列缺 : Lieque : Broken Sequence / Lightning

Lu-7 : Hand Taiyin Lung 7

經絡 Jing Luo
Primary Meridians
皮部 Pi Bu
Cutaneous Regions
經筋 Jing Jin
Sinew Meridians
絡脈 Luo Mai
Network Vessels
經別 Jing Bie
Divergent Meridians
奇經八脈
Qi Jing Ba Mai
Extraordinary Vessels
Acupoint Revision Tool
Glossary
Location Guides:

Classifications:

Luo-Connecting point
Confluent point of the Ren channel, coupled with Zhaohai Kid-6
Gao Wu command point
Ma Dan-yang Heavenly Star point
Exit point to Hegu LI-4

Location:

On the radial aspect of the forearm, approximately 1.5 cun proximal to yangxi L.I.-5, in the cleft between the tendons of brachioradialis and abductor pollicis longus

Needling:

With the fingers of one hand pinch up the skin over the point and with the other hand needle transversely in a proximal or distal direction, avoiding the cephalic vein

Classical Needling:

It is needled to a depth of three fen and (the needle) is retained for a duration of three exhalations. It is moxaed with five cones. (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經)

TCM Actions:

Releases the Exterior and expels Wind
Promotes the descending function of the Lung
Pacifies Wind and Phlegm
Benefits the head and nape
Opens and regulates the Ren mai
Regulates the water passages
Activates the channel and alleviates pain

TCM Indications:

  • Chills and fever, nasal congestion and discharge, nasal polyps, flaring of the nostrils, Throat Painful Obstruction (喉痹, Hou Bi), cough, coughing up phlegm, wheezing, dyspnoea, asthma, diminished qi and shortness of breath, heat of the chest and back, shivering and cold of the chest and back, sweating, sudden swelling of the four limbs, thirst, inversion counterflow of the four limbs.
  • Headache and stiffness of the neck and nape, one-sided headache, lockjaw, hemiplegia, deviation of the mouth and eye, toothache, epilepsy, childhood fright-epilepsy, acute Childhood Fright Wind, loss of consciousness, vomiting of foamy (watery) saliva, wind Painful Obstruction (痹, Bi), hypertension.
  • Retention of lochia, retention of the dead foetus, post-partum inability to speak, blood in the urine, hot and painful urination, difficult urination, pain of the penis, pain of the genitals, seminal emission.
  • Poor memory, palpitations, propensity to laughter, frequent yawning and stretching, tension of the chest and back, fullness of the lateral costal region, breast abscess.
  • Weakness or pain of the wrist and hand, pain of the thumb, shoulder pain, heat in the palm, Malarial (瘧, Nue) Disorders.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Lateral cutaneous nerve of the forearm from C5 - C6
Dermatome Segment: C6
Deeper Structures: Posterior and superficial radial nerve from C5 - T1 going to thumb

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

Although this strike is 'only on the wrist', it is quite a nasty one as it creates great pain and Qi drainage. Even heavy finger pressure here as is the case of a lock, will cause great pain. The Qi drainage and pain are so bad that the recipient has to sit down. A strike here will unbalance the balance of Yin and Yang between the lung and colon causing artificial grief with much sobbing. Also, the ability to learn physical things will be impaired and will get worse as time goes by (Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com).

Major Combinations:


I Ching Hexagram: ䷪

Shared with Hegu LI-4. Balanced by ䷖ (Fenglong St-40 or Taibai Sp-3).
Also shares a Rising and Falling Hexagram with Taodao Du-13, balanced by Shenque Ren-8.

Hexagram attributions are my own based with an explanation given in the notes below.


Notes:

One of the main points for colds and flu


Gao Wu command point for the nape, neck and head.


Lieque is also an archaic term for a lightning flash reflecting the electric sensation it can produce (Bertschinger, 2013, The Great Intent). It is still in common use in the term 列缺霹靂 Lieque Pili, "lightning and thunder".

It is also interesting to speculate whether there is a relationship between this point and the activation of the immune system, metaphorically "calling in the cavalry" who were known as shock lightning troops in ancient military forces. It may also be interesting to note that Guangming GB-34 also has a name that refers to light ("Bright Light") and is the only other Luo that extends outwards over the feet. However, that point has little to do with the immune system but rather to do with the eyes. It could even be speculated that these points represent a differentiation of Wei Qi with Guangming GB-37 representing the T-Helper cells which act as intelligence and information gathering (shedding light and observing the threat) while this point activates the cytotoxic T-cells which act as the cavalry to eliminate the threat.

It is also interesting that both points are indicated for headaches which can feel like a lightning bolt and be easily aggravated by bright light.


Taiyin 太陰 also means "lunar" in Chinese, suggesting that the reason this point has such an influence over gynaecology that it was chosen to open the Ren Mai is due to it being the Luo (Blood) point of the Taiyin (Moon). Its name meaning "Broken Sequence" would make it an obvious choice for disruptions in the lunar blood cycle.

Combined with the other Taiyin Luo Gongsun Sp-4, "Grandfather Granson," it is easy to see the connection between these points and fertility and a continuous line of inheritance.


Ling Shu Ch. 10, On Channels, describes the diseases relating to the Luo emanating from this point as:
Repletion: The palms are hot
Depletion: The patient yawns, breathes with their mouth open and urinates frequently passing only small amounts
(Unschuld, 2016).

Ling Shu Ch. 19, On the Four Seasonal Qi, advises using the channels and Luo vessels for diseases which occur in spring. They are pierced deeply if severe and more shallow if mild.

Ling Shu Ch. 22, On Mania and Madness, advises to bleed this channel in instances of insanity. The original just states the division (eg. bleed hand Taiyin) implying the main channel by omission but since it recommends bleeding the data is being entered under the Luo points unless a specific point is mentioned:
- bleed the vessels of arm Taiyang, Yangming and Taiyin at the onset when the patient is unhappy, the head feels heavy and they stare forward or upwards with red eyes, the heart is vexed and the complexion changes. Treatment is stopped once the colour changes (Unschuld, 2016, says "the colour of the blood changes", Wu & Wu, 2010, says "colour of the patient's complexion").
- If they sleep little, are not hungry, consider themselves extraordinary and are insulting to others then blood is removed from the hand Taiyang, Yangming and Taiyin as well as the Shaoyin point under the tongue (Lianquan Ren-23 which terminates at the Shaoyin meridian in Ling Shu, Ch. 5. Unschuld, 2016, cites a comment that also adds Shenmen He-7, Shaochong He-9 to this). Only vessels that show an abundance are bled, those without are spared.
- If a massive fright causes them to be easily startled, tend to laugh, sing and be happy then blood is removed from the hand Yangming, Taiyang and Taiyin.
- If they have absurd visions and shout then remove blood from the hand Taiyang, Taiyin and Yangming (Wu & Wu, 2010, add foot Taiyang too) and on the cheeks of the head (Unschuld, 2016, describes them as on the foot Taiyin but the channel does not go to here).
- If a major delight causes a person to see demon-spirits and laugh inside but be unable to express it then blood is removed from the foot Taiyin, Taiyang and Yangming, and then from the hand Taiyin and Yangming.


From Ming times this point, as the opening point of the Ren located on the Lung channel, is seen as symbolic of the air rushing down the infant's throat on its first breath and coming into contact with the world. It is indicated for difficulty in relating to the physical, material world along with Renying St-9, Zhongwan Ren-12 and Tainshu St-25. In pre-Ming texts Taiyuan Lu-9 as the source point for Lung was used as the doctrine of Extraordinary Vessel opening points was not yet formulated. This set of points relates to the first Level of Manifestation of the Soul, roughly equivalent to the base or Muladhara chakra and basic consciousness, the awareness of being alive, materiality, the consolidation of Jing and transformation of Qi into Jing (Yuen, 2005, 3 Spirits & 7 Souls).

All of the points in this sequence are related to drawing the breath down to the abdomen. The inclusion of Tianshu St-25, the Front Mu of the Large Intestine, instead of any Kidney points, brings to mind the Su Wen Ch. 8 that described the Large Intestine as "transmitter of the Way".

In Sufism this level would relate to the Valley of the Quest described by Attar in the Conference of the Birds as:

"When you descend into the valley of quest
A hundred difficulties will assail you in that empire;
Here for years you must endeavour, you must try
Because in this field elements inverted lie..."

Here the mystic must set up the foundation with diligent practice and patience as they begin their spiritual journey.

The reference to inverted elements brings to mind several descriptions of inverting the process of creation (from the One to multiplicity) to reattain the original unity in Neidan texts.


Lieque Lu-7 and Ligou Liv-5 release emotions from the mood (Wei-Qi) level in Jeffrey Yuen's system of using the Luo to harmonise emotions.

The full protocol is to:
- Tonify the Yuan-Source point of the Yin meridian that relates to the emotional disposition being expressed.
- Bleed or plum blossom the Luo related to the level of expression (Lieque Lu-7 and Ligou Liv-5 in this example) in a figure 8 (e.g. Right arm -> Left leg -> Right leg -> Left arm) starting with the side with dominant symptoms. If unsure all levels can be released.
- Bleed or plum blossom the Luo of the Yang meridian connected to the Yuan-Source point tonified at the beginning (Yuen, 2004, The Luo Vessels, lecture transcript, NESA; Chin, 2003, The Luo Vessels).

I think of it as tonifying the organ to bring the emotion up and then releasing it from the Luo via its transverse connection, like in a guest-host protocol, with the additional Luo being added to focus on the level of release.


Lieque Lu-7 and Guangming GB-37 have the dual effect of releasing Heat from the palms and feet while directing Blood to Laogong Pc-8 and Chongyang St-42 thus nourishing the Heart and Chong Mai (Yuen, 1995, The Curious Organs, taken from class notes by Avi Magidoff).


Avicenna describes venesection at this point or Pianli LI-6 in his treatise On Venesection:

"The cephalic vein drains more blood from the neck and above, and little from below the neck, but it does not exceed the epigastrium, and it does not significantly cleanse the lower parts." (Aspects of Treatment According to General Diseases, 21st section in Abu-Asab, Amri & Micozzi, 2013, Avicenna's Medicine).

The median cubital or basilic veins are used for the lower body while the accessory cephalic vein (following the arm Yangming Large Intestine channel) has a similar function to the cephalic.

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There are no direct classical attributions of the points to I Ching hexagrams in the Nei Jing or other classical sources to my knowledge, but rather it is implied within the schema of the elements so the ones given are my own and a work in progress. Other sources may differ.

They are based on the channel having the outer trigram and the point having the inner as the point is internal to the channel itself.
  • Channels are assigned the trigram of their element and cardinal direction
  • Ren and Du are assigned ☰ Qian, Heaven and ☷ Kun, Earth respectively
  • Earth is assigned to ☶ Gen, Mountain
  • Pericardium and San Jiao are assigned to ☴ Xun, Wind
This places the regular channels associated with the four directions at their four cardinal points and means that every channel's complement is also its Six Division pair. It is almost identical to the I Ching Acupuncture arrangement by Dr Chen but with Shaoyang/Jueyin pairs reversed so that the Wood organs are in the cardinal east and Ministerial Fire is associated with Wind, as Wood turns to Fire.

The points themselves are arranged by:
  • Elemental points are assigned their element
  • Source points are attributed ☷ Kun, Earth, for Zang and ☰ Qian, Heaven, for Fu, as Yin and Yang are the Source of the Zang and Fu respectively
  • Luo points are attributed the opposite as they connect with their Yin-Yang opposite paired organ.
  • This leaves Xi-Cleft points which are assigned ☴ Xun, Wind, for their effect on acute disorders, with their complementary pairing being ☳ Zhen, Wood, the Jing-Well (Yin) and Shu-Stream point (Yang) which both deal with acute phases of disease.
  • Back-Shu and Front-Mu points are assigned Qian and Kun respectively on the top due to their close association with the Du and Ren and their organ element is placed at the bottom, making them naturally pair with each other, as in Su Wen, ch. 47 that suggests treating them together.
  • The gates of the Microcosmic Orbit on the Du and Ren follow the Waxing and Waning Hexagrams.
This enables them to be paired with points that share the same hexagram, their complementary opposite, or with its reverse which is the following or preceding hexagram in the King Wen sequence. Points can therefore be selected based on sharing a hexagram, their complementary opposite, or King Wen pairings in order to supplement or reduce a pathological state.

Reference Notes:

Basic information on location, needle depth, TCM actions, indications and combinations is taken from Deadman et al (2001): A Manual of Acupuncture with additional anatomical information researched by reference to Gray's Anatomy (38th Ed., 1995) unless otherwise referenced. Images were found on acupunctureschoolonline.com and can be traced back to Claudia Focks (2008) Atlas of Acupuncture originally. I cannot claim any credit or rights over them. Other sources should be quoted in the text.

For some of the more unusual terms I have created a glossary here

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