渾渾 简体 浑浑

hún hún

Turbulent · hun hun

Also rendered: muddy (Literal to the water radical, but sounds like a judgement on the blood rather than the pulse) · confused (Says what it means and loses the image the graph carries)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
hún hún
Simplified
浑浑
Literal
渾 hún, from 水 with 軍 as phonetic — muddy, confused, a current that has lost its shape; doubled. The second prohibition: do not needle a turbulent pulse. The chapter diagnoses pulses elsewhere in this chapter and can tell them apart — restless when the disease is in yang, quiet when it is in yin — so a turbulent pulse is not merely fast or slow. It is one that cannot be read, and that is why needling is forbidden.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:渾,混流聲也,从水,軍聲——**水流混而不分,故渾為混濁、為不別**。「渾」讀 hún,本篇二見——**「渾渾」二字本篇立為專名**,讀 hún hún,**底本从水从軍,不作「浑」(「浑」)**。「脉」讀 mài,本篇 4 見——**不作「脈」(「脈」)**;本篇之脉凡四見:伏膂之脉、渾渾之脉、脉躁、脉靜,**一言其道,一言其亂,二言其動靜**。「躁」讀 zào,本篇惟此一見——**底本从足从喿,不作「燥」(「燥」)**;「靜」讀 jìng,本篇惟此一見,不作「静」(「静」);「熱」讀 rè;「寒」讀 hán;「在」讀 zài;「陽」讀 yáng;「陰」讀 yīn;「則」讀 zé;「而」讀 ér。**「脉躁」「脉靜」二語可別,「渾渾」則不可別**:**可別者猶可診,不可別者則不可治**——**此「無剌渾渾之脉」之義也**。**與上文「無剌熇熇之熱」為一證一診**:熱之盛見於證,脉之亂見於診,**二者皆病勢之極,故皆不可犯**。**本篇言脉者四,而三疊字居其一**,**與第三十三篇「持脉」「搏脉」「脉孤」之諸脉為同一系統**。

In brief

A pulse that has lost its shape — muddy, unreadable. The second of the three prohibitions. The chapter can read a malaria pulse when it has one to read: restless in yang, quiet in yin. Turbulent means there is nothing to read, and at that point there is nothing to treat.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The word 渾渾
从水从軍,水流混而不分
無剌渾渾之脉 — Suwen 35
2
What it describes 脉
脉之混亂而不可別者
無剌渾渾之脉 — Suwen 35
3
The prohibition 無剌
脉亂之時不可剌
無剌渾渾之脉 — Suwen 35
4
A pulse that can be read 脉躁
病在陽則熱而脉躁
病在陽,則熱而脉躁 — Suwen 35
5
The other readable pulse 脉靜
病在陰則寒而脉靜
在陰,則寒而脉靜 — Suwen 35
6
Why turbulence forbids treatment 故爲其病逆
不可別則不可治
未可治也 — Suwen 35

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·瘧論 Suwen 35 · 瘧論 Read in context →
歧伯曰:經言無剌熇熇之熱,無剌渾渾之脉,無剌漉漉之汗,故爲其病逆,未可治也。 歧伯曰:经言无刺熇熇之热,无刺浑浑之脉,无刺漉漉之汗,故为其病逆,未可治也。
Qí bó yuē: jīng yán wú cì hè hè zhī rè, wú cì hún hún zhī mài, wú cì lù lù zhī hàn, gù wéi qí bìng nì, wèi kě zhì yě.
Qi Bo says: the classic says — do not needle a scorching heat, do not needle a turbulent pulse, do not needle a streaming sweat. For its disease is in counterflow, and it cannot yet be treated.
三禁之一,與「熇熇」「漉漉」同句。「無」讀 wú;「剌」讀 cì;「渾」讀 hún;「之」讀 zhī;「脉」讀 mài;「熇」讀 hè;「熱」讀 rè;「漉」讀 lù;「汗」讀 hàn;「故」讀 gù;「爲」讀 wéi;「其」讀 qí;「病」讀 bìng;「逆」讀 nì;「未」讀 wèi;「可」讀 kě;「治」讀 zhì;「也」讀 yě。**「渾渾之脉」四字,居三禁之中**:上禁其熱(證),此禁其脉(診),下禁其汗(候),**三禁並列而脉居其中,見診為治之本**。**「脉」字本篇四見而義有三**:伏膂之脉(經脉之道)、渾渾之脉(診候之脉)、脉躁脉靜(病在陰陽之脉),**一指其道,二指其診**,**皆不作「脈」,與《素問》通例同**。**「躁」「靜」二字本篇各惟此一見**:躁从足不从火(不作「燥」),靜从青从爭(不作「静」),**二字對舉,是本篇脉診之全部**。**「無剌」之「剌」,本篇四見皆从束从刂**,**與第三十三篇「五十九剌」同字同讀**。
素問·三部九候論 Suwen 20 · 三部九候論 Read in context →
以左手足上,上去踝五寸按之,庶右手足當踝而彈之,其應過五寸以上蠕蠕然者,不病;其應疾中手渾渾然者,病;中手徐徐然者,病;其應上不能至五寸,彈之不應者,死;是以脱肉身不去者,死;中部乍疏乍數者,死。 以左手足上,上去踝五寸按之,庶右手足当踝而弹之,其应过五寸以上蠕蠕然者,不病;其应疾中手浑浑然者,病;中手徐徐然者,病;其应上不能至五寸,弹之不应者,死;是以脱肉身不去者,死;中部乍疏乍数者,死。
Yǐ zuǒ shǒu zú shàng, shàng qù huái wǔ cùn àn zhī, shù yòu shǒu zú dāng huái ér tán zhī, qí yìng guò wǔ cùn yǐ shàng rú rú rán zhě, bù bìng; qí yìng jí zhòng shǒu hún hún rán zhě, bìng; zhòng shǒu xú xú rán zhě, bìng; qí yìng shàng bù néng zhì wǔ cùn, tán zhī bù yìng zhě, sǐ; shì yǐ tuō ròu shēn bù qù zhě, sǐ; zhōng bù zhà shū zhà shuò zhě, sǐ.
With the left hand on the upper part of the leg, press five cun above the ankle; then at the other leg, level with the ankle, flick it. If the response travels more than five cun upward, worming gently, there is no disease. If the response is hurried and strikes the hand turbidly, disease; if it strikes the hand sluggishly, disease. If the response cannot rise to five cun and there is no answer to the flick, death. Hence one who has lost flesh and cannot move the body, death; one whose middle sector is now scattered, now rapid, death.
「其應疾中手渾渾然者,病」——彈踝而應疾、中手渾渾然者為病,與蠕蠕然之不病、徐徐然之病相對;**「渾渾」本篇1見**
素問·脉要精微論 Suwen 17 · 脉要精微論 Read in context →
上盛則氣高,下盛則氣脹,代則氣衰,細則氣少,濇則心痛,渾渾革至如涌泉,病進而色弊,緜緜其去如弦絶,死。 上盛则气高,下盛则气胀,代则气衰,细则气少,涩则心痛,浑浑革至如涌泉,病进而色弊,绵绵其去如弦绝,死。
shàng shèng zé qì gāo, xià shèng zé qì zhàng, dài zé qì shuāi, xì zé qì shǎo, sè zé xīn tòng, hún hún gé zhì rú yǒng quán, bìng jìn ér sè bì, mián mián qí qù rú xián jué, sǐ.
If the upper part is full, the qi rides high; if the lower part is full, the qi is distended. An intermittent pulse means the qi is failing; a thin pulse means the qi is scant; a rough pulse means pain in the heart. A pulse that comes turbulent and urgent like a gushing spring means the illness is advancing and the complexion is deteriorating; one that departs faint and faint, like a bowstring snapping, means death.
「渾渾革至如涌泉」,脉渾渾而革至如涌泉,病進而色弊。渾渾謂脉已失其形、無可辨讀。

Compounds built on this term

渾渾
hún hún
turbulent
本篇二見,狀脉之不可分別
脉躁
mài zào
a restless pulse
「躁」不作「燥」,本篇惟此一見
脉靜
mài jìng
a quiet pulse
「靜」不作「静」,本篇惟此一見
伏膂之脉
fú lǚ zhī mài
the vessel hidden along the spine
本篇「脉」四見之一

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & FengturbulentThey take 渾 as a disturbed current, which suits a pulse the chapter cannot read.
UnschuldconfusedUnschuld states the consequence rather than the image.
This siteturbulentWe keep the image and say what it costs. The chapter reads malaria pulses elsewhere — restless in yang, quiet in yin — so turbulent is not a speed but a failure to be legible, and that is why it forbids treatment.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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