Retching · ou ni

Also rendered: Vomiting and counterflow (Literal) · Retching (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-28

At a glance

Pinyin: ǒu nì
Simplified: 呕逆
Literal: 嘔 ǒu is to bring up from the stomach; 逆 nì is to go against the proper direction — the same 逆 as in 厥逆 and 四逆. The phrase therefore says more than vomiting: the stomach's qi is going the wrong way, and what comes up is the evidence of that reversal.
Shuowen: **《說文》：「嘔，吐也。」「逆，迎也。」** 逆之本義為迎，引申為不順、倒行，故氣上為逆。**底本一見**（5-03），在傷寒定義之中。**嘔逆與乾嘔别**：嘔逆統言氣逆而上，乾嘔則專指有聲無物（5-13）；本書又有「吐」「欲嘔」「吐逆」諸語，各有其段。**嘔逆在傷寒為必具之證**，與惡寒、體痛、脉緊並舉，非偶然之兼證。

In brief

The stomach’s qi going the wrong way, so that what should descend rises. It is one of the four signs that name cold damage, beside aversion to cold, bodily pain and a tight pulse, and it speaks of the evil reaching the middle as well as the exterior. It is wider than dry retching, which is sound without substance: 嘔逆 names the reversal, 乾嘔 names one of its results.

Senses in the classical corpus

One of the four that name cold damage 體痛嘔逆

寒邪外束，胃氣上逆，故嘔逆與體痛並見

Cold binds the exterior and the stomach qi rises instead of descending; retching therefore appears beside pain throughout the body.

太陽病，或已發熱，或未發熱，必惡寒，體痛嘔逆，脉陰陽俱緊者，名曰傷寒 — 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，或已發熱，或未發熱，必惡寒，體痛嘔逆，脉陰陽俱緊者，名曰傷寒。太阳病，或已发热，或未发热，必恶寒，体痛呕逆，脉阴阳俱紧者，名曰伤寒。

tài yáng bìng huò yǐ fā rè huò wèi fā rè bì wù hán tǐ tòng ǒu nì mài yīn yáng jù jǐn zhě míng yuē shāng hán

In taiyang disease, whether fever has appeared or not, there is certain aversion to cold, bodily pain, vomiting with counterflow, and both the yin and yang pulses are tight: this is called cold damage.

**「嘔逆」五篇共1見**（經文，不含成注），本文引第5篇第03段。

Compounds built on this term

體痛嘔逆

tǐ tòng ǒu nì

bodily pain with retching

辨太陽病脉證并治上第五

吐逆

tù nì

vomiting and counterflow

辨脉法第一

乾嘔

gān ǒu

dry retching

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	retching	keeps the reversed movement, which is the point
Literal	vomit and go against	exact, and reads as two events
Clinical	nausea with retching	clear, and adds a symptom not in the word

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-28

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