太衝 简体 太冲

tài chōng

Taichong · the great surge

Also rendered: great surge (Explanatory rendering) · taichong (Pinyin)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
tài chōng
Simplified
太冲
Literal
The great surge; 衝 is a rushing current, a thoroughfare.

In brief

In the sixth chapter, the name for what lies behind the sage as he faces south, and the region in which lesser yin runs. This is a region of the body, not the great surge vessel of the first chapter: the two share a name and an image, but the sixth chapter is not talking about a vessel.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The region behind the sage 太衝
The north and the lower body; the region where lesser yin lies
後曰太衝。太衝之地,名曰少陰 — Suwen 6

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
素問·陰陽離合論 Suwen 6 · 陰陽離合論 Read in context →
太衝之地,名曰少陰。 太冲之地,名曰少阴。
tài chōng zhī dì, míng yuē shào yīn.
The region of the great surge is named lesser yin.
與第一篇「太衝脈盛」之太衝脈同名而異實:此處指身後之部位,非衝脈之脈,另立詞條以免相混。
素問·水熱穴論 Suwen 61 · 水熱穴論 Read in context →
三陰之所交結於脚也,踝上各一行,行六者,此腎脉之下行也,名曰太衝。 三阴之所交结于脚也,踝上各一行,行六者,此肾脉之下行也,名曰太冲。
Sān yīn zhī suǒ jiāo jié yú jiǎo yě, huái shàng gè yī háng, háng liù zhě, cǐ shèn mài zhī xià xíng yě, míng yuē tài chōng.
The three yin join and bind at the foot. One row each above the ankle, six points to a row – this is the descending course of the kidney vessel, and is named the great surge.
「此腎脉之下行也,名曰「太」讀 tài「衝」讀 chōng」——**本目所收是部位之名,非衝脉:本篇「踝上各一行,行六者,此腎脉之下行也,名曰太衝」,與第六篇少陰之後之太衝同例**;**「太衝」本篇1見**;**「衝」本篇1見、「冲」0見**
素問·氣交變大論 Suwen 69 · 氣交變大論 Read in context →
歲金太過,燥氣流行,肝木受邪,民病兩脅下少腹痛,目赤痛眦瘍,耳無所聞。肅殺而甚,則體重煩冤,胸痛引背,兩脅滿且痛引少腹。上應太白星。甚則喘欬逆氣,肩背痛,凥陰股膝髀腨䯒足皆病。上應熒惑星。收氣峻,生氣下,草木斂,蒼乾凋隕。病反暴痛,胠脅不可反側,欬逆甚而血溢。太衝絶者,死不治,上應太白星。 岁金太过,燥气流行,肝木受邪,民病两胁下少腹痛,目赤痛眦疡,耳无所闻。肃杀而甚,则体重烦冤,胸痛引背,两胁满且痛引少腹。上应太白星。甚则喘欬逆气,肩背痛,凥阴股膝髀腨䯒足皆病。上应荧惑星。收气峻,生气下,草木敛,苍干凋陨。病反暴痛,胠胁不可反侧,欬逆甚而血溢。太冲绝者,死不治,上应太白星。
Suì jīn tài guò, zào qì liú xíng, gān mù shòu xié, mín bìng liǎng xié xià shào fù tòng, mù chì tòng zì yáng, ěr wú suǒ wén. Sù shā ér shèn, zé tǐ zhòng fán yuān, xiōng tòng yǐn bèi, liǎng xié mǎn qiě tòng yǐn shào fù. Shàng yìng tài bái xīng. Shèn zé chuǎn kài nì qì, jiān bèi tòng, kāo yīn gǔ xī bì shuàn héng zú jiē bìng. Shàng yìng yíng huò xīng. Shōu qì jùn, shēng qì xià, cǎo mù liǎn, cāng gān diāo yǔn. Bìng fǎn bào tòng, qū xié bù kě fǎn cè, kài nì shèn ér xuè yì. Tài chōng jué zhě, sǐ bù zhì, shàng yìng tài bái xīng.
In a year of metal in surplus, the qi of dryness spreads and moves and the wood of the liver receives evil. The people are ill with pain below both flanks and in the lower abdomen, red and painful eyes with sores at the corner of the eye, and ears that hear nothing. If the severity and killing is extreme, the body is heavy and there is freting oppression, pain in the chest that draws to the back, and fullness in both flanks with pain drawing into the lower abdomen; it answers above to Venus. If it is severe there is panting and coughing with counterflow qi, pain in the shoulder and back, and the sacrum, the private parts, the thigh, the knee, the hip, the calf, the shin and the foot are all affected; it answers above to Mars. The qi of gathering is harsh and the qi of growth sinks; plants and trees draw in and the blue-green dries and falls. The illness turns to sudden pain; the flanks cannot be turned or lain upon; the coughing counterflow is severe and blood escapes. Where Taichong is cut off there is death and no cure; it answers above to Venus.
「欬逆甚而血溢。太衝絶者,死不治,上應太白星」——**「太衝」本篇1見,止此一見**;**本篇五脈之絶凡五見:衝陽、太淵、太谿、太衝、神門,各主一氣,太衝是肝脈**;**本目所收是第六篇少陰之後之部位名;本篇則診脈之處,同名而異指,與第六十一篇「此腎脉之下行也,名曰太衝」同例**;**「絶」是「絕」之俗省,本篇5見,讀 jué,別見校勘**;**「太衝」讀 tài chōng**

Compounds built on this term

太衝之地
tài chōng zhī dì
the region of the great surge
How the chapter names the place lesser yin occupies

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishgreat surgeThe literal rendering.
This sitethe great surgeDeliberately not 'vessel': in this chapter 太衝 names a region of the body, while 太衝脈 — the vessel of the first chapter — is a separate entry.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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