Classica Sinica Medica

鼽衄

qiú nǜ

Snivelling and nosebleed · qiu nu

Also rendered: Snivelling and nosebleed (this site; the two graphs are kept as two, because the chapter always names them as a pair) · Qiu nu (transliteration; used where the pair is quoted as a single spring complaint)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-10

At a glance

Pinyin
qiú nǜ
Simplified
鼽衄
Literal
鼽 qiú — a nose stopped by cold (《說文》: 鼽，病寒鼻窒也：nose blocked by cold disease); 衄 nǜ — bleeding from the nose. The two are the chapter's nose, and it gives them together twice: once as the thing spring is prone to (故春善病鼽衄) and once as the thing spring is free of (春不鼽衄). Between those two sentences stands the rule that makes them one subject rather than two diseases — 故冬不按蹻：keep the winter and the spring nose is spared.
Shuowen
**「鼽」讀 qiú，本篇2見，見本站第一三八〇條**；**「衄」讀 nǜ，本篇2見，見本站第一二九四條**；**「鼽衄」本篇2見**；**《說文》：鼽，病寒鼻窒也**；**「頸項」本篇2見**

In brief

Spring’s nose: a nose stopped by cold and a nose that bleeds, named together. Suwen 4 puts them at the head of its list of what each season is prone to, and then puts them at the head of its list of what a kept winter spares you — 故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄，春不病頸項. The chapter’s reason is written a few paragraphs earlier: 故春氣者，病在頭. Spring’s disease is in the head, and the nose and the nape are both of the head. What the pair is not is two separate complaints; the chapter never separates them, and neither should the reader.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 鼽衄
鼽者鼻窒，衄者鼻出血，春時之鼻疾
故春善病鼽衄 — Suwen 4
2
What spring is prone to 春善病鼽衄
春氣在頭，故善病鼽衄
故春善病鼽衄，仲夏善病胸脅 — Suwen 4
3
What spring is free of 春不鼽衄
冬不按蹻，則春不鼽衄
故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄 — Suwen 4
4
Why the head 春氣者，病在頭
鼽衄在鼻，鼻為頭面之竅
故春氣者，病在頭 — Suwen 4
5
What keeps the winter 冬不按蹻
冬藏不散，則春不病鼽衄
故冬不按蹻，春不鼽衄 — Suwen 4
6
The nape that goes with it 頸項
鼽衄與頸項同屬春之所病
春不鼽衄，春不病頸項 — Suwen 4

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·金匱真言論 Suwen 4 · 金匱真言論 Read in context →
故春善病鼽衄，仲夏善病胸脅，長夏善病洞泄寒中，秋善病風瘧，冬善病痺厥。 故春善病鼽衄，仲夏善病胸胁，长夏善病洞泄寒中，秋善病风疟，冬善病痹厥。
gù chūn shàn bìng qiú nǜ, zhòng xià shàn bìng xiōng xié, cháng xià shàn bìng dòng xiè hán zhōng, qiū shàn bìng fēng nüè, dōng shàn bìng bì jué.
Thus in spring one is prone to snivelling and nosebleed; in midsummer to disease of the chest and flanks; in late summer to pouring diarrhoea with cold within; in autumn to wind malaria; in winter to impediment inversion.
**「鼽衄」本篇2見，此其一；其二在「春不鼽衄」**；**「長夏」本篇4見，讀 cháng xià，見本站第三八〇條**；**「洞泄」本篇2見，見本站第二二五條**；**「風瘧」本篇3見，見本站第二二四條**；**「痺厥」本篇2見，見本站新目**
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
帝曰：願卒聞之。歧伯曰：少陽司天，火氣下臨，肺氣上從，白起金用，草木眚，火見燔爇，革金且耗，大暑以行，欬嚏鼽衄鼻窒曰瘍，寒熱胕腫。風行于地，塵沙飛揚。心痛胃脘痛，厥逆鬲不通，其主暴速。 帝曰：愿卒闻之。歧伯曰：少阳司天，火气下临，肺气上从，白起金用，草木眚，火见燔爇，革金且耗，大暑以行，咳嚏鼽衄鼻窒曰疡，寒热胕肿。风行于地，尘沙飞扬。心痛胃脘痛，厥逆鬲不通，其主暴速。
Dì yuē: yuàn cù wén zhī. Qí bó yuē: shào yáng sī tiān, huǒ qì xià lín, fèi qì shàng cóng, bái qǐ jīn yòng, cǎo mù shěng, huǒ xiàn fán ruò, gé jīn qiě hào, dà shǔ yǐ xíng, kài tì qiú nǜ bí zhì yuē yáng, hán rè fū zhǒng. Fēng xíng yú dì, chén shā fēi yáng. Xīn tòng wèi wǎn tòng, jué nì gé bù tōng, qí zhǔ bào sù.
Huang Di said: I wish to hear it all. Qi Bo said: when lesser yang governs the heaven the qi of fire descends upon it and the qi of the lung follows upward; white arises and metal comes into use; grass and trees suffer calamity; fire appears and blazes and burns, and metal is changed and consumed; great heat thereby moves. The illness is cough, sneezing, snivelling, nosebleed, blocked nose and sores, cold and heat and water swelling. Wind moves over the earth and dust and sand fly. The illness is pain in the heart, pain in the stomach duct, counterflow and obstruction of the diaphragm; its charge is suddenness and speed.
**「鼽衄」本篇2見：一在此段「欬嚏鼽衄鼻窒曰瘍」，一在少陰司天「嚏鼽衄鼻窒」**；**此段鼽衄在欬嚏鼻窒之間，皆火氣下臨之病**；**「其病嚏、欬、鼽、衄」在從革之紀，鼽、衄四者分列，故單字之「鼽」另立一目**

Compounds built on this term

春善病鼽衄
chūn shàn bìng qiú nǜ
spring is prone to snivelling and nosebleed
本篇1見
春不鼽衄
chūn bù qiú nǜ
in spring no snivelling and nosebleed
本篇1見
春氣者，病在頭
chūn qì zhě, bìng zài tóu
the spring qi: disease is in the head
本篇1見
春不病頸項
chūn bù bìng jǐng xiàng
in spring no disease of the nape
本篇1見

How it has been translated

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

This siteSnivelling and nosebleed · qiu nukeeps both halves visible: a stopped nose and a bleeding one
Literalblocked nose and nosebleedmatches the two single-graph entries on this site, 鼽 blocked nose and 衄 nosebleed
Clinicalnasal obstruction and epistaxisthe modern pair; exact, and it leaves the chapter's diction entirely

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-10

Search the glossary

Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

See all reading paths