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Alternate names: 大羽 dà yǔ, Great Feather

Channel: GV, governing (dū) vessel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the posterior aspect of the head, 1.5 cùn above the superior border of the external occipital protuberance (eop) on the midline.

Classical location: One cùn and five fēn directly above Brain’s Door (GV-17). From The Golden Mirror of Medicine (医宗金鑑 yī zōng jīn jiàn)

Local anatomy: See GV-17.

Action: Calms the liver and extinguishes wind; soothes the sinews and quickens the network vessel.

Modern indications: Headache; dizzy vision; stiff nape; mania and withdrawal.

Classical indications: Vomiting of foamy drool; epilepsy; tugging and slackening; pain and stiff nape; insomnia.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.2‒0.3 cùn backward transverse insertion. Moxa: 3‒5 cones; pole 5‒15 min.

Point name meaning:

• 强 qiáng: unyielding, stiff; forceful, strong
• 间 jiān: a space; between, among, in the middle of

The character 间 (jiān) refers to the point’s location in a depression (space) between the occipital bone and the parietal bone, while 强 (qiáng) may refer to either the hard, unyielding bone of the skull or the point’s use in the treatment of stiff neck. Thus the name is rendered as Unyielding Space.

If 强 (qiáng) is taken as a reference to the point’s ability to strengthen the brain (treating epilepsy, headache, madness, and visual dizziness), then the name could be rendered as Strengthening Space.

The 强 (qiáng) derives its meaning of strength from its radical 弓 (gōng), which represents the archer’s bow. When joined by a line, GV-17, GV-18 and GV-19 form a bow, with GV-18 in the middle. If we accept the assertion made by some sources that this reasoning accounts for the name, the rendering Center of the Bow would be appropriate. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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