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Module 6   Lesson 19   Ren Mai

Ren Mai: CV-1 to CV-24

Why do six of the twelve Front-Mu points lie on one line down the front of the body, and how do you read a Ren point from its height?

After this lesson you know all 24 points with name and category, you read the Ren as the floors of the three Burners, you can name the six Front-Mu points and the two Hui points, and you can choose between CV-4, CV-6, CV-12 and CV-17.

Throat and face CV-22 to CV-24: throat and mouth Upper Burner CV-15 to CV-21 Heart, Lungs, Qi of the chest Middle Burner CV-10 to CV-14: Stomach, Spleen Navel: CV-8, CV-9 Lower Burner CV-2 to CV-7: Kidneys, Uterus, Bladder, Small Intestine, Yuan Qi CV-1: the start, below the trunk CV-1 Huiyin: crosses Du and Chong CV-3 Zhongji: Front-Mu Bladder CV-4 Guanyuan: Front-Mu Small Intestine CV-5 Shimen: Front-Mu Triple Burner CV-6 Qihai: Sea of Qi CV-8 Shenque: the navel CV-9 Shuifen: Water CV-12 Zhongwan: Front-Mu Stomach, Hui Fu CV-14 Juque: Front-Mu Heart CV-15 Jiuwei: Luo of the Ren CV-17 Shanzhong: Front-Mu Pericardium, Hui Qi CV-22 Tiantu: throat; Window of Heaven CV-23 Lianquan: tongue CV-24 Chengjiang: the end square: Front-Mu; arrow: the Ren flows upwards
Schematic, no point location: equal spacing per point, bands by the three Burners (textbook knowledge). The pathway as a vessel is in ch. 53 p. 897 and in lesson 4 of this module.

Know by heart

  • The vessel. Ren Mai, Sea of Yin; 24 points along the midline of the front, from bottom to top. Opening point LU-7 (pair KI-6), Luo point CV-15. mnemonic: the Ren carries the Yin, the uterus and the front.
  • Read the height. Below the navel the Lower Burner: Kidneys, Uterus, Bladder, Small Intestine, Original Qi. Above the navel the Middle Burner: Stomach and Spleen. Chest the Upper Burner: Heart, Lungs, Qi. Then throat and face.
  • Six Front-Mu points. CV-3 Bladder, CV-4 Small Intestine, CV-5 Triple Burner; CV-12 Stomach, CV-14 Heart, CV-17 Pericardium. mnemonic: three below the navel, three above: 3, 4, 5 and 12, 14, 17.
  • Two Hui and one Luo. CV-12 Hui of the Fu; CV-17 Hui of Qi; CV-15 Luo of the Ren.
  • Lower abdomen. CV-4 Guanyuan: nourish Original Qi, Kidneys, Blood and Yin; with moxa it warms. CV-6 Qihai: tonify and move Qi. CV-3: Bladder, Damp-Heat.
  • Middle and top. CV-12 Zhongwan: Stomach and Spleen, Middle Burner. CV-14: calm the Mind, Heart. CV-17: Qi of the chest, open the chest. CV-22: make Lung-Qi descend, throat.
  • Limits. Lower abdomen with caution in pregnancy (CV-4 with caution); CV-8 classically not needled, moxa only; CV-22 a risk area.

The rest of this lesson is reference.

Ren Mai: the points: Why do six of the twelve Front-Mu points lie on one line down the front of the body, and how do you read a Ren point from its height?
The chart as an image, to save or share

Three practice questions from this lesson

How many points does the Ren Mai have, and which point opens the vessel?
  1. 24, KI-6
  2. 28, SI-3
  3. 24, LU-7

Answer: 24, LU-7. 24 points; LU-7 opens the Ren, with KI-6 (Yin Qiao) as its pair. SI-3 opens the Du, which has 28 points.

Which three Front-Mu points lie below the navel?
  1. CV-12, CV-14, CV-17
  2. CV-3, CV-4, CV-5
  3. CV-4, CV-6, CV-8

Answer: CV-3, CV-4, CV-5. CV-3 Bladder, CV-4 Small Intestine, CV-5 Triple Burner. Above: CV-12 Stomach, CV-14 Heart, CV-17 Pericardium. CV-6 and CV-8 are not Front-Mu points.

Front-Mu of the Stomach and Hui of the Fu?
  1. CV-12 Zhongwan
  2. CV-14 Juque
  3. CV-17 Shanzhong

Answer: CV-12 Zhongwan. CV-12 Zhongwan. CV-17 is the Hui of Qi and the Front-Mu of the Pericardium, CV-14 the Front-Mu of the Heart.

The rest of this lesson

In the course you get the step-by-step explanation, 17 case-based practice questions, 19 spaced-repetition flashcards, the pitfalls and the bridge to physiology with evidence grades. This lesson belongs to module 6: Points.

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