Classica Sinica Medica

疝瘕

shàn jiǎ

Shan and jia · shan jia

Also rendered: shan and jia (Transliterated, as both are technical terms) · hernia and abdominal masses (The modern clinical equivalents) · mounting and concretion (Wiseman's technical pair) · rupture and lumps (Older English)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
shàn jiǎ
Simplified
疝瘕
Literal
疝 pain in the abdomen (《說文》: 腹痛也); 瘕 the belly-illness, the lump that comes and goes (《說文》: 女病也; 段注: 腹中聚散無常之塊). Two complaints of the belly named together.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：疝，腹痛也（段注：引申為陰腫、小腹痛之病）；瘕，女病也（段注：引申為腹中聚塊、聚散無常者）。

In brief

Two abdominal complaints named as one phrase in chapter 18, and given twice. The first time from a pulse: 寸口脉沈而弱，曰寒熱及疝瘕、少腹痛 — sunken and weak at the inch opening means alternating cold and heat, together with shan and jia and pain in the lower abdomen. The second time from a different pulse arriving at the same place: 脉急者，曰疝瘕少腹痛. What the chapter is doing is matching a quality of the pulse to a region of the body; both a sunken weak pulse and a tense one land in the lower abdomen.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The two complaints 疝瘕
疝為腹痛，瘕為腹中聚塊
寸口脉沈而弱，曰寒熱及疝瘕、少腹痛 — Suwen 18
2
From a sunken weak pulse 寸口脉沈而弱
沈弱者主寒熱、疝瘕、少腹痛
寸口脉沈而弱，曰寒熱及疝瘕、少腹痛 — Suwen 18
3
From a tense pulse 脉急者
脈急亦主疝瘕、少腹痛
脉急者，曰疝瘕少腹痛 — Suwen 18
4
The place they share 少腹
二者同歸於少腹
少腹痛 — Suwen 18

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·平人氣象論 Suwen 18 · 平人氣象論 Read in context →
寸口脉沈而弱，曰寒熱及疝瘕、少腹痛。 寸口脉沉而弱，曰寒热及疝瘕、少腹痛。
cùn kǒu mài chén ér ruò, yuē hán rè jí shàn jiǎ, shào fù tòng.
A pulse at the inch opening that is sunken and weak indicates cold and heat, as well as shan and jia and pain in the lower abdomen.
本篇兩見「疝瘕」：一見於「寸口脉沈而弱，曰寒熱及疝瘕、少腹痛」，一見於「脉急者，曰疝瘕少腹痛」。二者脈象不同（一沈弱、一急），而同歸於少腹，可見本篇以脈之象定病之所在。
素問·玉機真藏論 Suwen 19 · 玉機真藏論 Read in context →
弗治，脾傳之腎，病名曰疝瘕，少腹冤熱而痛，出白，一名曰蠱，當此之時，可按、可藥。 弗治，脾传之肾，病名曰疝瘕，少腹冤热而痛，出白，一名曰蛊，当此之时，可按、可药。
Fú zhì, pí chuán zhī shèn, bìng míng yuē shàn jiǎ, shào fù yuān rè ér tòng, chū bái, yī míng yuē gǔ, dāng cǐ zhī shí, kě àn, kě yào.
Left untreated, the spleen transmits it to the kidney; it is called mounting and conglomeration. The lower abdomen is smouldering hot and painful, and there is a white discharge; it is also called gu. At that point one may press and may give medicine.
「弗治，脾傳之腎，病名曰疝瘕，少腹冤熱而痛，出白，一名曰蠱」：疝音 shàn，瘕音 jiǎ；冤音 yuān，鬱積也。本篇疝瘕為傳變之第四站，其候少腹冤熱而痛、出白，一名曰蠱。與第十八篇「寸口脉沈而弱，曰寒熱及疝瘕、少腹痛」、「脉急者，曰疝瘕少腹痛」同條而義別：第十八篇以疝瘕為脈診所得之病（脈沉弱、脈急而少腹痛），本篇則以之為脾風不治之所傳，而別出「一名曰蠱」——疝瘕言其形，蠱言其因。

Compounds built on this term

疝
shàn
abdominal pain, dragging pain
說文：腹痛也
瘕
jiǎ
the gathering that comes and goes
說文：女病也
少腹
shào fù
the lower abdomen
少音 shǎo
沈弱
chén ruò
sunken and weak
寸口之脈
脉急
mài jí
a tense pulse
脈來緊急

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng 1998mounting and concretionA fixed technical pair in that system, chosen for consistency across the corpus.
This siteshan and jia, glossed as hernia-like pain and abdominal massesNeither graph has an English equivalent that is not a modern diagnosis, and the modern diagnoses do not match the ancient ones — 疝 in this chapter is pain in the lower abdomen read off a pulse, not a surgical hernia. The transliteration keeps the reader from importing the clinic, and the gloss says what region and what kind of trouble the chapter means.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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