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Alternate names: 心募 xīn mù, Heart Alarm

Channel: CV, controlling (rèn) vessel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the upper abdomen, 6 cùn superior to the umbilicus on the midline.

Classical location: Directly above the umbilicus, two cùn below the joining of the ribs. From The Golden Mirror of Medicine (医宗金鑑 yī zōng jīn jiàn)

Local anatomy: See CV-12.

Action: Disperses congealed phlegm in the chest and diaphragm; transforms damp stagnating in the central burner; clears the heart and stabilizes the mind; rectifies qì and frees the center.

Modern indications: Chest pain; heart palpitation; retching and vomiting; acid swallowing; mania and withdrawal; epilepsy.

Classical indications: Qì ascent cough and counterflow; fullness in the chest and shortness of breath; back pain; chest pain; glomus blockage; sudden turmoil (cholera); fright palpitation; abdominal distension with fulminant pain; vexation in cold damage; cold in the stomach; periodic spitting of blood; tugging and slackening accompanied by abdominal pain; mounting (shàn); chest pain extending to the rib-side; jaundice; forgetfulness.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.3‒0.8 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 5‒9 cones; pole 20‒30 min.

Needle sensation: Distension and numbness extending up and down along the course of the controlling vessel, or extending laterally.

Point groups: Alarm point (mù xué) of the heart.

Point name meaning:

• 巨 jù: great, gigantic
• 阙 què: gate tower (watch towers located on either side
of a palace gate); a palace

The space below the breastbone can be seen to be shaped like a gate, while the rib cage on either side forms the watch towers for that gate. The honorific great is applied to points related to the commanding organ (the heart). As CV-14 is the alarm (mù) point of the heart, the name Great Tower Gate is thus indicative of a route of access to that viscus.

The character 阙 (quē) can indicate a palace as a whole as well as the more specific reference to a palace gate tower. Because alarm (mù) points are places where qì collects much as officials gather at a palace, the point name could also be rendered as Great Palace.

A 巨阙 (jù quē) was a type of sword in ancient China. Its shape resembled the breastbone, below which CV-14 is located.

The xiphoid process is also called 巨阙 (jù quē) in some cases. The name of this point is in this respect locational in nature. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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