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Alternate names: 太阴络 tài yīn luò, Greater Yin Connection; 阴经 yīn jīng, Yin Channel

Channel: SP, foot greater yīn (tài yīn) spleen channel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the medial aspect of the lower leg, 6 cùn superior to the tip of the medial malleolus, slightly behind the posterior edge of the tibia, on the line connecting the malleolus and SP-9.

Classical location: In the depression under the leg bone, six cùn above the inner anklebone. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: See SP-6.

Action: Fortifies the spleen and harmonizes the stomach; disinhibits dampness and disperses swelling; frees the channels and quickens the network vessels; regulates qì and blood.

Modern indications: Abdominal distension; rumbling intestines; inhibited urination; seminal emission; wilting-impediment of the lower limbs.

Classical indications: Pain associated with belching; sorrowfulness and counterflow qì; weight loss despite normal appetite and food intake; inhibited urination; seminal loss; damp impediment (bì); cold qì accumulations with pain; cold of the thighs and knees.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.3‒1.0 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 3 cones; pole 5‒10 min.

Point name meaning:

• 漏 lòu: to leak, to drip
• 谷 gǔ: valley

The character 谷 (gǔ) means valley, but is a common substitute for the homophone 穀 (gǔ), which means grain. If the spleen qì is not properly controlled, the 谷气 (grain qì) essence can drain out, resulting in emaciation and fatigue. SP-7 treats this type of disorder, so its Chinese name could be rendered as Leaking Grain.

The point is located in the longitudinal gully formed by the calf muscle, whose resemblance to a valley justifies a literal translation of the point name as Leaking Valley. Thus, we see that this point’s function of percolating damp from the spleen, combined with its location in a groove, provides association for its name. As is often the case, the Chinese point name has a double meaning that gets lost in translation.

In The Systematized Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion 太阴络 tài yīn luò is used; many believe this indicates that SP-7 is a network (luò) point. If this were the case, the fact that network (luò) points leak qì and blood to the related channel could be a further reason that this point is called Leaking Valley. Yet, wording in the The Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸甲乙经 zhēn jiǔ jiā yǐ jīng) is insufficiently clear to determine with certainty whether its author was positing the existence of a network vessel at this point. No mention of SP-7 being a network (luò) point is to be found in any other classic. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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