Wu Collection, Middle Volume
Radical: Sickness (bìng)
Epilepsy; Kangxi stroke count: 17; Page 780
Pronounced xian.
As defined in the Analytical Dictionary of Characters (Shuowen Jiezi), it refers to a type of illness. According to the Jade Chapters (Yupian), it refers to infantile convulsions. The Correct Meaning Thoroughfare (Zhengzitong) states that epilepsy involves wind-heat and startling evil, both of which are complicated by deficiency and phlegm. In medical treatises, it is noted that children suffer from five types of epilepsy, each belonging to one of the five viscera. Heart epilepsy has a sound like a sheep. Liver epilepsy has a sound like a dog. Spleen epilepsy has a sound like an ox. Lung epilepsy has a sound like a chicken. Kidney epilepsy has a sound like a pig. When the attack occurs, the patient falls suddenly, the mouth and eyes pull to one side, the hands and feet twitch, and saliva froths from the mouth; they recover after the time it takes to eat a meal. As recorded in the Biography of Wang Fu in the History of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu), excessive breastfeeding leads to epilepsy.