Sand

Also sand qì. Any of various externally contracted febrile disease patterns characterized by distension or papules.

1. Disease characterized by pain, distension, and oppression in the chest attributable to wind-cold, summerheat, and epidemic qì blocking the stomach and intestines is called sand distension.
2. Sand in the skin and qì aspect manifests as faint red papules the size of millet seeds; when it brews in the blood aspect, the whole body is painfully swollen, and there are blackish patches (black sand).
3. Papules. A Clinical Guide with Case Histories (临证指南医案 lín zhèng zhǐ nán yī àn) states, Sand is a general word for papules. See also guā-shā and maculopapular eruption.

Etymology

Chin 痧 shā is composed of the illness signifier 疒 with 沙 shā, sand, the latter element being descriptive of the papules. The precise etiological connection between a granular eruption and disease characterized by abdominal signs is not clear.