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LU-7 Broken Sequence

列缺 〔列缺〕 liè quē

Alternate names: 童玄 tóng xuán, Child Mystery; 腕劳 wàn láo, Wrist Taxation

Channel: LU, hand greater yīn (tài yīn) lung channel

Modern location: An acupoint located 1.5 cùn proximal to the wrist, in a crevice on the lateral edge of the radius just proximal to the styloid process.

Classical location: One and a half cùn from the wrist. When the thumb and index finger of one hand are interlocked with those of the other, the point lies on the edge of the index finger, in a depression between the sinew and bone. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: The cephalic vein, branches of the radial artery and vein. The lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve and the superficial ramus of the radial nerve.

Action: Diffuses the lung and dispels cold; courses the channels and frees the network vessels.

Modern indications: Wind damage; headache and stiff nape; cough; panting; painful swollen throat; deviated eyes and mouth; clenched jaw; toothache; lack of strength in the wrist.

Classical indications: Headache; hemiplegia; enuresis and frequent urination; pain in the arm and elbow; child fright epilepsy (jīng xián); pain in the penis; bloody urine; seminal loss; unquiet sleep; generalized wind impediment (fēng bì) with numbness and tingling; heat effusion with aversion to cold; tension in the chest and back; throat impediment (hóu bì); heat in the palms; reverse flow of the limbs; toothache; malarial disease; heat and pain in the shoulder and back.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.2‒0.4 cùn oblique insertion toward elbow. Moxa: 3‒5 cones; pole 5‒10 min.

Needle sensation: Localized twinge and distension.

Point groups: Network (luò) point; confluence (bā mài jiāo huì) point of the controlling vessel; command (sì zǒng) point of the head and nape; one of Mǎ Dān-Yáng’s twelve heavenly star points.

Point name meaning:

The name of this point may be understood in terms of the path of the lung channel. At LU-7, the path splits to join the large intestine channel at LI-4. This splitting can be seen as a break in the sequence of points on the lung channel. This argument may also be understood as a break in the general sequence of the channel system. In most cases, qì is transferred from the last point of one channel to the first point of the following channel. Here LU-7, and not the last lung channel point, LU-11, is the issue point of the lung channel (qi flows from LU-7 to LI-4), creating, in effect, a deviation from the basic sequential pattern of qì flow through the channels.

The character (liè) meaning sequence, may have been intended to represent its homophone (liè) meaning burst, crack, split. The qì of the lung channel is gathered at LU-6, the cleft () point, and from there, like a river breaking open a dam, the qì bursts forth and forks at LU-7. If we combine the meaning of with that of we can interpret the name as bursting forth and breaking sequence, which is a description of the flow of qì at this point.

Mǎ Dān Yáng describes LU-7, one of his twelve heavenly star points, as a thunderhead spitting fire. This description refers to both the fork in the pathway, which is similar to a fork in a bolt of lightning, and to the nature of the qì at this point. It further carries out the analogy of the lung and heaven exemplified in the names Cloud Gate (LU-2) and Celestial Treasury (LU-3). Interpreting the point name in line with Mǎ Dān Yáng’s description is justified by the fact that 列缺 is an ancient expression for lightning.

LU-7 may be located by interlocking the two tigers’ mouths (the tiger’s mouth is the space between the index finger and the thumb) and placing the forefinger on the hollow in the bone (radius). The character (liè) can mean to place, and (quē) may indicate an empty place or a hollow. Viewed in this way the name then becomes a mnemonic device for remembering the method of location; i.e., placing the finger on the hollow. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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