Classica Sinica Medica

洒淅

xiǎn xī

Shivering chill · xian xi

Also rendered: Shivering (modern dictionaries and translations; the closest English, but this site reserves it for 淅然 (id 984)) · sǎ xī (the modern standard reading; recorded here; this site follows the older xiǎn xī)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
xiǎn xī
Simplified
洒淅
Literal
洒淅 xiǎn xī — two graphs, one feeling. 洒 means to scatter, to sprinkle; 淅 is the sound of washing rice. Put together they describe what cold does to a body: a fine scattering shiver, like water thrown over skin. The chapter doubles the word to 洒淅洒淅, and the doubling is doing work — it is not one shiver but a shiver that comes in waves. The same root appears in 洒洒然 for the kidney malaria, where the suffix -ran makes it a state rather than an event. Both readings are traditional; modern dictionaries give sǎ xī, and the old commentaries, which note that 洒 and 淅 were both xin-mu initials and so form a double-initial binome, give xiǎn xī. This site follows the old reading and records the other.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：洒，滌也；淅，汰米也——**二字本義皆與水相關，合而為寒戰之貌**，**是《素問》取譬於水而狀寒之例**。「洒」讀 xiǎn，本篇4見：「洒淅洒淅」二見、「洒洒然」二見，**底本作「洒」（「洒」），不作「灑」（「灑」）**；「淅」讀 xī，本篇2見。**本站第四十七篇之外，第三十二篇已立「淅然」之目（id 984，「先淅然起毫毛」），與此同源而異用**：**淅然者寒之始，洒淅者寒之狀**，彼言其起於毫毛，此言其身之顫，**一為始，一為狀，二條互注**。**「洒」字讀 xiǎn 不讀 sǎ**：洒、淅二字古皆心母，雙聲連語，郭靄春《傷寒論白話解》論「洒淅」二字正舉《Suwen 36》此句，**今通行辭書或標 sǎ xī，茲從舊讀而存其異**。

In brief

The shivering of an oncoming cold fit, the word the chapter uses for the yang brightness malaria and, as 洒洒然, for the kidney malaria. It is a binome built from two water-words, and the chapter’s doubling of it — 洒淅洒淅 — marks the shivering as coming in waves rather than once.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What the graphs say 洒淅
洒，滌也；淅，汰米也
洒淅洒淅 — Suwen 36
2
The traditional reading 洒淅
xiǎn xī，洒淅二字古皆心母，雙聲
洒淅洒淅，寒甚 — Suwen 36
3
The modern reading 洒淅
今通行辭書或標 sǎ xī
洒淅洒淅 — Suwen 36
4
Doubled for waves 洒淅洒淅
重言者，狀其陣陣而作
令人先寒，洒淅洒淅，寒甚，久乃熱 — Suwen 36
5
As a state, not an event 洒洒然
附「然」者，狀其常態
腎瘧者，令人洒洒然 — Suwen 36
6
Kin: 淅然 淅然
本站 id 984，第三十二篇「先淅然起毫毛」
洒淅洒淅 — Suwen 36

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
Suwen 36 Suwen 36 · 剌瘧 Read in context →
足陽明之瘧，令人先寒，洒淅洒淅，寒甚，久乃熱，熱去汗出，喜見日月光火氣，乃快然，剌足陽明跗上。 足阳明之疟，令人先寒，洒淅洒淅，寒甚，久乃热，热去汗出，喜见日月光火气，乃快然，刺足阳明跗上。
Zú yáng míng zhī nüè, lìng rén xiān hán, xiǎn xī xiǎn xī, hán shèn, jiǔ nǎi rè, rè qù hàn chū, xǐ jiàn rì yuè guāng huǒ qì, nǎi kuài rán, cì zú yáng míng fū shàng.
Malaria of the foot yang brightness brings cold first, shivering and shaking; the cold is severe, and only after a long while does heat come. When the heat goes, sweat breaks out, and the person likes the light of sun and moon and the warmth of a fire, and so is eased. Needle the foot yang brightness above the instep.
**「洒淅洒淅」四字，是《素問》寫寒戰最細之筆**——不曰寒甚而曰「洒淅洒淅，寒甚」，**先狀其顫，後言其甚**，與下文「久乃熱」三字相屬：**顫之久而後熱，是陽明之瘧的節奏**。**本站「淅然」條（id 984）所收為第三十二篇「先淅然起毫毛」，與此同源**：**彼言寒之始起，此言寒之既甚**，**二條合觀，寒之始終備矣**。
素問·調經論 Suwen 62 · 調經論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：神有餘則笑不休，神不足則悲。血氣未并，五藏安定，邪客於形，洒淅起於毫毛，未入於經絡也，故命曰神之微。 歧伯曰：神有余则笑不休，神不足则悲。血气未并，五藏安定，邪客于形，洒淅起于毫毛，未入于经络也，故命曰神之微。
Qí bó yuē: shén yǒu yú zé xiào bù xiū, shén bù zú zé bēi. Xuè qì wèi bìng, wǔ zàng ān dìng, xié kè yú xíng, xiǎn xī qǐ yú háo máo, wèi rù yú jīng luò yě, gù mìng yuē shén zhī wēi.
Qi Bo says: when the spirit is in excess a man laughs without stopping; when it is insufficient he grieves. But if blood and qi have not yet pooled and the five depots are settled, the evil only lodges in the body: a shivering rises in the fine hair and has not entered the channels and network vessels. This is called a faint disorder of the spirit.
「邪客於形，洒淅起於毫毛，未入於經絡也，故命曰神之微」——**「洒淅」本篇1見，在神之微一證中**：**洒淅者，惡寒之貌；邪客於形而未入經絡，則洒淅起於毫毛**；**「洒」此讀 xiǎn，不作灑水之 sǎ；「淅」讀 xī**；**「洒洒」「洒淅」皆寒貌，本站从 xiǎn**

Compounds built on this term

洒淅洒淅
xiǎn xī xiǎn xī
shivering again and again
本篇重言之例，狀寒之陣陣而來
洒洒然
xiǎn xiǎn rán
in a shivering state
本篇腎瘧之證，與「洒淅」同根而異綴
淅然
xī rán
the first creeping of cold
本站 id 984，第三十二篇已立目
洒淅惡寒
xiǎn xī wù hán
shivering with aversion to cold
後世醫書承用之語，《金匱要略》有「洒淅惡寒」

How it has been translated

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

This siteshivering chillkept distinct from 淅然 (id 984, creeping cold); the doubling is preserved
Unschuldshiveringdoes not distinguish 洒淅 from 淅然
Wisemanshiveringrenders the two graphs as one English word

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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