Wind hernia · feng shan

At a glance

Pinyin

fēng shàn

Simplified

风疝

Literal

風 fēng — wind; 疝 shàn — a rupture, a swelling that pushes out of where it belongs. A wind hernia is the rupture that belongs to wind. The chapter names five, one to each depot, and every one of them sits in the same place in the scheme: 滑則病肺風疝、滑則病脾風疝、滑則病心風疝、滑則病腎風疝、滑則病肝風疝. Always the slippery branch, always the surplus side. That regularity is the chapter's point — wind is what a surplus in the channel makes, and the depot named in the disease is the depot that channel is paired with here. The pairing is worth remarking on, because it is not the usual one: 少陰 gives 肺風疝, 太陰 gives 脾風疝, 陽明 gives 心風疝, 太陽 gives 腎風疝, and 少陽 gives 肝風疝 — six channels, five depots, and 厥陰 left over with no depot of its own, which is why its hernia is the fox's and not an organ's.

Shuowen

**「風」讀 fēng，本篇6見，皆在「狐疝風」與五「風疝」之内**；**「疝」讀 shàn，本篇6見**；**「風疝」本篇5見：肺風疝、脾風疝、心風疝、腎風疝、肝風疝，各一見，皆在滑脉之變**；**本篇言疝者凡6見，「風疝」居其五，「狐疝風」居其一**；**本篇六經配五藏，與常例不同：少陰—肺、太陰—脾、陽明—心、太陽—腎、少陽—肝，厥陰獨無藏，故其疝名狐而不名藏，丹波元簡已著其說**；**《說文》：疝，腹痛也，从疒山聲，所晏切**；**「肺」讀 fèi、「脾」讀 pí、「心」讀 xīn、「腎」讀 shèn、「肝」讀 gān**；**「滑」讀 huá、「濇」讀 sè；「有餘」讀 yǒu yú、「不足」讀 bù zú**