Classica Sinica Medica

惋

wǎn

Wan · inward distress

Also rendered: inward distress (Keeps the oppression and leaves the cause open) · oppressed within (Closer to the chest; less to the heart)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
wǎn
Simplified
惋
Literal
惋 wǎn is the feeling of being oppressed from inside — a chest and heart that will not open, a distress that has no object and therefore no relief. It is the hinge of chapter 30's explanation of why the patient cannot bear people: 陽明厥則喘而惋，惋則惡人. When Yangming goes into counterflow he pants, the panting distresses him within, and a man distressed within has no room left for company. The graph is rare in the Suwen, and the base text writes 惋 where the Taisu writes 悗 — two graphs for the same oppression.
Shuowen
《說文解字》無「惋」字，「惋」从心宛聲，**讀 wǎn，本篇二見，心內煩鬱、不自舒也**；**底本作「惋」，不作「悗」**——《太素》此字作「悗」，舊注或讀 mán、或讀 mèn，義並為煩悶；王冰注本作「惋」，今通行本從之。本篇二見：「陽明厥則喘而惋」「惋則惡人」，二字遞承，是答惡人之樞。

In brief

The inward distress that chapter 30 puts between the panting of Yangming counterflow and the patient’s inability to bear people. It is not grief and not fear: it is the oppression of a chest that cannot get its breath, and the chapter treats it as sufficient explanation for a social symptom — a man distressed within cannot bear company. The graph appears twice in the chapter, in immediate succession, and the two occurrences form the whole argument.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Distress following counterflow 喘而惋
陽明氣逆則喘，喘而氣鬱於中則惋
陽明厥則喘而惋 — Suwen 30
2
What the distress produces 惋則惡人
胸中煩苦，故不堪見人
惋則惡人 — Suwen 30
3
The counterflow behind it 陽明厥
氣不順行而逆上，故喘
帝曰：其惡人何也？歧伯曰：陽明厥則喘而惋 — Suwen 30
4
Its variant graph 惋／悗
《太素》作悗，形近而傳寫各異
陽明厥則喘而惋，惋則惡人 — Suwen 30
5
The opposite state 不避親疏
當其惋也惡人，及其陽盛也雖親疏不避
陽盛則使人妄言駡詈，不避親疏 — Suwen 30
6
The same vessel, the other outcome 惋
惋與喘同出於厥，厥連藏則死、連經則生
厥逆連藏則死。連經則生 — Suwen 30

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·陽明脉解 Suwen 30 · 陽明脉解 Read in context →
歧伯曰：陽明厥則喘而惋，惋則惡人。 歧伯曰：阳明厥则喘而惋，惋则恶人。
Qí bó yuē: yáng míng jué zé chuǎn ér wǎn, wǎn zé wù rén.
Qibo says: when Yangming is in counterflow the patient pants and is distressed within; being distressed within, he cannot bear people.
此句是答「其惡人何也」之要，惋字二見而遞承。「歧」讀 qí；「伯」讀 bó；「曰」讀 yuē；「陽」讀 yáng；「明」讀 míng；**「厥」讀 jué，本篇二見，氣逆上也**——「陽明厥」「厥逆連藏」皆謂陽明之氣不順行而逆上，與「煎厥」「薄厥」之為病名者別（本站已立目 id 220、221）；「則」讀 zé；「喘」讀 chuǎn，本篇三見；「而」讀 ér；**「惋」讀 wǎn，本篇二見**，《太素》作「悗」，形近而傳寫各異，今從底本作「惋」；「人」讀 rén；**「惡」讀 wù，本篇六見皆讀 wù**。「喘而惋」言其氣逆之狀，「惋則惡人」言其所以惡人之故，兩「惋」字相承，是本篇答語中最緊之接筍。
素問·調經論 Suwen 62 · 調經論 Read in context →
血并於陰，氣并於陽，故爲驚狂；血并於陽，氣并於陰，乃爲炅中；血并於上，氣并於下，心煩惋善怒；血并於下，氣并於上，亂而喜忘。 血并于阴，气并于阳，故为惊狂；血并于阳，气并于阴，乃为炅中；血并于上，气并于下，心烦惋善怒；血并于下，气并于上，乱而喜忘。
Xuè bìng yú yīn, qì bìng yú yáng, gù wéi jīng kuáng; xuè bìng yú yáng, qì bìng yú yīn, nǎi wéi jiǒng zhōng; xuè bìng yú shàng, qì bìng yú xià, xīn fán wǎn shàn nù; xuè bìng yú xià, qì bìng yú shàng, luàn ér xǐ wàng.
Blood pooling in yin and qi in yang makes fright and madness; blood pooling in yang and qi in yin makes heat in the interior; blood pooling above and qi below makes the heart fret and a man quick to anger; blood pooling below and qi above makes confusion and forgetfulness.
「血并於上，氣并於下，心煩惋善怒」——**「惋」本篇1見，讀 wǎn**：**惋者，内有所鬱而不得伸；血并於上、氣并於下，則心煩惋而善怒**；**一說讀 wò（音義同「悗」），此从 wǎn**；**「煩」讀 fán、「怒」讀 nù**

Compounds built on this term

喘而惋
chuǎn ér wǎn
panting and distressed
本篇一見，陽明厥之候
惋則惡人
wǎn zé wù rén
distressed, he cannot bear people
本篇一見，答惡人之樞
悗
mán/mèn
the Taisu variant
《太素》作此，與惋同義
煩惋
fán wǎn
fretting and oppression
《內經》他篇之對，與本篇惋義近

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng(rendered as) anguish / fretfulThey render 惋 with the vocabulary of emotional distress, which reads naturally but adds a feeling the text does not name.
Unschuld(rendered as) agitatedUnschuld leans toward the visible restlessness, which fits the panting but loses the inwardness of 惋.
This siteinward distressWe keep 惋 as distress and mark it as inward rather than emotional. The chapter's argument depends on distress being a bodily state with a bodily cause — breathing that will not settle — and an English word for an emotion would make the next step (惋則惡人) look like a psychological claim.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

Search the glossary

Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

See all reading paths