結胸 简体 结胸

jié xiōng

Knotted chest · jie xiong

Also rendered: Knotted chest (Literal) · Heat and fluid bound above the diaphragm (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin
jié xiōng
Simplified
结胸
Literal
結 jié is to knot or tie fast; 胸 xiōng is the chest. Heat and fluid tie themselves fast above the diaphragm, and the knot can be felt: pain under the hand, hardness like stone. The word describes a formed thing, which is why the chapter can say that a knotted chest hurts while a 痞 does not.
Shuowen
**《說文》:「結,締也。」「胸,膺也。」** **六至十篇經文共23見**(第七篇二十一見,第八篇一見)。提綱在「按之痛,寸脉浮,關脉沉,名曰結胸」;成因在「病發於陽而反下之,熱入因作結胸」。**與藏結對舉**(藏結飲食如故、時時下利);**與痞對舉**(結胸痛,痞不痛)。有熱實、寒實、水結、小結胸之別,方有大陷胸丸、大陷胸湯、小陷胸湯、白散。

In brief

A knotting of heat and fluid in the chest. The chapter defines it by touch — pain under the hand, with the inch pulse floating and the bar pulse deep — and distinguishes it at once from 藏結, where food still goes down and diarrhoea comes from time to time. It arises when a yang disease is purged too early, so that heat enters and knots below the heart, hard and painful like stone. The chapter knows several forms: heat-repletion, cold-repletion, water bound in the chest and flank, and the small knot; each has its own prescription, and the great trap decoction is withheld where the pulse is floating and large, or where the signs are complete and restlessness has appeared.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
提綱 按之痛,寸脉浮,關脉沉,名曰結胸也
結胸之辨,以按之痛爲主,佐以寸浮關沉;同時與藏結對舉,彼飲食如故而時時下利
The definition by the hand: pressure brings pain, the inch pulse floats and the bar is deep. In the same breath the chapter sets it against 藏結, where food still goes down and the bowels move from time to time — the difference between a knot that can be felt and one that cannot.
答曰:按之痛,寸脉浮,關脉沉,名曰結胸也。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七
2
成因 病發於陽而反下之,熱入因作結胸
陽病當汗而反下,表熱内陷,與胸中水飲相結,故成結胸;下之太早,是其過
The cause: a yang disease that should have been sweated was purged instead, so the exterior heat fell inward and knotted with the fluid already in the chest. The chapter names the error — purging too early — rather than the pathogen.
病發於陽而反下之,熱入因作結胸;病發於陰而反下之,因作痞。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七
3
熱實 結胸熱實,脉沉而緊
結胸而熱實者,心下痛、按之石鞕、脉沉緊,熱與水結而無虚象,故以大陷胸湯直攻
Heat-repletion: pain below the heart, hardness like stone under the hand, a deep and tight pulse. Nothing is deficient, so the great trap decoction attacks directly, with rhubarb, mirabilite, euphorbia and trichosanthes.
傷寒六七日,結胸熱實,脉沉而緊,心下痛,按之石鞕者,大陷胸湯主之。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七
4
寒實 寒實結胸,無熱證者
結胸而無熱證,是寒水相結之實,不用大陷胸之寒下,而與三物小陷胸湯或白散
Cold-repletion: a knotted chest with no heat signs. Here the cold purge is wrong; the chapter gives the three-drug small trap decoction or white powder, whose drugs are warm and whose action is to disperse rather than to cool.
寒實結胸,無熱證者,與三物小陷胸湯,白散亦可服。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七
5
與痞之别 心下滿而鞕痛者,此爲結胸也
同一誤下,心下滿而鞕痛者爲結胸,但滿而不痛者爲痞;痛與不痛,是二證之分水
The dividing line: after the same mistaken purge, fullness with hardness and pain is a knotted chest; fullness alone, without pain, is a 痞. One word — pain — separates two diseases with two different prescriptions.
若心下滿而鞕痛者,此爲結胸也,大陷胸湯主之。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

Display
4 passages
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七·辨太陽病脉證并治下第七 Read in context →
問曰:病有結胸,有藏結,其狀何如?答曰:按之痛,寸脉浮,關脉沉,名曰結胸也。“何謂藏結?”答曰:如結胸狀,飲食如故,時時下利,寸脉浮,關脉小細、沉、緊,名曰藏結。舌上白胎滑者,難治。 问曰:病有结胸,有藏结,其状何如?答曰:按之痛,寸脉浮,关脉沉,名曰结胸也。“何谓藏结?”答曰:如结胸状,饮食如故,时时下利,寸脉浮,关脉小细、沉、紧,名曰藏结。舌上白胎滑者,难治。
wèn yuē bìng yǒu jié xiōng yǒu zàng jié qí zhuàng hé rú dá yuē àn zhī tòng cùn mài fú guān mài chén míng yuē jié xiōng yě hé wèi zàng jié dá yuē rú jié xiōng zhuàng yǐn shí rú gù shí shí xià lì cùn mài fú guān mài xiǎo xì chén jǐn míng yuē zàng jié shé shàng bái tāi huá zhě nán zhì
A question: the disease has chest binding and visceral binding; what is each like? The answer: pain on pressure, a floating pulse at the inch and a deep pulse at the bar, is called chest binding. What is called visceral binding? The answer: like chest binding, with food and drink as usual, frequent diarrhoea, a floating pulse at the inch, and a small, fine, deep, tense pulse at the bar, is called visceral binding. When the tongue coating is white and slippery, it is hard to cure.
結胸、藏結並問並答,一按之痛,一飲食如故;開篇即立兩證之界。
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七·辨太陽病脉證并治下第七 Read in context →
病發於陽而反下之,熱入因作結胸;病發於陰而反下之,因作痞。所以成結胸者,以下之太早故也。 病发于阳而反下之,热入因作结胸;病发于阴而反下之,因作痞。所以成结胸者,以下之太早故也。
bìng fā yú yáng ér fǎn xià zhī rè rù yīn zuò jié xiōng bìng fā yú yīn ér fǎn xià zhī yīn zuò pǐ suǒ yǐ chéng jié xiōng zhě yǐ xià zhī tài zǎo gù yě
When a disease arising from yang is wrongly purged, the heat sinks in and makes chest binding; when one arising from yin is wrongly purged, it makes fullness. Chest binding forms because the purgation was given too early.
「病發於陽而反下之」——結胸之成,責在下早,不在邪盛。
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七·辨太陽病脉證并治下第七 Read in context →
傷寒六七日,結胸熱實,脉沉而緊,心下痛,按之石鞕者,大陷胸湯主之。 伤寒六七日,结胸热实,脉沉而紧,心下痛,按之石硬者,大陷胸汤主之。
shāng hán liù qī rì jié xiōng rè shí mài chén ér jǐn xīn xià tòng àn zhī shí yìng zhě dà xiàn xiōng tāng zhǔ zhī
After six or seven days of cold damage, with chest binding that is hot and replete, a deep, tense pulse, and pain below the heart that feels hard as stone on pressure, Major Chest-Binding Decoction governs it.
熱實結胸,脉沉緊、按之石鞕,是大陷胸湯的正面證。
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七·辨太陽病脉證并治下第七 Read in context →
傷寒五六日,嘔而發熱者,柴胡湯證具,而以他藥下之,柴胡證仍在者,復與柴胡湯,此雖已下之,不爲逆,必蒸蒸而振,卻發熱汗出而解。若心下滿而鞕痛者,此爲結胸也,大陷胸湯主之。但滿而不痛者,此爲痞,柴胡不中與之,宜半夏瀉心湯。 伤寒五六日,呕而发热者,柴胡汤证具,而以他药下之,柴胡证仍在者,复与柴胡汤,此虽已下之,不为逆,必蒸蒸而振,却发热汗出而解。若心下满而硬痛者,此为结胸也,大陷胸汤主之。但满而不痛者,此为痞,柴胡不中与之,宜半夏泻心汤。
shāng hán wǔ liù rì ǒu ér fā rè zhě chái hú tāng zhèng jù ér yǐ tā yào xià zhī chái hú zhèng réng zài zhě fù yǔ chái hú tāng cǐ suī yǐ xià zhī bù wéi nì bì zhēng zhēng ér zhèn què fā rè hàn chū ér jiě ruò xīn xià mǎn ér yìng tòng zhě cǐ wéi jié xiōng yě dà xiàn xiōng tāng zhǔ zhī dàn mǎn ér bù tòng zhě cǐ wéi pǐ chái hú bù zhòng yǔ zhī yí bàn xià xiè xīn tāng
After five or six days of cold damage with vomiting and fever, the signs of Bupleurum Decoction are complete; if another drug is used to purge and the Bupleurum signs remain, give Bupleurum Decoction again. Though purged, this is not a mistreatment: he will shake and steam, then break into fever and sweat and be resolved. If the epigastrium is full and hard with pain, this is chest binding, and Major Chest-Binding Decoction governs it. If it is full without pain, this is fullness, and Bupleurum is not to be given; Pinellia Heart-Draining Decoction is suitable.
結胸與痞,只爭一「痛」字;柴胡不中與,半夏瀉心主之。

Compounds built on this term

結胸證
jié xiōng zhèng
the knotted-chest pattern
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七
熱實結胸
rè shí jié xiōng
heat-repletion knotted chest
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七
寒實結胸
hán shí jié xiōng
cold-repletion knotted chest
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七
小結胸
xiǎo jié xiōng
the small knot in the chest
辨太陽病脉證并治下第七

How it has been translated

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

This siteknotted chestkeeps 結 as a knot that can be felt
Literalthe chest is tied fastexact, and more violent than the Chinese
Clinicalchest bindshort, and already standard in English

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-31

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