疝

shàn

Shan

Also rendered: Shan (this site; kept in pinyin, as with the other disease names that have no single English equivalent) · Rupture / hernia (the later sense the word acquired; it is not what the chapter means by it)

Reviewed · 2026-10-01

At a glance

Pinyin
shàn
Simplified
疝
Literal
疝 shàn — the name chapter 48 gives to a group of painful swellings, and the one word in the chapter that is stated twice over from two different directions: once from the pulse that produces it (a large, tight, sunken pulse in the kidney and liver), and once from the conduits (when the third yin is tight). The chapter's method throughout is to name the disease from the pulse rather than from the patient, and 疝 is where that method is clearest — the same name covers the heart and the lung because the pulse that makes it is the same shape.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:疝,腹痛也,从疒山聲。「疝」讀 shàn、**本篇四見**;「急」讀 jí、**本篇十四見,為本篇屬脉之第一字**。

In brief

A painful swelling, named in chapter 48 twice over: once as what a large, tight, sunken pulse in the kidney or liver makes, and once as what tightness in the third yin makes. The chapter then splits it by site — heart shan when the heart pulse is racing, slippery and tight, lung shan when the lung pulse is sunken and racing — so that one name is held while the pulse alone decides which viscus is meant.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graph 疝
从疒山聲,腹痛而氣聚之名
皆爲疝 — Suwen 48
2
From the pulse 大急沈
脉大、急、沈三者並見,為疝之脉
腎脉大急沈,肝脉大急沈,皆爲疝 — Suwen 48
3
From the conduit 三陰急
三陰之脉急,亦為疝,與脉診同歸
三陰急,爲疝 — Suwen 48
4
Split by site 心疝
心脉搏滑急者,疝之在心
心脉搏滑急,爲心疝 — Suwen 48
5
Split by site 肺疝
肺脉沈搏者,疝之在肺
肺脉沈搏,爲肺疝 — Suwen 48
6
What the method is 以脉定名
病名同而脉異,則所屬之藏異
心脉搏滑急,爲心疝;肺脉沈搏,爲肺疝 — Suwen 48

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
6 passages
Suwen 48 Suwen 48 · 大奇論 Read in context →
腎脉大急沈,肝脉大急沈,皆爲疝。心脉搏滑急,爲心疝;肺脉沈搏,爲肺疝。 肾脉大急沉,肝脉大急沉,皆为疝。心脉搏滑急,为心疝;肺脉沉搏,为肺疝。
Shèn mài dà jí chén, gān mài dà jí chén, jiē wéi shàn. Xīn mài bó huá jí, wéi xīn shàn; fèi mài chén bó, wéi fèi shàn.
A large, hurried and sunken kidney or liver vessel is mounting illness. A heart vessel that beats up, slippery and hurried, is heart mounting; a lung vessel sunken and beating up is lung mounting.
**「皆爲疝」——**「疝」讀 shàn、**本篇四見**;「搏」讀 bó、**本篇四見**;**「心疝」「肺疝」二名並出,同病而異藏,由脉分之**。
素問·脉解 Suwen 49 · 脉解 Read in context →
厥陰,所謂㿗疝、婦人少腹腫者,厥陰者,辰也。三月陽中之陰,邪在中,故曰㿗疝少腹腫也。 厥阴,所谓颓疝、妇人少腹肿者,厥阴者,辰也。三月阳中之阴,邪在中,故曰颓疝少腹肿也。
Jué yīn, suǒ wèi tuí shàn, fù rén shào fù zhǒng zhě, jué yīn zhě, chén yě. Sān yuè yáng zhōng zhī yīn, xié zài zhōng, gù yuē tuí shàn shào fù zhǒng yě.
As for the reverting yin and what is called mounting illness and swelling of the lower abdomen in women: reverting yin is chen, the third month — the yin within yang. The evil is in the centre; hence it is called mounting illness with swelling of the lower abdomen.
「「㿗」讀 tuí「疝」讀 shàn、婦人少腹腫」——**本篇「疝」4見:「㿗疝」二、「㿗癃疝」二**;**「疝」讀 shàn——「疝」讀 shàn;****疝者陰囊腫大或婦人少腹腫,本篇專屬厥陰三月,與第四十八篇心疝、肺疝同例**。
素問·長刺節論 Suwen 55 · 長刺節論 Read in context →
病在少腹,腹痛不得大小便,病名曰疝,得之寒,刺少腹兩股間,刺腰髁骨間,刺而多之,盡炅,病已。 病在少腹,腹痛不得大小便,病名曰疝,得之寒,刺少腹两股间,刺腰髁骨间,刺而多之,尽炅,病已。
Bìng zài shào fù, fù tòng bù dé dà xiǎo biàn, bìng míng yuē shàn, dé zhī hán, cì shào fù liǎng gǔ jiān, cì yāo kē gǔ jiān, cì ér duō zhī, jìn jiǒng, bìng yǐ.
Where the trouble is in the lesser abdomen, with pain there and no passage either way, the illness is called shàn, and it is got from cold. Needle between the lesser abdomen and the two thighs, and between the bones of the lumbar condyles; needle repeatedly, and once everything is blazing hot the illness is over.
「病在少腹,腹痛不得大小便,病名曰「疝」讀 shàn,得之寒」——**本篇「疝」1見,讀 shàn**;**本篇之疝以「腹痛不得大小便」為狀,明言「得之寒」**;**其治刺少腹兩股間、腰髁骨間,刺而多之,候在「盡炅」**;「便」讀 biàn、**「大小便」之便讀 biàn**;「股」讀 gǔ、**「兩股間」之股讀 gǔ**;「髁」讀 kē、**「腰髁骨間」之髁讀 kē,本篇1見**
素問·骨空論 Suwen 60 · 骨空論 Read in context →
任脉爲病,男子内結七疝,女子帶下瘕聚。 任脉为病,男子内结七疝,女子带下瘕聚。
Rèn mài wéi bìng, nán zǐ nèi jié qī shàn, nǚ zǐ dài xià jiǎ jù.
When the conception vessel is diseased, in men it binds inward into the seven hernias; in women, into discharge below and gatherings and masses.
「男子内結「七」讀 qī「疝」讀 shàn」——**「疝」讀 shàn,本篇2見(七疝、衝疝)**;**任脉為病在男子則結為七疝,在女子則帶下瘕聚,二句對舉**;**下文「從少腹上衝心而痛,不得前後,爲衝疝」,是督脉並衝脉為病之疝**
素問·繆刺論 Suwen 63 · 繆刺論 Read in context →
邪客於足厥陰之絡,令人卒疝暴痛,刺足大指爪甲上與肉交者,各一痏,男子立已,女子有頃已。 邪客于足厥阴之络,令人卒疝暴痛,刺足大指爪甲上与肉交者,各一痏,男子立已,女子有顷已。
Xié kè yú zú jué yīn zhī luò, lìng rén cù shàn bào tòng, cì zú dà zhǐ zhǎo jiǎ shàng yǔ ròu jiāo zhě, gè yī wěi, nán zǐ lì yǐ, nǚ zǐ yǒu qǐng yǐ.
When evil lodges in the network of the foot ceasing yin it causes sudden rupture and violent pain. Puncture where the nail of the great toe meets the flesh, one puncture on each side. In a man it ends at once, in a woman after a while.
「邪客於足厥陰之絡,令人卒疝暴痛」——**「疝」本篇1見,在足厥陰之絡一證中**:**卒疝暴痛,刺足大指爪甲上與肉交者,各一痏,男子立已,女子有頃已**;**厥陰之絡循股陰而抵少腹,故卒疝屬之**;**「疝」讀 shàn**
素問·四時刺逆從論 Suwen 64 · 四時刺逆從論 Read in context →
厥陰有餘,病陰痺;不足,病生熱痺;滑則病狐疝風,濇則病少腹積氣。 厥阴有余,病阴痹;不足,病生热痹;滑则病狐疝风,涩则病少腹积气。
Jué yīn yǒu yú, bìng yīn bì; bù zú, bìng shēng rè bì; huá zé bìng hú shàn fēng, sè zé bìng shào fù jī qì.
When ceasing yin is in surplus the disease is yin obstruction; when it is insufficient, heat obstruction arises. A slippery pulse brings fox mounting wind; a rough pulse brings accumulated qi in the lower abdomen.
「滑則病狐疝風」——**「疝」本篇6見,皆在複名之中:狐疝風一見,肺風疝、脾風疝、心風疝、腎風疝、肝風疝五見**;**本篇無單言「疝」者,故引此條以統之**;**「疝」讀 shàn**;**「風疝」二字連文者五見,其單名「狐疝」者一見,別立新目**

Compounds built on this term

疝
shàn
shan
病名,本篇四見
心疝
xīn shàn
heart shan
心脉搏滑急所為
肺疝
fèi shàn
lung shan
肺脉沈搏所為
大急沈
dà jí shěn
large, tight, sunken
疝家之脉

How it has been translated

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

This siteshankept in pinyin because the chapter's 疝 is a family of painful swellings, not one modern disease
Unschuldshan illnesshe transliterates and adds the class word
Wisemanshanhis system keeps 疝 transliterated throughout

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-01

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Reading path

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