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Acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations
穴名由来、意义和翻译 〔穴名由來、意義和翻譯〕 xué míng yóu lái、yì yì hé fān yì
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Acupuncture practitioners outside China usually refer to the acupuncture points by alphanumeric codes reflecting the sequence of points on the channels and vessels. While this is convenient and efficient, the meanings of the original Chinese names are lost in transmission. The Chinese names of points, rather than reflecting their sequence, hint at their location, therapeutic effects, or other qualities that have a certain mnemonic value. Any accurate presentation of acumoxatherapy in non-Chinese languages should include them. The Chinese names of acupoints are colorful and imaginative, reflecting the cultural background in which they were devised, and their study can only enhance perspectives of the subject.
Explanations of the main Chinese name of each acupoint and some of the alternate names are given in the Acupoints section of this database.
Influences on the Development of Point Names
| Point Name Taxonomy | |
|---|---|
| Yīn-Yáng and Five Phases | |
| Yīn | Yīn Intersection (CV-7) Yīn Market (ST-33) |
| Yáng | Yáng Valley (SI-5) Yáng Mound Spring (GB-34) |
| Five Phases | Yellow Emperor (SP-4) Lesser Shāng (LI-11) |
| Bowels and Viscera | |
| Organ names | Heart Transport (BL-15) Gallbladder Transport (BL-19) |
| Organ functions | Spirit Hall (BL-44) |
| Qì and Blood | |
| Qì | Sea of Qì (CV-6) Origin Pass (CV-4) |
| Blood | Sea of Blood (SP-10) |
| Channels | |
| Channel Pathway | Eyebrow Ascension (BL-3) |
| Channel Intersections | Hundred Convergences (GV-20) Three Yīn Intersection (SP-6) |
| Channel Name | Girdling Vessel (GB-26) |
| Periodic Qì Flow | Extending Vessel (BL-62) |
| Location and Function | |
| Point Function | Wind Pool (GB-20) Bright Eyes (BL-1) |
| Anatomy | Breast Center (ST-17) Jade Pillow (BL-9) |
| Locational Hints | Winnower Gate (SP-11) Standing by White (LU-4) |
| Body Measurements | Cubit Marsh (LU-5) Foot Three Lǐ (ST-36) |
| Astronomic, Meteorologic, and Geographic Associations | |
| Astronomic | Sun and Moon (GB-24) Celestial Pivot (ST-25) |
| Meteorologic | Wind Mansion (GV-16) Cloud Gate (LU-2) |
| Geographic | Mountain Support (BL-57) Outer Mound (ST-26) |
| Water-related phenomena | Branch Ditch (TB-6) Shining Sea (KI-6) |
| Place names | Metal Gate (BL-63) Shāng Hill (SP-5) |
| Numerical and Trigrammatic Relationsips | |
| Numerical | Second Space (LI-2) Fifth Place (BL-5) |
| Trigrammatic | Severe Mouth (ST-45) |
| Architecture | |
| Gate Tower | Great Gate Tower (CV-14) |
| Palace | Purple Palace (CV-19) |
| Storeroom | Storeroom (ST-14) |
| Granary | Stomach Granary (BL-50) |
| Abode | Qì Abode (ST-11) Storehouse Abode (SP-13) |
| Hall | Jade Hall (CV-15) |
| Chamber | Will Chamber (BL-52) |
| Corridor | Corridor Walk (KI-22) |
| Court (Courtyard) | Spirit Court (GV-24) Central Courtyard (CV-16) |
| Window | Eye Window (GB-16) Celestial Window (SI-16) |
| Gate | Wind Gate (BL-12) Spirit Gate (HT-7) |
| Door | Qì Door (ST-13) |
| Space | Second Space (LI-2) Unyielding Space (GV-15) |
| Places of Activity | |
| Metropolises | Great Metropolis (SP-2) Yīn Metropolis (KI-19) |
| Markets | Wind Market (GB-31) Yīn Market (ST-33) |
| Countryside (Village) | Chest Village (SP-19) |
| Lǐ (Ward or District) | Foot Three Lǐ (ST-36) Connecting Lǐ (HT-5) |
| Path | Spirit Path (GV-11) Linking Path (GB-25) |
| Pass | Yáng Pass (GB-3) Outer Pass (TB-5) |
| Plants, Animals and Objects | |
| Plants | Grain Bone-Hole (LI-19) |
| Animals | Crouching Rabbit (ST-32) |
| Objects | Celestial Tripod (LI-17) |
The cultural milieu in which Chinese point nomenclature evolved reflects the pervasive philosophical and metaphysical world view supported by the pillars of ancient Chinese cosmology, Daoism, and Confucianism. It includes a veneration for custom and history, a propensity to observe and correlate the phenomena of nature, and a long medical tradition of apprenticeship and secret teaching.
The traditional Chinese cosmological view of man as a microcosmic representation of the universe, the Confucian edicts of social form and propriety, and the observation of and dependence on Nature characteristic of China's agrarian society are reflected in Chinese medicine as a whole, and specifically in the selection of point names. The careful observation of the geophysical characteristics of the earth, the cycles of the seasons, the stars, the heavens, helped develop a medical language of metaphor and imagery replete with words that mirrored these cosmologic, geographic, and sociologic phenomena: pathogens termed wind, cold, heat, dryness, damp, fire and summerheat perturb a body that is described in terms of seas, valleys, rivers, channels. Stars and constellations serve as guideposts, and divinities haunt each region. Emperors and ministers rule the land, distributing grain and protecting the borders. With heaven above and earth below, man was viewed as a flowing intercourse of yīn and yáng subject to the influences of the five phases and inseparable from the Dao itself.
Even the Chinese concept of an acupuncture point is different from a Westerner's, a difference manifest in the words used to express the concept. The word point
indicates a linear coordinate, i.e., the intersection of two lines, a dot on the skin suitable for the insertion of needles or the application of some other stimulation. The Chinese character for acupuncture point, 穴 xué, brings to mind an altogether different picture. This character means cave
or hole.
The meaning is clear from the two parts of the character: the top portion represents a roof, while the bottom portion is a character in its own right, meaning to divide or remove. The combined meaning of the two parts is a dwelling that is made by removing dirt or rocks, i.e., a cave, a hole, a den. Thus, we can see that in this case, as in many others, the meanings of Chinese characters bring us to a greater understanding of the concepts of acupuncture.
Traditionally, knowledge of Chinese medicine was handed down from father to son, teacher to apprentice. Memorization of the classics was required, and point names containing mnemonic symbols aided the retention of important information about the point. Point names might also contain hidden meanings known only to students or apprentices of a particular master. In this way, the point names helped to keep a master's secrets safe from other practitioners, and thus protected his income. Though it is not always possible to determine with great certainty the reason for the choice of a point name, hints about the location and function of the point were embedded in the name. The point names are thus poetic; they are only fully understood through patient effort to assimilate the intricacies of their veiled meanings. With time and study, the point names become more than labels; they become guides to the understanding of the points and the system of medicine that named them.
Chinese point names, as they evolved over the centuries, did provide particular benefits. They allowed the point and channel system to grow and change without fundamentally changing the names and principles set down in the classics, and thus satisfied the conservative nature of the culture. The inherent ambiguity of the point names lent an air of mystery to the healing arts and aided in preserving the secrets of the masters. In addition, the point names revealed important information about the points and imbued them with a poetic spirit that evoked a multitude of valuable associations.
Point Name Taxonomy
For the clinician, much of the value of the point names lies in their didactic and mnemonic qualities. The point names either tell us something about the points or remind us of something that we already know. This information is conveyed through the name in either a concrete or abstract manner, and generally falls into one of four categories: function, location, five-phase, yīn-yáng association, or channel relationship.
Point names categorized by function include names that refer directly to the function of a point and names that imply function by indicating the special point grouping to which a point belongs. When referring directly to the function of a point, the reference can be concrete, as in Tear Container (ST-1), or more abstract, as in Four Whites (ST-2). The names that indicate special point groupings can also be either concrete or abstract, as exemplified in the names Yīn Cleft (HT-6, the cleft xī point of the heart channel), or Woodworm Canal (LR-5, network (Iuò) point of the liver channel).
Locational point names, by far the most common, may refer either to the area where a point is located or the position that the patient must assume for treatment. For example, Wrist Bone (SI-4) is a reference to the precise location of a point. Crouching Rabbit (ST-32) refers to the location of the point on the part of the thigh where the bulging muscle resembles a crouching rabbit.
Reference to Yīn and yáng in a point name is straightforward, such as Instep Yáng (BL-50). Concrete reference may also be given to a five-phase relationship, such as Water Spring (KI-5). More abstract are point names that imply a five-phase association through reference to a color associated with a phase, such as Guarding White (LU-4).
Point names may often serve to remind the practitioner of the channel to which a point belongs. Earth Granary (ST-4), for example, recalls the stomach channel because the stomach is the granary organ
and is associated with the earth phase. More abstractly, the name Central Treasury (LU-1) indicates that the point is the intersection (jiāo huì) point of the lung (treasury) and stomach (center) channels. Point names may have other functions such as recalling prohibitions for a point, as in Arm Five Lǐ (LI-13), which, if needled, damages the qì of the five wards or interiors (viscera).
Usually, two or more functions can be cited for a given point name. For example, the name Ear Gate (TB-21) is both functional and locational because it refers to the point's effectiveness in the treatment of ear disease, as well as the point's location at the front of the ear. The name Yīn Cleft (HT-6) recalls that the point is located on the Yīn side of the arm, that it belongs to the shao Yīn channel, and that it is in the cleft (xī) point of that channel. This point's name is thus locational and functional; at the same time, it recalls the point's relationship to its home channel.
Though Chinese sources disagree on the number of classifications of point names, many texts do make an effort to categorize the names. The fourteen categories that follow are representative of the Chinese system and include clarifying examples.
The reader should note that alternate point names usually come from schools and traditions whose practice styles have faded from use in modern China. The main point names used in this book are a standard set of names adopted by most Chinese texts. GV-2 and GB-39 are the only points that have more than one name in most modern books. In contrast, the Points that have Various Names
lists 88 points that have two names, 26 points that have three names, eight points that have four names, two points that have five names and two points that have six names. The listing in that book was compiled from the
Mistranscriptions due to mistakes in verbal transmission also occurred. Some were attributable to the scribe who, while recording the words of the teacher, mistook the teacher's intended word for a homophone. This resulted in point names of the same pronunciation represented by different characters and therefore different meanings. The second type resulted when a scribe understood what word the teacher was saying but couldn't remember how to write the proper character. He then substituted a character that was similar in either sound or construction to the correct one. The alternate names that resulted from this type of mistranscription are similar to the original name in pronunciation and/or appearance.
Some schools of acupuncture gave the points different names either to distinguish the school or to maintain secret traditions. These point names are recognizable by their lack of resemblance to the other names for the same point. They are found in books that expound a particular school of thought. Perhaps most obvious among this type of point name are the thirteen ghost points. The earliest extant recording of these points as a group is that given by Sūn Sī-Miǎo in the Thousand Gold Pieces Prescriptions. They were based on an earlier list from the Song Dynasty and were specifically intended for the treatment of ghost diseases, i.e.diseases where the patient behaves as if possessed by a ghost. Each of the ghost points thus has an alternate name that includes the word ghost,
for example, Ghost Heart (PC-7) and Ghost Pillow (GV-14).
Readers who wish to discover the origins of alternate names may compare the pinyin and the characters, thus discerning similarities and connections. This type of investigation often reveals a great deal about the primary point name or about the point itself, especially if studied in conjunction with the function, therapeutic scope, and location of the point. Study of the alternate names provides a broader terrain in which to explore the primary point names as a means to understanding the points themselves.
For a deeper understanding of point names, see Chinese characters. The Terms section of the database also provides links showing composition and stroke order of characters.
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