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Channel: GB, foot lesser yáng (shào yáng) gallbladder channel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the lateral aspect of the thigh, 5 cùn superior to the level of the popliteal crease, in the vastus lateralis muscle, between the posterior edge of the iliotibial tract and the biceps femoris muscle.

Classical location: On the thigh, five cùn above the knee, in the parting of the flesh. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: See GB-31.

Action: Soothes the sinews and quickens the network vessels; expels wind and disperses cold.

Modern indications: Wilting-impediment (wěi bì) of the lower limbs.

Classical indications: leg qì (jiǎo qì, beriberi).

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.5‒0.8 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 5‒7 cones; pole 5‒20 min.

Point name meaning:

• 中 zhōng: center, central, middle (also zhòng, to strike)
• 渎 dú: river, ditch, drain

Qì flows in the channels like water in a river. The gallbladder channel is in a central position relative to the other two yáng channels on the lower limbs. The name Central River can be seen to represent the gallbladder channel as a whole. Or, GB-32 may be called Central River because the gallbladder channel communicates with the triple burner channel (both belong to the shao yáng). The triple burner is referred to in the Líng Shū as 中渎 (zhōng dú), the central river. Because this point is located in the center of a groove in the muscles that resembles a ditch (渎 dú); the point name could also be rendered as Central Ditch. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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