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CV-6 Sea of Qì

气海 〔氣海〕 qì hǎi

Alternate names: 脖胦 bó yāng, Navel; 肓之原 huāng zhī yuán, Huang Origin; 季胦 jì yāng, Small Navel; 下肓 xià huāng, Lower Huang; 下气海 xià qì hǎi, Lower Sea of Qi

Channel: CV, controlling (rèn) vessel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the smaller abdomen, 1.5 cùn inferior to the umbilicus on the midline.

Classical location: In the depression one and a half cùn below the navel. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: See CV-5.

Action: Regulates qì and boosts the origin; banks the kidney and supplements vacuity; harmonizes provisioning-blood; regulates menstruation and checks vaginal discharge; warms the lower burner; dispels damp turbidity.

Modern indications: Abdominal pain; diarrhea; constipation; enuresis; mounting qì (shàn qì, inguinal hernia); seminal emission; menstrual irregularities; amenorrhea; vacuity desertion.

Classical indications: Cold damage with pain in the umbilical region; yīn pattern retracted testicles; yáng desertion; reversal cold of the limbs; visceral vacuity and qì fatigue (脏虚气惫 zàng xū qì bèi); insufficiency of true qì; lumbar pain; urinary incontinence in children; heart pain; sudden stroke desertion patterns; pain throughout the bowels and viscera; rough urination with dark urine; infertility; summerheat stroke.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.8‒1.2 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 5‒14 cones; pole 20‒30 min.

Needle sensation: Distension following the course of the controlling vessel downward to the external genitalia, or extending laterally upward or downward.

Point name meaning:

This area serves as a reservoir of qì for the whole of the body. It is the place from which qì emanates and to which it returns and is thus the Sea of Qì.

In Daoist meditation practices, the breath is brought to this area and the qì is stored there. The delineation between qì and breath is unclear in Chinese, an ambiguity preserved by the name Sea of Qì.

The two alternate names for CV-6 that contain the word (huāng) stem from a line of the Nèi Jīng which states that the huang has its origin in the area below the navel. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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