: Taodao : Way of Happiness

Du-13 : Extraordinary Governing Vessel 13

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Master Tung's Common Cold Three

Meetings:

Meeting of Governing Vessel with Bladder


Location:

On the midline of the back, in the depression below the spinous process of the first thoracic vertebra (T1).

Needling:

Perpendicular-oblique superior insertion 0.5 - 1 cun

Warnings:

The spinal canal lies between 1.25 and 1.75 cun deep to the skin surface, varying according to body build.

Classical Needling:

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


TCM Actions:

Clears Heat and treats malaria
Regulates the Du Mai

TCM Indications:


Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Medial branches of dorsal rami of T1
Dermatome Segment: C4


Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

See Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com for explanation of effects.

Major Combinations:



I Ching Hexagram:

Balanced by Shenque Ren-8 in the Rising and Falling Sequence.
Also shares a Hexagram with Hegu LI-4 and Lieque Lu-7 which are balanced by Fenglong St-40 and Taibai Sp-3.

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



Notes:

The Illustration of Time in the Principles of the Innate Disposition and the Lifespan (Xingming Guizhi, 性命圭旨) describes the movement of prenantal Qi through the microcosmic orbit in terms of the I Ching Hexagrams and the twelve Earthly Branches. It says that:

The prenatal Qi of human beings follows the course of the day:
during the Zi (11 pm - 1 am), the Fu (Turning Back, ䷗) Qi arrives at Caudal Defile (GV 1);
during the Chou (1-3 am), the Lin (Approaching, ䷒) Qi arrives at Kidney Hall;
during the Yin (3-5 am), the Tai (Advance, ䷊) Qi arrives at the Mystic Pivot;
during the Mao (5-7 am), the Dazhuang (Great Strength, ䷡) Qi arrives at the Spinal Handle;
during the Chen (7-9 am), the Guai (Eliminating, ䷪) Qi arrives at the Kiln Path (GV 13);
during the Chen (9-11 am), the Qian (Initiating, ䷀) Qi arrives at the Jade Pillow (Bl 9);
during the Wu (11 am -1 pm), the Gou (Encountering, ䷫) Qi arrives at the Mud Pill (GV 20);
during the Wei (1-3 pm), the Dun (Retreating, ䷠) Qi arrives at Hall of Brilliance (GV 23);
during the Shen (3-5 pm), the Pi (Hindrance, ䷋) Qi arrives at the Centre of the Chest (CV 17);
during the You (5-7 pm), the Guan (Watching, ䷓) Qi arrives at the Central Venter (CV 12);
during the Xu (7-9 pm), the Bo (Falling Away, ䷖) Qi arrives at Spirit Gate (CV 8);
during the Hai (9-11 pm), the Kun (Responding, ䷁) Qi returns to the Sea of Qi (CV 6).

(translated in Liu Lihong, 2019, Classical Chinese Medicine)

Based on the Hexagram attributions of the Antique Points, this would correspond to Lieque Lu-4 or Hegu LI-4 which share the Hexagram Guai (Eliminating, ䷪).



This point is also on the 3rd trajectory of the Chong mai connecting the Chong with the Du for Invigorating Yang in cases of Bi Obstruction due to Blood Stagnation (Yuen, 2005, The Extraordinary Vessels).



In Tung Lineage Acupuncture the Common Cold Three (Gan Mao San) are located at Du-13 and bilateral at Bl-42. They are pricked to bleed in instances of the common cold due to external invasion and contraction of summerheat (McCann, 2014, Pricking the Vessels).



In Tibetan medicine:
mKhris-pa point. Edelweiss flowers are burnt in cones like moxa over crushed garlic at this point for cold mKhris-pa.
T2 is a Bad-Kan point used for pulmonary and heart diseases and headaches caused by cold mKris-pa (Bradley, 2000: Principles of Tibetan Medicine)

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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