肉爍简体肉烁

ròu shuò

Wasting of the flesh · rou shuo

Also rendered: flesh melting (Vivid but over-literal; 爍 is smelting, not melting) · emaciation (Accurate as an outcome and loses the fire that caused it)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: ròu shuò
Simplified: 肉烁
Literal: 肉 ròu, the flesh; 爍 shuò, to smelt, to burn away — the graph has 火 in it, and the chapter has just been talking about a person who meets wind and is as if scorched. The verdict is that such a person's flesh will be wasted. It is the counterpart in this chapter to 骨痺: heat wastes the flesh, cold blocks the bone.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：爍，灼爍，光也，从火，樂聲——引申為銷鑠、為消爍。「爍」讀 shuò，本篇惟此一見——**从火从樂，銷鑠也，不作「烁」（「烁」）**；與上文「如炙如火」之「火」同一偏旁，**本篇以一「火」字貫其喻**：炙、火、爍三字皆从火。「肉」讀 ròu；「當」讀 dāng，本篇 2 見；「是」讀 shì；「人」讀 rén；「也」讀 yě；「逢」讀 féng，本篇 2 見；「風」讀 fēng，本篇 2 見；「而」讀 ér；「如」讀 rú；「炙」讀 zhì，本篇 2 見；「火」讀 huǒ，本篇 6 見；「者」讀 zhě。**「當」字是《素問》預後之詞**，讀 dāng，將也、必也；與下文「是人當攣節也」同一字法：**不斷其死，而斷其必至之變**——與第三十三篇「病而留者，其壽可立而傾也」之斷其死者輕重有別。**此句與下文「骨痺」一熱一寒，恰成對照**：熱甚則肉為之爍，寒甚則骨為之痺，**本篇於寒熱二證各舉其一，而皆以「是人當…」斷其變**。

In brief

What the chapter predicts for a person whose four limbs are hot and who, on meeting wind, is as if scorched and as if on fire: the flesh will be wasted. The reasoning is the chapter’s favourite kind — two yangs meeting while yin is scant, so a little water cannot quench a vigorous fire, and what governs alone cannot bring growth.

Senses in the classical corpus

The prediction 是人當肉爍也

當者必也，預後之詞

是人當肉爍也 — Suwen 34

The condition it follows 四支熱

四肢屬陽而熱，是為一陽

人有四支熱 — Suwen 34

Meeting wind 逢風而如炙如火者

上文作「逢風寒」，此但舉風

逢風而如炙如火者 — Suwen 34

Two yangs meeting 兩陽相得

四支之陽與人身之陽相合

兩陽相得 — Suwen 34

The water cannot quench 少水不能滅盛火

水少火盛則不勝

少水不能滅盛火 — Suwen 34

What governs alone 獨治者，不能生長也

陽獨治則無陰以濟，故不能生長

獨治者，不能生長也 — Suwen 34

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·逆調論 Suwen 34 · 逆調論 Read in context →

逢風而如炙如火者，是人當肉爍也。逢风而如炙如火者，是人当肉烁也。

Féng fēng ér rú zhì rú huǒ zhě, shì rén dāng ròu shuò yě.

One who, meeting wind, is as if scorched and as if on fire — such a person will have the flesh wasted away.

第二答之結句。「逢」讀 féng；「風」讀 fēng；「而」讀 ér；「如」讀 rú；「炙」讀 zhì；「火」讀 huǒ；「者」讀 zhě；「是」讀 shì；「人」讀 rén；「當」讀 dāng；「肉」讀 ròu；「爍」讀 shuò；「也」讀 yě。**此處作「逢風而」，上文作「逢風寒」**：一有「寒」字一無之——**上問舉風寒二邪，此答但舉風者，以熱家遇風而熾，寒非其主因**；各從底本，不據彼以改此。**「是人當肉爍也」與下文「是人當攣節也」同一句法**：皆以「是人當」三字領其必至之變，而一為熱之爍、一為寒之攣，本篇寒熱二證於此收束。

素問·皮部論 Suwen 56 · 皮部論 Read in context →

其留於筋骨之間，寒多則筋攣骨痛，熱多則筋弛骨消，肉爍䐃破，毛直而敗。其留于筋骨之间，寒多则筋挛骨痛，热多则筋弛骨消，肉烁䐃破，毛直而败。

Qí liú yú jīn gǔ zhī jiān, hán duō zé jīn luán gǔ tòng, rè duō zé jīn chí gǔ xiāo, ròu shuò jùn pò, máo zhí ér bài.

Lodged between the sinews and the bones: where cold predominates the sinews cramp and the bones ache; where heat predominates the sinews slacken and the bone wastes away, the flesh is scorched and the raised flesh breaks, the hair stands upright and is spoiled.

「其留於筋骨之間，寒多則筋攣骨痛，熱多則筋弛骨消，「肉」讀 ròu「爍」讀 shuò䐃破，毛直而敗」——**本篇「肉爍」1見，讀 ròu shuò**；**本目為第三十四篇所立（四肢熱、逢風而如炙如火者，其肉必爍）；本篇之肉爍在「熱多則筋弛骨消」之後，與「䐃破」連文，皆熱勝而肉為之銷鑠**；「䐃」讀 jùn、**「䐃破」之䐃讀 jùn，肉之突起處，王冰注「䐃者肉之標，故肉消則䐃破」**；「弛」讀 chí、**「筋弛」之弛讀 chí**；「敗」讀 bài、**「毛直而敗」之敗讀 bài**

Compounds built on this term

肉爍

ròu shuò

wasting of the flesh

本篇熱證之變

兩陽相得

liǎng yáng xiāng dé

two yangs meeting

四支之陽合人身之陽

少水不能滅盛火

shǎo shuǐ bù néng miè shèng huǒ

a little water cannot quench a vigorous fire

本篇第一設譬

獨勝而止耳

dú shèng ér zhǐ ěr

it prevails alone and stops

勝一時而無所成

How it has been translated

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

Wiseman & Feng	wasting of the flesh	They keep the cause out of the rendering and let the chapter's fire imagery stand on its own.
Unschuld	the flesh will be burned away	Unschuld keeps the graph's 火, which is what ties this line back to 如炙如火 three sentences earlier.
This site	wasting of the flesh	We keep the outcome and point at the cause in the note. The chapter has just used two fire words in a row — 炙 and 火 — and then writes a third graph with 火 in it for the result; the English does not need to burn, it only needs to name what is left.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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