Classica Sinica Medica

標本 简体 标本

biāo běn

Tip and root

Also rendered: tip and root (Literal, keeps the tree image) · root and branch (Common, but 標 is the top, not a branch) · manifestation and root (The later clinical sense; not what this chapter means) · biao and ben (Transliteration)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
biāo běn
Simplified
标本
Literal
標 the treetop, the tip of a branch — what shows and moves in the wind; 本 the root, the trunk's base — what holds and feeds. The pair is a way of saying later and earlier, surface and source, and in medicine: physician and illness.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：標，木杪末也；本，木下曰本。

In brief

In this chapter the pair carries a specific and surprising assignment: the illness is the root and the physician is the tip. The Discourse on Decoctions and Fermented Liquors states it negatively — 病為本，工為標，標本不得，邪氣不服 — and this chapter states it positively: tip and root are matched, and the evil qi submits. When they are not matched, the chapter says, the consequence is 亡神失國: the spirit is lost and the state with it. So 標本 here is not a doctrine of symptoms versus causes, as it later became; it is a statement about the fit between a doctor and a case.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Illness is the root, physician the tip 病為本，工為標
《湯液醪醴論》：「病為本，工為標，標本不得，邪氣不服。」
標本已得，邪氣乃服 — Suwen 13
2
Matched, and the evil submits 標本已得，邪氣乃服
王冰：「言工人與病主療相應，則邪氣率服而隨時順也。」
本末爲助，標本已得，邪氣乃服 — Suwen 13
3
Unmatched, and worse than useless 標本不得，亡神失國
王冰：「標本不得，謂工病失宜……豈唯治人而神氣受害，若使之輔佐君王，亦令國祚不保康寧矣。」
逆從到行，標本不得，亡神失國 — Suwen 13
4
Root and tip of the herb as well 本末爲助
王冰：「湯液不去，則盡用之，故云本末為助也。」本末指藥之根苗
本末爲助 — Suwen 13

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
4 passages
素問·移精變氣論 Suwen 13 · 移精變氣論 Read in context →
本末爲助，標本已得，邪氣乃服。 本末为助，标本已得，邪气乃服。
běn mò wéi zhù, biāo běn yǐ dé, xié qì nǎi fú.
Root and tip assist one another, the tip and the root are matched, and the evil qi then submits.
王冰：「言工人與病主療相應，則邪氣率服而隨時順也。《湯液醪醴論》曰：病為本，工為標，標本不得，邪氣不服。此之謂主療不相應也。」新校正云：「按全元起本又云：『得其標本，邪氣乃散矣。』」
素問·湯液醪醴論 Suwen 14 · 湯液醪醴論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：病爲本，工爲標，標本不得，邪氣不服。此之謂也。 岐伯曰：病为本，工为标，标本不得，邪气不服。此之谓也。
qí bó yuē: bìng wéi běn, gōng wéi biāo, biāo běn bù dé, xié qì bù fú. cǐ zhī wèi yě.
Qibo says: the illness is the root and the practitioner the branch; when root and branch do not meet, the evil qi does not submit. This is what is meant.
「病為本，工為標，標本不得，邪氣不服。」王冰：「病與工相得，則邪氣服；不相得，則邪氣不服。」與第十三篇「標本已得，邪氣乃服」正相對：第十三篇言其得，本篇言其不得。本篇之標本指病人與醫者之相得，非先病後病之標本。
素問·水熱穴論 Suwen 61 · 水熱穴論 Read in context →
故水病下爲胕腫、大腹，上爲喘呼、不得卧者，標本俱病。 故水病下为胕肿、大腹，上为喘呼、不得卧者，标本俱病。
Gù shuǐ bìng xià wéi fū zhǒng, dà fù, shàng wéi chuǎn hū, bù dé wò zhě, biāo běn jù bìng.
And so in water disease there is swelling and a big belly below, and panting and inability to lie down above: the root and the tip are both diseased.
「「標」讀 biāo「本」讀 běn俱病」——**本篇自注標本：上文「其本在腎，其末在肺」，下文「故肺爲喘呼，腎爲水腫」，是腎為本而肺為標**；**「標本」本篇1見**；**「標」讀 biāo、「本」讀 běn**
素問·標本病傳論 Suwen 65 · 標本病傳論 Read in context →
黃帝問曰：病有標本，刺有逆從，柰何？ 黄帝问曰：病有标本，刺有逆从，奈何？
Huáng dì wèn yuē: bìng yǒu biāo běn, cì yǒu nì cóng, nài hé?
Huang Di asked: illness has a root and a branch, and puncture has what runs counter and what accords. How is this?
「黃帝問曰：病有標本，刺有逆從，柰何？」——**本篇開篇即舉標本與逆從二事，通篇之論皆自此發**；**「標」讀 biāo，本篇18見；「本」讀 běn，本篇25見；二字連文者5見**；**標者病之末、病之變，本者病之源、病之先**；**「刺」讀 cì，「逆」讀 nì，「從」讀 cóng，「柰」讀 nài**

Compounds built on this term

標
biāo
the treetop, the tip
說文：木杪末也
本
běn
the root
說文：木下曰本
本末
běn mò
root and tip
本篇指藥之根與苗；王冰：「湯液不去，則盡用之。」
工
gōng
the workman, the physician
與「粗工」同字，見「粗工」條

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishroot and branch, or manifestation and rootStandard translations follow the later clinical doctrine, in which 本 is the underlying condition and 標 is its presenting sign.
This sitetip and rootIn this chapter the pair means something else: the illness is 本 and the physician is 標. Translating 標 as manifestation would make the sentence say that the doctor is the disease's symptom. Tip keeps the literal image from the 說文 (木杪末 — the end of the branch) and leaves the reader to see that what is being weighed is a relation, not a classification.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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