The sound of Zheng · zheng sheng

Also rendered: The sound of Zheng (This site) · Zheng sound (Pinyin) · Repeated speech (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin: zhèng shēng
Simplified: 郑声
Literal: 鄭 zhèng is the name of a state; 聲 shēng is sound, voice, the sound of an instrument. 鄭聲 is the music of Zheng, which the Analects singled out as licentious and seductive — 'put away the music of Zheng'. Medicine borrows the phrase for speech that repeats itself softly and will not stop, as though a tune were being sung over and over: the voice of a spirit too weak to form new words.
Shuowen: **《說文》：「鄭，京兆縣。」** 鄭聲本指鄭國之樂，《論語·衛靈公》：「放鄭聲，遠佞人。鄭聲淫，佞人殆。」醫家借以名重語。**六至十篇二見，同在一段**（第八篇行528）。**與「讝語」對舉**：實則讝語，虚則鄭聲；讝語聲高而氣粗、言語無次，鄭聲聲低而氣微、一語重複。一實一虛，爲全書辨神識之綱。

In brief

The voice of deficiency, set against the raving of repletion. Where 讝語 is loud, coarse and disordered — the patient speaking to no one, seeing what is not there — 鄭聲 is low, weak and repetitive: the same phrase returned to again and again because the spirit has not the strength to go on to a new one. The chapter gives both the pair and the definition in eight characters: ‘in repletion raving, in deficiency the sound of Zheng; the sound of Zheng is repeated speech.’ The name comes from the music of the state of Zheng, which the Analects called excessive; the borrowing is exact, for what is heard is a tune repeated rather than speech that means anything.

Senses in the classical corpus

虚則鄭聲虚則鄭聲

與「實則讝語」對舉，一言虛一言實；鄭聲者氣不足、語重複而聲低微，非神亂而言無次

Set against 'in repletion raving', the phrase marks deficiency. The sound of Zheng is breath that does not suffice, words repeated in a low weak voice — not the wild disorder of a spirit in chaos, but the fatigue of one that cannot go on.

夫實則讝語，虚則鄭聲。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八

重語鄭聲，重語也

三字自下定義，重語即一語反覆；後世以「聲戰氣微」形容之，皆從此出

Three characters supply the definition: repeated speech, one phrase over and over. Later writers describe it as a voice that trembles while the breath is faint, and all of them start from this line.

夫實則讝語，虚則鄭聲。鄭聲，重語也。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

1 passages

辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →

夫實則讝語，虚則鄭聲。鄭聲，重語也。夫实则讝语，虚则郑声。郑声，重语也。

fū shí zé zhān yǔ xū zé zhèng shēng zhèng shēng chóng yǔ yě

In excess there is delirious speech; in emptiness there is the Zheng sound. The Zheng sound is repeated speech.

八字定讝語、鄭聲之分，一實一虛，後世辨神昏者無能外此。

Compounds built on this term

鄭聲

zhèng shēng

the sound of Zheng

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

讝語

zhān yǔ

raving

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

重語

chóng yǔ

repeated speech

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

虚則鄭聲

xū zé zhèng shēng

in deficiency the sound of Zheng

辨陽明病脉證并治第八

How it has been translated

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

This site	the sound of Zheng	keeps the borrowed name and its history
Literal	Zheng music	exact, but reads as music, not speech
Clinical	repeated speech	clear, loses the allusion entirely

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-31

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