少府 : Shaofu : Lesser Palace

Classifications:

Ying-Spring and Fire point
Horary point of the Heart channel

Location:

On the palm, in the depression between the 4th and 5th metacarpal bones, where the tip of the little finger rest when a fist is made

Needling:

Perpendicular insertion 0.5 cun

Classical Needling:

"The Shaoyin usually has little Blood and much Qi" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel should normally be needled.
"The hand Yin and Yang receive their Qi via nearby paths so their Qi arrive swiftly. The depth of piercing must not exceed 2 fen and must not remain inserted for longer than one exhalation" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"It is needled to a depth of three fen, and moxaed with three cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Clears Heat from the Heart and Small Intestine
Calms the Shen
Regulates Heart Qi
Activates the channel and alleviates pain

TCM Indications:

• Palpitations, fright palpitations, sadness and worry with diminished qi, fear, fear of people, excessive sighing, Plumstone Qi (globus hystericus), chest pain, agitation and fullness epilepsy.
  
• Itching of the genitals, pain of the genitals, difficult urination, enuresis, prolapse of the uterus.
  
• Chronic Malarial (瘧, Nue) Disorders, cold shivering, throat pain, stiffness of the tongue.
  
• Contraction of the little finger or hand, head of the palms, pain of the arm, contraction of the elbow and axilla.

I Ching Hexagram:

䷝ Li 離 Radiance

Shared with Yanggu SI-5 and balanced by ䷜ (Yingu Kid-10 or Zutonggu Bl-66).

Hexagram attributions are my own with an explanation given in the glossary.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Ulnar nerve (palmar branch) from C8 - T1

Dermatome Segment: C8

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

Listed in the Wu Bei Zhi 武備志 (Treatise on Armament Technology) by Mao Yuanyi 茅元儀 (1621), Article 9: Twelve-Hour (Shichen 時辰) Vital Points Revealed as the vital point associated with the Wu 午 Horse (11 am - 1 pm) and the Heart meridian (McCarthy, 2016, Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat).

Not an easy point to strike but may be affected in a small lock.Damage here upsets the Shen, the HeartQi and the body clock causing symptoms like jet lag (Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com).

Major Combinations:

• Difficult urination or retention of urine:
    Shaofu He-8 with Zusanli St-36
    (Sun Simiao, 孫思邈, 625: Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang, 備急千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth A Thousand Gold).
  
  
• Uterine prolapse:
    Shaofu He-8 with Taichong Liv-3, Zhaohai Kid-6 and Ququan Liv-8
    (Yang Jizhou, 杨继洲, 1601: Zhen Jiu Da Cheng, 針灸大成, Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Qi stagnation in the throat as if obstructed by a polyp:
    Shaofu He-8 with Ligou Liv-5
    (Sun Simiao, 孫思邈, 625: Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang, 備急千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth A Thousand Gold).
  
  
• Diminished Qi:
    Shaofu He-8 with Pangguangshu Bl-28, Shaochong He-9, Bulang Kid-22, Xingjian Liv-2 and Dazhong Kid-5
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).

Notes:

Ling Shu Ch. 9, On Ends and Beginnings, advises that in the case of Heat associated with receding Ying Qi the Yang conduit should be pierced once and the Yin conduits twice. Based on other recommendation to use the He-Sea of the Yang conduits (Ch. 19) and the Yuan-Source with the Ying-Spring points (Chs. 6, 19 and 24) to clear Heat from the Zangfu, that would suggest this point, Shenmen He-7 and Xiaohai SI-8 as a protocol to clear Heat in the Heart/Small Intestine (although other chapters suggest the Heart channel is not treatable in Ling Shu acupuncture). Next it advises that in Cold associated with receding Yang Qi the Yang should be pierced twice and the Yin once but no such obvious protocol is evident for this situation. Another interpretation that would match with common practice today, based on the idea of odd numbers being Yang/moving/clearing while even numbers are Yin/tonifying/reinforcing, is that the points on the channel to be cleared are pierced on one side only while those on the channel to be tonified are pierced bilaterally.

Ling Shu Ch. 19, on the Four Seasonal Qi, advises selecting the Jing-Well and Ying-Spring openings in winter, piercing deeply and retaining for a while. However, the character for "retain" 留 is a combination of 田 "a field," possibly referring to the idea of waiting for things to grow, and 卯 which is the 4^th Earthly Branch (Mao, Rabbit, ䷡, 5-7 am, Large Intestine) and said to derive from a Shang Dynasty glyph, originally referring to a blood sacrifice (a person or animal cut in half) before coming to mean bloodletting and "pouring out" (Smith, 2011). This might suggest it was actually referring to bleeding these points, and maybe even letting the points bleed for a time rather than retaining the needle.

In the Maoshan Daoist tradition, when the 12 earthly branches, I Ching trigrams and elements are mapped onto the hand the knuckle of the ring finger next to this point equates to the branch 子 Zi, the Trigram ☰ Qian, Heaven and the element of Water (Read, 2020, FB Post; 17QQ.com, 2020, Eight trigrams and twelve Branches of the earth palm).

In Tibetan medicine:
Bleeding point (AMNH, Tibetan Medical Paintings)

In Thai massage:
Acupressure point (Salguero & Roylance, 2011, Encyclopedia of Thai Massage)

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