Classica Sinica Medica

亡津液

wáng jīn yè

Loss of fluids · wang jin ye

Also rendered: Loss of fluids (This site) · Fleeing of fluids (Literal) · Fluid depletion (Clinical)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin
wáng jīn yè
Simplified
亡津液
Literal
亡 wáng is to flee, to be lost — not the same graph as 死, death, but a going away; 津 jīn is the thin fluid of the body, 液 yè the thick. The two together are what sweat, urine and stool carry off. 亡津液 therefore names a depletion, not a disease: the body has been drained, and what follows — dry stomach, hard stool, scanty urine — follows from that draining.
Shuowen
**《說文》：「亡，逃也。」「津，水渡也。」「液，津也。」** 津液本水穀所化，汗、吐、下、利小便皆能奪之。**六至十篇五見**：第六篇二（行77、79）、第八篇三（行467、507、595）。**其要有三**：一曰**可自復**——陰陽自和者必自愈；二曰**勿妄治**——小便不利而亡津液者，勿治之，得小便利必自愈；三曰**成陽明之由**——亡津液則胃中乾燥，因而轉屬陽明，大便因鞕。

In brief

The draining of the body’s fluids by sweating, vomiting, purging or the promotion of urine. The chapters treat it in three ways. First, it may right itself: where yin and yang come back into accord, the disease resolves without treatment. Second, it must not be meddled with: when urine is scanty because the fluids are gone, the rule is to leave it alone, for once urination returns the patient recovers — to promote urine further would drain what remains. Third, it is the ordinary road into yang brightness: the stomach dries, the stool hardens, and what began as taiyang becomes the interior repletion of yang brightness. The term thus explains a mechanism rather than naming a pattern, and it is the reason the chapter so often forbids a second sweat or a second purge.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
陰陽自和必自愈 若亡津液，陰陽自和者，必自愈
凡病經汗吐下而亡津液，若陰陽能自和，則津液自生，不必用藥，必自愈
When sweating, vomiting or purging has drained the fluids, and yin and yang can still come into accord, the fluids will regenerate of themselves; no medicine is needed and the patient recovers.
凡病若發汗，若吐、若下，若亡津液，陰陽自和者，必自愈。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治中第六
2
勿治之 亡津液故也，勿治之
大下之後復發汗，小便不利，非水停而是津液亡；不可以利小便爲治，得小便利則津回而愈
Purged heavily and then sweated, with scanty urine: this is not water stalled but fluid gone. Do not treat it by promoting urine; when urine flows freely again the fluids have returned.
大下之後，復發汗，小便不利者，亡津液故也，勿治之，得小便利，必自愈。 — 辨太陽病脉證并治中第六
3
轉屬陽明之由 此亡津液，胃中乾燥
太陽病汗下利小便，津液亡而胃中乾燥，因轉屬陽明；不更衣、内實、大便難，皆從此出
Sweated, purged or diuresed, the taiyang patient loses fluids, the stomach dries, and the disease turns into yang brightness. No stool, repletion within, difficult stool — all follow from this.
太陽病，發汗，若下，若利小便，此亡津液，胃中乾燥，因轉屬陽明。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八
4
大便鞕而小便數少 以亡津液，胃中乾燥，故令大便鞕
重發汗而病差，微煩不了了，以津亡胃燥故大便鞕；小便由三四行減爲再行，知津液當還，大便不久出
Sweated again after improvement, with slight restlessness and a mind not clear: the fluids are gone, the stomach dry, and the stool therefore hard. Urination falling from three or four times a day to twice means the fluids are returning to the stomach and the stool will soon come.
陽明病，本自汗出，醫更重發汗，病已差，尚微煩不了了者，此大便必鞕故也。以亡津液，胃中乾燥，故令大便鞕。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
4 passages
辨太陽病脉證并治中第六·辨太陽病脉證并治中第六 Read in context →
凡病若發汗，若吐、若下，若亡津液，陰陽自和者，必自愈。 凡病若发汗，若吐、若下，若亡津液，阴阳自和者，必自愈。
fán bìng ruò fā hàn ruò tǔ ruò xià ruò wáng jīn yè yīn yáng zì hé zhě bì zì yù
In any illness, whether by sweating, by emesis, by purgation, or by loss of fluids, so long as yin and yang come into harmony of themselves, recovery is certain.
「陰陽自和」四字，是亡津液的第一轉機；不須補，只須不擾。
辨太陽病脉證并治中第六·辨太陽病脉證并治中第六 Read in context →
大下之後，復發汗，小便不利者，亡津液故也，勿治之，得小便利，必自愈。 大下之后，复发汗，小便不利者，亡津液故也，勿治之，得小便利，必自愈。
dà xià zhī hòu fù fā hàn xiǎo biàn bù lì zhě wáng jīn yè gù yě wù zhì zhī dé xiǎo biàn lì bì zì yù
After severe purgation, sweating is induced again and urination becomes difficult: this is due to loss of fluids. Do not treat it with diuretics; when urination becomes free, recovery follows of itself.
小便不利而曰勿治，最見分寸：利之則津愈竭。
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
問曰：“何緣得陽明病？”答曰：“太陽病，發汗，若下，若利小便，此亡津液，胃中乾燥，因轉屬陽明。不更衣，内實，大便難者，此名陽明也。” 问曰：“何缘得阳明病？”答曰：“太阳病，发汗，若下，若利小便，此亡津液，胃中干燥，因转属阳明。不更衣，内实，大便难者，此名阳明也。”
wèn yuē hé yuán dé yáng míng bìng dá yuē tài yáng bìng fā hàn ruò xià ruò lì xiǎo biàn cǐ wáng jīn yè wèi zhōng gān zào yīn zhuǎn shǔ yáng míng bù gēng yī nèi shí dà biàn nán zhě cǐ míng yáng míng yě
A question: how does one contract yangming disease? The answer: in Taiyang disease, sweating, purging, or promoting urine drains the fluids, the stomach dries, and the disease turns to belong to yangming. Not changing clothes, internal excess, and difficult stool, this is called yangming.
陽明之來路，全在「亡津液，胃中乾燥」六字。
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
陽明病，本自汗出，醫更重發汗，病已差，尚微煩不了了者，此大便必鞕故也。以亡津液，胃中乾燥，故令大便鞕。當問其“小便日幾行”，若本小便日三四行，今日再行，故知大便不久出。今爲小便數少，以津液當還入胃中，故知不久必大便也。 阳明病，本自汗出，医更重发汗，病已差，尚微烦不了了者，此大便必硬故也。以亡津液，胃中干燥，故令大便硬。当问其“小便日几行”，若本小便日三四行，今日再行，故知大便不久出。今为小便数少，以津液当还入胃中，故知不久必大便也。
yáng míng bìng běn zì hàn chū yī gèng chóng fā hàn bìng yǐ chài shàng wēi fán bù liǎo liǎo zhě cǐ dà biàn bì yìng gù yě yǐ wáng jīn yè wèi zhōng gān zào gù lìng dà biàn yìng dāng wèn qí xiǎo biàn rì jǐ xíng ruò běn xiǎo biàn rì sān sì xíng jīn rì zài xíng gù zhī dà biàn bù jiǔ chū jīn wéi xiǎo biàn shuò shào yǐ jīn yè dāng huán rù wèi zhōng gù zhī bù jiǔ bì dà biàn yě
In yangming disease there was spontaneous sweat to begin with, and the physician induced sweat again; the illness has eased, yet there is slight irritation and a lack of clarity, because the stool must be hard. The fluids are drained and the stomach dry, so the stool is hard. One should ask how many times a day the patient urines: if it was three or four times and is now twice, the stool will soon come. Now that the urine is less frequent, the fluids are returning to the stomach, and so the stool will soon pass.
問小便日幾行以測津液還否，是極實的觀察法。

Compounds built on this term

亡津液
wáng jīn yè
loss of fluids
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
津液
jīn yè
fluids
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
胃中乾燥
wèi zhōng gān zào
dryness in the stomach
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
轉屬陽明
zhuǎn shǔ yáng míng
turning into yang brightness
辨陽明病脉證并治第八

How it has been translated

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

This siteloss of fluidskeeps 亡 as a going-away, not a death
Literalflight of fluidsexact, but archaic
Clinicalfluid depletionstandard, loses the verb's movement

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-31

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Reading path

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