Classica Sinica Medica

病傳 简体 病传

bìng chuán

Transmission of illness · bing chuan

Also rendered: Transmission of illness (this site; literal from the two graphs, and it keeps 傳 as passing on rather than as infection) · Progression of disease (the modern phrasing; clearer about the course, and it loses the sense that one viscus hands the illness to the next)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-10-05

At a glance

Pinyin
bìng chuán
Simplified
病传
Literal
病 bìng — illness; 傳 chuán — to pass on, to hand along. The transmission of illness is what gives this chapter the second half of its name, and it is what the last third of the chapter is a catalogue of: 夫病傳者，心病，先心痛，一日而欬，三日脅支痛，五日閉塞不通，身痛體重，三日不已，死。冬夜半，夏日中. One illness after another — heart, lung, liver, spleen, kidney, stomach, bladder — each with the day on which each symptom arrives, the day on which the person dies if it has not abated, and the hour of that day, given twice, once for winter and once for summer. The chapter's conclusion is the point of the whole catalogue: 諸病以次是相傳，如是者皆有死期，不可刺. Illnesses that run through the viscera in this order have a date, and when they have a date the needle is of no use. Where the transmission passes over a viscus and stops, and where it goes on to a third or fourth viscus, then puncture may be applied.
Shuowen
**「病」讀 bìng，本篇23見；「傳」讀 chuán，本篇2見**；**「病傳」本篇1見，在「夫病傳者」一句；篇題亦用之，篇題之讀不入校勘**；**《說文》：病，疾加也，从疒丙聲；傳，遽也，从人專聲**；**本篇之目凡七：心、肺、肝、脾、腎、胃、膀胱**；**「心」讀 xīn、「肺」讀 fèi、「肝」讀 gān、「脾」讀 pí、「腎」讀 shèn、「胃」讀 wèi、「膀胱」讀 páng guāng**；**「欬」讀 kài，本篇2見；「痠」讀 suān，本篇5見；「䯒」讀 héng，本篇3見**；**「死期」本篇1見；「不可刺」1見，「乃可刺」1見**

In brief

Transmission of illness — 病 bìng, illness; 傳 chuán, to pass along — and it is the second half of this chapter’s title. 《說文》 has 病，疾加也, an illness that has grown, and 傳，遽也, to hand on in haste, which together describe exactly what the catalogue shows: an illness that grows and then moves. The chapter names it once, at the head of the catalogue — 夫病傳者，心病，先心痛 — and then gives seven illnesses, each with the day each symptom arrives, the day of death if it has not abated, and the hour, in winter and in summer alike. The conclusion is what the catalogue is for: 諸病以次是相傳，如是者皆有死期，不可刺. An illness that runs the viscera in order has a date, and an illness with a date is not to be needled. The two exceptions follow immediately — where the transmission skips a viscus and stops, and where it reaches a third or fourth viscus — and those may be punctured. 張介賓 notes that the intervals are not uniform and that the text should not be forced into an arithmetic.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 病傳
病者，疾加也；傳者，遽也，遞相傳受
夫病傳者，心病，先心痛 — Suwen 65
2
The shape of the catalogue 一日、三日、五日
每病先舉其證，次記其日，終記死期與時
一日而欬，三日脅支痛 — Suwen 65
3
The hour of death, twice given 冬夏各一
每病之末皆記冬夏二時，如冬夜半、夏日中
五日閉塞不通，身痛體重，三日不已，死。冬夜半，夏日中。 — Suwen 65
4
The conclusion drawn from it 皆有死期，不可刺
依次相傳者皆有死期，不可刺
諸病以次是相傳，如是者皆有死期，不可刺。 — Suwen 65
5
The two exceptions 乃可刺也
閒一藏止，及至三四藏者，乃可刺
閒一藏止，及至三四藏者，乃可刺也。 — Suwen 65
6
Why the order matters 閒甚
傳變有間有甚，間者并行，甚者獨行
謹察間甚，以意調之，閒者并行，甚者獨行。 — Suwen 65

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 65 Suwen 65 · 標本病傳論 Read in context →
夫病傳者，心病，先心痛，一日而欬，三日脅支痛，五日閉塞不通，身痛體重，三日不已，死。冬夜半，夏日中。 夫病传者，心病，先心痛，一日而咳，三日胁支痛，五日闭塞不通，身痛体重，三日不已，死。冬夜半，夏日中。
Fú bìng chuán zhě, xīn bìng, xiān xīn tòng, yī rì ér kài, sān rì xié zhī tòng, wǔ rì bì sè bù tōng, shēn tòng tǐ zhòng, sān rì bù yǐ, sǐ. Dōng yè bàn, xià rì zhōng.
As for the transmission of illness: in illness of the heart there is first pain in the heart; after one day, coughing; after three days, propping pain in the flank; after five days, blockage and no passage; the body aches and feels heavy. Should it not abate after three days more, the person dies. In winter, at midnight; in summer, at midday.
**「病傳」本篇1見，在「夫病傳者，心病，先心痛」一句；篇題「標本病傳論」亦用之，篇題之讀不入校勘**；**「病」讀 bìng，本篇23見；「傳」讀 chuán，本篇2見**；**《說文》：病，疾加也；傳，遽也**；**本篇病傳之目凡七：心、肺、肝、脾、腎、胃、膀胱，皆記日數與死期之時**；**「欬」讀 kài，本篇2見；「閉塞不通」本篇1見，「塞」讀 sè**；**「死期」本篇1見；「不可刺」1見，「乃可刺」1見**；**「閒一藏止」之「閒」讀 jiàn，「藏」讀 zàng**

Compounds built on this term

死期
sǐ qī
the date of death
本篇1見，依次相傳者皆有之
不可刺
bù kě cì
not to be punctured
本篇1見，對「乃可刺」而言
乃可刺
nǎi kě cì
then puncture may be applied
本篇1見，閒一藏止及至三四藏者為之
閒一藏止
jiàn yī zàng zhǐ
skips a viscus and stops
本篇一見；「閒」讀 jiàn，「藏」讀 zàng，本篇2見

How it has been translated

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

This sitetransmission of illnessliteral from the graphs — 病 illness, 傳 to pass along — and kept rather than replaced, because the chapter's catalogue is built on the idea of one viscus handing the illness to the next in a fixed order
Later usagebing chuan, disease transmissionhow the phrase travels in English writing on Chinese medicine, transliterated with a gloss; faithful, and it leaves the order of the viscera to the catalogue itself
Clinicalprogression of diseasethe modern term for the same course; right that the illness advances through stages, and it drops the fixed order and the date, which are what the chapter is actually recording

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-05

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