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Alternate names: 龙泉 lóng quán, Dragon in the Spring; 龙渊 lóng yuān, Dragon in the Abyss; 然骨 rán gǔ, Blazing Bone; 通谷 tōng gǔ, Grain Connection; 足少阴所流 zú shào yīn suǒ liú,

Channel: KI, foot lesser yīn (shào yīn) kidney channel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the medial aspect of the foot, in the depression inferior to the tuberosity of the navicular bone.

Classical location: In the depression below the large bone that lies in front of the inner ankle. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: Branches of the medial plantar and medial tarsal arteries. The terminal branch of the medial crural cutaneous nerve, the medial plantar nerve.

Action: Boosts the kidney and stems discharge; abducts red (i.e., heat) and clears the heart.

Modern indications: Menstrual irregularities; seminal emission; dispersion-thirst; diarrhea: coughing of blood; painful swollen throat; inhibited urination; umbilical wind; clenched jaw.

Classical indications: Throat impediment (hóu bì) and swollen pharynx; coughing of blood or spitting of blood; impotence; seminal emission and white turbidity; warm malaria; throughflux diarrhea (dòng xiè); urinary stoppage; dispersion-thirst; jaundice; spontaneous sweating and night sweating; swelling of the dorsum of the foot that prevents walking; cold mounting (hán shàn) with smaller abdominal distension; infertility; pain in the lower leg that prevents standing for long periods; no pleasure in eating; cold feet; heat in one foot and cold in the other; extended tongue; vexation and fullness.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.3 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 3 cones; pole 5‒10 min.

Point groups: Spring (yíng) (fire) point.

Point name meaning:

• 然 rán: so, however; suddenly; same as
• 燃, rán, burn
• 谷 gǔ: valley

The ideogram 然 (rán) originally meant the same as its homophone 燃, to burn, which differs only by having a 火 (huǒ) fire radical, on the left (the four dots at the bottom of these characters also represent fire). KI-2 is the fire point of the kidney channel and is located in a depression, or valley, on the medial aspect of the foot. The point is therefore aptly named Blazing Valley.

The alternate name, Dragon in the Abyss, is a reminder that KI-2 is the fire point of the water channel. The dragon stands for the fire nature of the point while the character 渊 (yuān), abyss, which has a water radical, represents a deep source of water, i.e., the kidney. The derivation of the alternate name Dragon in the Spring follows the same rationale. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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