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Channel: ST, foot yáng brightness (yáng míng) stomach channel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the upper thigh, straight below the anterior superior iliac spine (asis), in the depression on the lateral side of the sartorius muscle.

Classical location: In the crease behind the crouching rabbit [i.e., the rise of flesh in the center of the thigh]. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: At the deep level, the branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery and vein. The lateral femoral cutaneous nerve.

Action: Warms the channels and quickens the network vessels; courses wind and disperses cold.

Modern indications: Lumbar pain and cold knees; wilting-impediment (wěi bì); abdominal pain.

Classical indications: Pain in the lumbus and cold in the knees; abdominal pain; numbness and tingling of the lower extremities; jaundice.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.5‒1.5 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 3 cones; pole 5‒15 min.

Point name meaning:

• 髀 bì: thigh; the lateral aspect of the groin
• 关 guān: gate; joint, hinge; pass

In older Chinese texts, 髀关 is an anatomical term referring to either the lateroanterior aspect of the thigh or the outer aspect of the inguinal region. The character 髀 (bì), translated as thigh, renders the point name as Thigh Joint, referring to its location near the joint (关) of the thigh.

Another translation of 髀 (bì) taken to mean the lateral aspect of the groin, again locationally defines ST-31. A 关 (guān) is a border pass; in this sense, a reference to the place where the stomach channel enters the lower abdomen. Similarly, the character 髀 (bì) translated as inferior, combined with 关 (guān) translated as hip joint, illustrates the point’s location below the hip or its location near the hip and in the inferior (lower) part of the body. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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