Health and illness

In Chinese, almost every character to do with illness carries the same radical: 疒 nè, commonly called 病字旁 bìngzìpáng, “the illness radical”. It is said to show a bed seen from the side, with the patient lying on it (that is the usual explanation, but I am not sure the ancient forms are enough to prove it). You find it in 病 bìng, 疼 téng, 痛 tòng, 症 zhèng or 疫 yì. When an unknown character wears this slanting roof, there is a good chance it is talking about something that ails you.

Chinese “gives birth” to illness: 生病 shēngbìng, literally “to produce an illness” ⟶ to fall ill. 感冒 gǎnmào combines 感 “to feel” and 冒 “to brave”, as in 冒雨 mào yǔ, going out in the rain: you braved the cold and you felt it ⟶ a cold. On the other hand, 病 on its own stays vague. To say what is wrong, you name the body part and add 疼: 头疼 tóuténg “head + to hurt”, 牙疼, 肚子疼. The body parts, and basic words such as 疼, 咳嗽 or 流血, are on the page The body.

On the cultural side, two reflexes come as a surprise. 多喝水 duō hē shuǐ, “drink plenty of water” (hot, preferably), is the Chinese answer to almost everything, from a cold to a stomach ache. So much so that 多喝热水 duō hē rè shuǐ has become an internet joke about the boyfriend who can think of nothing else to say. And people will happily tell you 注意身体 zhùyì shēntǐ, “take care of your body”, by way of goodbye. It is not worry: it is an affectionate formula.

Recent Chinese has coined 亚健康 yàjiànkāng: 亚 “second, lower” + 健康 “health” ⟶ “sub-health”, that state of chronic tiredness where you are not ill but not well either. The word has caught on. But it comes from the press and wellness centres more than from hospitals, and I doubt a French doctor would recognise it as a category. 养生 yǎngshēng, “nourishing life”, is much older: it comes from Taoist thought and today means a healthy lifestyle, from morning tai chi to herbal teas.

Among the set expressions, 身体是革命的本钱 shēntǐ shì gémìng de běnqián, “the body is the capital of the revolution”, is a slogan from the Mao era. People still use it, with a smile, to tell someone not to wear themselves out at work. As for everyday words, 毛病 máobing, “hair + illness” ⟶ a flaw, a breakdown, applies to a person just as well as to a car. And 不感冒 bù gǎnmào, “not to catch a cold”, means in slang “not to be into something”: 我对足球不感冒, football does nothing for me.

The doctor, the pharmacy and Chinese medicine are on the page Getting treatment. 看病 and 鼻塞, for their part, are already on the page The five senses.

Click on any character on the page: its stroke order is shown stroke by stroke, with the arrow that gives the direction of the movement.