pinyin
cháng yōng
Simplified
肠痈
Literal
腸癰 cháng yōng — what the lesser yang entry turns into, and the reason the chapter marks that entry untreatable. Abscess of the bowel: once the joints have locked and the qi has lodged, this is where it goes, and the chapter adds that the patient who takes fright dies.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：腸，大小腸也；癰，腫也。「腸」讀 cháng、**本篇1見**；「癰」讀 yōng、**本篇1見**；**「發腸癰，不可治，驚者死」——本篇最重之判語**；**上文「機關不利」為其漸**。

In brief

Abscess within the bowel. Chapter 45 names it once, as the complication that makes counterflow inversion in lesser yang untreatable — the only entry in the catalogue with a prohibition rather than a treatment.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 腸、癰
腸者傳化之府，癰者氣血壅而為腫
發腸癰 — Suwen 45
2
What precedes it 機關不利
樞不利而氣鬱，久則化熱成癰
機關不利者 — Suwen 45
3
How the chapter grades it 不可治
本篇諸條皆言「治主病者」，惟此言不可治
發腸癰，不可治 — Suwen 45
4
What settles it 驚者死
併發驚者則死
驚者死 — Suwen 45
5
Its place in the entry 少陽厥逆
少陽主樞，樞鬱則成癰
少陽厥逆 — Suwen 45
6
Against the neighbouring entries 三陰俱逆，三日死
本篇死證三：太陽之驚、三陰之逆、手心主少陰
三日死 — Suwen 45

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 45 Suwen 45 · 厥論 Read in context →
少陽厥逆，機關不利，機關不利者，腰不可以行，項不可以顧，發腸癰，不可治，驚者死。 少阳厥逆，机关不利，机关不利者，腰不可以行，项不可以顾，发肠痈，不可治，惊者死。
Shào yáng jué nì, jī guān bù lì, jī guān bù lì zhě, yāo bù kě yǐ xíng, xiàng bù kě yǐ gù, fā cháng yōng, bù kě zhì, jīng zhě sǐ.
In counterflow inversion of lesser yang the joints do not work freely; and if the joints do not work freely, the lower back cannot carry one about and the nape cannot turn to look behind. Should it develop into an intestinal abscess, it cannot be treated; one who takes fright dies.
**「發腸癰，不可治，驚者死」——**「腸」讀 cháng、**本篇1見**；「癰」讀 yōng、**本篇1見**；**本篇惟此一條不作「治主病者」而言「不可治」**；**「驚者死」與下文「三日死」「死不可治」為全篇三處死候**。

Compounds built on this term

腸癰
cháng yōng
intestinal abscess
本篇一見
發腸癰
fā cháng yōng
it develops into an intestinal abscess
少陽厥逆之變
不可治
bù kě zhì
it cannot be treated
本篇惟此一見
驚者死
jīng zhě sǐ
one who takes fright dies
併發而死者

How it has been translated

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

This siteintestinal abscess癰 is abscess — a localised swelling of qi and blood that has turned
Unschuldintestinal abscesshe renders the pair directly
Wisemanintestinal welling-abscess癰 is welling-abscess in his system

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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