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Module 1   Lesson 16   Shu Xue

Thirty key points

What does a choice of points reveal about the pattern in the practitioner's mind?

After this lesson you know the category and function of ten points by heart, you recognise every point in the course's codes and in the book's codes, and you can explain why two points are chosen together; that reason counts for more than the list.

Head and neck (4) GV-20 Baihui, vertex Yintang, glabella GB-20 Fengchi, occiput GV-14 Dazhui, C7 and T1 Arm, Yin side (4) LU-7 Lieque, wrist LU-9 Taiyuan, wrist PC-6 Neiguan, forearm HT-7 Shenmen, wrist Arm, Yang side (4) LI-4 Hegu, hand LI-11 Quchi, elbow TE-5 Waiguan, forearm SI-3 Houxi, edge of the hand Yin side: inner surface Yang side: outer and back trunk: Ren, Du and Bladder lies on the back dot: one of the ten by heart schematic, not a location guide Trunk, front (4) CV-12 Zhongwan, epigastrium ST-25 Tianshu, by the navel CV-6 Qihai, lower abdomen CV-4 Guanyuan, lower abdomen Back (3) BL-17 Geshu, T7 BL-20 Pishu, T11 BL-23 Shenshu, L2 Leg, Yang side (5) ST-36 Zusanli, below the knee ST-40 Fenglong, lower leg GB-34 Yanglingquan, knee BL-40 Weizhong, back of knee BL-60 Kunlun, ankle Leg, Yin side (6) SP-10 Xuehai, thigh SP-9 Yinlingquan, knee SP-6 Sanyinjiao, lower leg KI-3 Taixi, ankle KI-6 Zhaohai, ankle LR-3 Taichong, foot
Schematic, not a location guide: the large dots point to a region, not to a point. Yin channels run along the inner side, Yang channels along the outer side.

Know by heart

  • The Four Gates. LI-4 Hegu: Yuan, command point of the face; release the Exterior, head and face. LR-3 Taichong: Shu-Stream and Yuan; move Liver-Qi, subdue Liver-Yang. mnemonic: hand and foot, left and right: four gates.
  • Two Yuan points on a Yin channel, so also Shu-Stream. HT-7 Shenmen: calm the Shen, nourish Heart-Blood. KI-3 Taixi: tonify the Kidneys, Yin and Yang. mnemonic: Spirit Gate for the Shen, Supreme Stream for the source.
  • Two He-Sea points at the knee. ST-36 Zusanli: He-Sea, command point of the abdomen; tonify Qi and Blood, Spleen and Stomach. GB-34 Yanglingquan: He-Sea, Hui of the sinews; sinews, move Liver-Qi. mnemonic: in front of the knee the Stomach fills, outside the knee the Gall-Bladder moves.
  • Two Luo points that open a vessel. PC-6 Neiguan: Luo, opening point of the Yin Wei; chest and nausea, calm the Shen. LU-7 Lieque: Luo, opening point of the Ren, command point of head and neck; Exterior, make Lung-Qi descend. mnemonic: Inner Pass for the chest, Broken Sequence breaks open the Exterior.
  • SP-6 Sanyinjiao. Crossing point of the three leg Yin (Spleen, Kidneys, Liver); tonify the Spleen, nourish Blood and Yin. Twelve of the nineteen patterns; not in pregnancy. mnemonic: San-yin-jiao literally means Three Yin Intersection.
  • CV-12 Zhongwan. Front-Mu of the Stomach, Hui of the Fu; Stomach and Spleen, Middle Burner. mnemonic: Middle Cavity: the middle of the trunk, the middle of the three Burners.
  • The limits among the thirty. Pregnancy: avoid LI-4, SP-6, BL-60, CV-4 with caution, abdomen and lower back as well. Pneumothorax: BL-17 with depth. Direction and depth: GB-20. Vessels and nerve: back of the knee, BL-40. mnemonic: all three pregnancy points have a 4 or a 6 in their code.

The rest of this lesson is reference.

Thirty key points: What does a choice of points reveal about the pattern in the practitioner's mind?
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Three practice questions from this lesson

Which point is the Front-Mu of the Stomach and the Hui point of the Fu?
  1. CV-12
  2. CV-6
  3. ST-25
  4. CV-4

Answer: CV-12. CV-12 Zhongwan: Front-Mu of the Stomach and Hui of the Fu. CV-4 is the Front-Mu of the Small Intestine, ST-25 that of the Large Intestine, CV-6 the Sea of Qi.

Nausea after an operation: which point has the strongest evidence there?
  1. ST-36
  2. PC-6
  3. CV-12
  4. LI-4

Answer: PC-6. PC-6 Neiguan. Cochrane 2015: 59 trials, less nausea than sham (RR 0.68), low-quality evidence; no difference from antiemetics. The 2025 update (77 trials) points the same way, also with low certainty.

Which two points together form the Four Gates?
  1. LI-4 and ST-36
  2. PC-6 and SP-4
  3. LR-3 and GB-34
  4. LI-4 and LR-3

Answer: LI-4 and LR-3. LI-4 with LR-3: left and right, four points together. PC-6 and SP-4 form an opening pair.

The rest of this lesson

In the course you get the step-by-step explanation, 18 case-based practice questions, 66 spaced-repetition flashcards, the pitfalls and the bridge to physiology with evidence grades. This lesson belongs to module 1: Foundations.

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