潮熱 简体 潮热

cháo rè

Tidal fever · chao re

Also rendered: Tidal heat (Literal) · Fever in daily tides (Clinical)

Reviewed · 2026-10-31

At a glance

Pinyin
cháo rè
Simplified
潮热
Literal
潮 cháo is the tide, which arrives at its hour and withdraws at its hour; 熱 rè is heat. The fever of yang brightness is called tidal because it comes on time — in this book usually in the late afternoon — and not because it is the highest fever the patient has. The word names a rhythm before it names a degree.
Shuowen
**《說文》:「潮,水朝宗于海。」** 潮以時至爲義,故醫家借以名按時而作之熱。**六至十篇經文共12見**(第八篇九見、第六篇二見、第七篇一見)。**「日晡所發潮熱」一見**,明其以時言;**「其熱不潮,未可與承氣湯」一見**,明其爲可攻之憑。**與「往來寒熱」對舉**:往來者寒熱交替、在半表半裏;潮熱者有熱無寒、按時而發,已在裏。**與「發熱」之别**:發熱言其有熱,潮熱言其有候。

In brief

Heat that arrives on time, like a tide — in this book most often in the late afternoon. It is the marker of yang brightness interior heat and the chief warrant for purging: where the heat does not come in tides, the chapter says, the qi-settling decoction must not be given. It is to be distinguished from 往來寒熱, where cold and heat alternate and the disease is still half outside, and from the steady heat of a plain interior fire. The chapter also knows the case where tidal fever runs with loose stool: there the interior is not replete, and the treatment turns back to shaoyang.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
按時而作 必潮熱,發作有時
脉浮而緊者,熱被表束,必至其時而發,故曰潮熱;潮以時言,不以熱之微甚言
Where the pulse is floating and tight, the heat is held at the exterior and must break out at its hour: this is why the fever is called tidal. The name is given for the timing, not for the degree.
陽明病,脉浮而緊者,必潮熱,發作有時。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八
2
可攻之候 有潮熱者,此外欲解,可攻裏也
潮熱既見,知邪已入裏而表證將罷,乃可議攻;若熱不潮,則表未解而承氣不可與
Once tidal fever appears, the exterior is about to give way and the interior may be attacked. The same paragraph forbids the purge where the heat does not come in tides: the warrant is the rhythm, not the heat.
陽明病,脉遲,雖汗出,不惡寒者,其身必重,短氣,腹滿而喘,有潮熱者,此外欲解,可攻裏也。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八
3
日晡所發 日晡所發潮熱
日晡爲申酉之時,陽明主之;熱於此時而作,故以潮名,亦陽明燥熱之徵
The tide comes in the late afternoon, the hour of yang brightness: heat that rises then is the chapter's clearest instance of the name. What follows in the same passage — silence, seeing ghosts, picking at clothes — shows how far the interior heat has gone.
傷寒若吐若下後不解,不大便五六日,上至十餘日,日晡所發潮熱,不惡寒,獨語如見鬼狀。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八
4
二陽併病 但發潮熱,手足漐漐汗出
太陽證罷而但發潮熱、手足汗出、大便難而讝語,是邪併陽明,下之則愈,宜大承氣
When the taiyang signs are gone and only tidal fever remains, with damp hands and feet, hard stool and raving, the disease has joined yang brightness; the purge resolves it. Here the tide is the sign that the exterior has finished.
二陽併病,太陽證罷,但發潮熱,手足漐漐汗出,大便難而讝語者,下之則愈,宜大承氣湯。 — 辨陽明病脉證并治第八
5
潮熱而溏 發潮熱,大便溏,小便自可
潮熱而大便反溏、小便自可,知裏未成實,胸脅滿不去者,仍從少陽治,與小柴胡湯
Tidal fever with loose stool and unobstructed urine: the interior has not formed repletion, and since fullness remains in the chest and flank the treatment stays with shaoyang. The same sign that warrants a purge elsewhere here forbids it.
陽明病,發潮熱,大便溏,小便自可,胸脅滿不去者,小柴胡湯主之。 — 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
4 passages
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
陽明病,脉浮而緊者,必潮熱,發作有時。但浮者,必盗汗出。 阳明病,脉浮而紧者,必潮热,发作有时。但浮者,必盗汗出。
yáng míng bìng mài fú ér jǐn zhě bì cháo rè fā zuò yǒu shí dàn fú zhě bì dào hàn chū
In yangming disease with a floating, tense pulse, there will surely be tidal fever coming at fixed times. If the pulse is floating but not tense, there will surely be night sweat.
潮熱之「潮」,以時至爲義;此條最明。
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
陽明病,脉遲,雖汗出,不惡寒者,其身必重,短氣,腹滿而喘,有潮熱者,此外欲解,可攻裏也。手足濈然而汗出者,此大便已鞕也,大承氣湯主之。若汗多,微發熱惡寒者,外未解也,其熱不潮,未可與承氣湯。若腹大滿不通者,可與小承氣湯,微和胃氣,勿令大泄下。 阳明病,脉迟,虽汗出,不恶寒者,其身必重,短气,腹满而喘,有潮热者,此外欲解,可攻里也。手足濈然而汗出者,此大便已硬也,大承气汤主之。若汗多,微发热恶寒者,外未解也,其热不潮,未可与承气汤。若腹大满不通者,可与小承气汤,微和胃气,勿令大泄下。
yáng míng bìng mài chí suī hàn chū bù wù hán zhě qí shēn bì zhòng duǎn qì fù mǎn ér chuǎn yǒu cháo rè zhě cǐ wài yù jiě kě gōng lǐ yě shǒu zú jí rán ér hàn chū zhě cǐ dà biàn yǐ yìng yě dà chéng qì tāng zhǔ zhī ruò hàn duō wēi fā rè wù hán zhě wài wèi jiě yě qí rè bù cháo wèi kě yǔ chéng qì tāng ruò fù dà mǎn bù tōng zhě kě yǔ xiǎo chéng qì tāng wēi hé wèi qì wù lìng dà xiè xià
In yangming disease with a slow pulse, sweating, and no aversion to cold, the body must be heavy, the breath short, the abdomen full and panting, with tidal fever; the exterior is about to resolve and the interior may be attacked. With continuous sweat of hands and feet the stool is already hard, and Major Qi-Ordering Decoction governs it. If the sweat is much and there is slight fever with aversion to cold, the exterior is not resolved and the heat is not tidal, so Qi-Ordering Decoction must not be given. If the abdomen is greatly full and blocked, Minor Qi-Ordering Decoction may be given to gently harmonise the stomach qi, without causing a great purgation.
一節之内,可攻與不可攻並見,判詞只在「潮」與「不潮」。
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
傷寒若吐若下後不解,不大便五六日,上至十餘日,日晡所發潮熱,不惡寒,獨語如見鬼狀。若劇者,發則不識人,循衣摸牀,惕而不安,微喘直視,脉弦者生,濇者死,微者但發熱。讝語者,大承氣湯主之。若一服利,止後服。 伤寒若吐若下后不解,不大便五六日,上至十余日,日晡所发潮热,不恶寒,独语如见鬼状。若剧者,发则不识人,循衣摸床,惕而不安,微喘直视,脉弦者生,涩者死,微者但发热。讝语者,大承气汤主之。若一服利,止后服。
shāng hán ruò tǔ ruò xià hòu bù jiě bù dà biàn wǔ liù rì shàng zhì shí yú rì rì bū suǒ fā cháo rè bù wù hán dú yǔ rú jiàn guǐ zhuàng ruò jù zhě fā zé bù shí rén xún yī mō chuáng tì ér bù ān wēi chuǎn zhí shì mài xián zhě shēng sè zhě sǐ wēi zhě dàn fā rè zhān yǔ zhě dà chéng qì tāng zhǔ zhī ruò yī fú lì zhǐ hòu fú
When cold damage is not resolved after vomiting or purging, with no stool for five or six days up to more than ten, tidal fever at the hour of the late afternoon, no aversion to cold, and soliloquy as if seeing ghosts: in severe cases the attack brings loss of recognition, picking at clothes and feeling the bed, restless fear, slight panting, and fixed staring. A string-like pulse means life, a rough pulse death; in mild cases there is fever alone. With delirious speech, Major Qi-Ordering Decoction governs it; if one dose purges, the next is stopped.
日晡所發,陽明之潮有其時;循衣摸牀、直視,則熱之極也。
辨陽明病脉證并治第八·辨陽明病脉證并治第八 Read in context →
陽明病,發潮熱,大便溏,小便自可,胸脅滿不去者,小柴胡湯主之。 阳明病,发潮热,大便溏,小便自可,胸胁满不去者,小柴胡汤主之。
yáng míng bìng fā cháo rè dà biàn táng xiǎo biàn zì kě xiōng xié mǎn bù qù zhě xiǎo chái hú tāng zhǔ zhī
In yangming disease with tidal fever, loose stool, urine as it should be, and fullness of the chest and ribs that does not leave, Minor Bupleurum Decoction governs it.
潮熱而大便溏,裏未實也,故仍與小柴胡——同一潮熱,虛實異治。

Compounds built on this term

日晡所發潮熱
rì bū suǒ fā cháo rè
tidal fever at late afternoon
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
發潮熱
fā cháo rè
tidal fever breaks out
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
其熱不潮
qí rè bù cháo
the heat does not come in tides
辨陽明病脉證并治第八
潮熱,大便溏
cháo rè, dà biàn táng
tidal fever with loose stool
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 sitetidal feverkeeps the tide, and keeps the timing
Literaltide heatexact, and odd in English
Clinicalquotidian afternoon feverclear, but narrower than the Chinese

Entry status

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2026-10-31

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