曲骨 : Qugu : Curved Bone

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Doorway to the Earth Point
Confluent point of the Gall Bladder and Liver Divergent channels (Cecil-Sterman, 2012, Advanced Acupuncture)
Master Tung's Bowel Nest Twenty-Three

Meetings:

Meeting of Conception Vessel with Liver, Gall Bladder Divergent, Liver Divergent and the Broken Line (Xiuming Xian 修命線)

Location:

On the midline of the lower abdomen, at the superior border of the pubic symphysis, 5 cun below the umbilicus.

Needling:

Perpendicular insertion 0.5 - 1 cun

Warnings:

Deep insertion will penetrate a full bladder which should therefore be emptied before treatment. No deep needling in pregnancy, or perpendicular needling in advanced pregnancy.

Classical Needling:

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

TCM Actions:

Benefits urination
Regulates the Lower Jiao
Warms and invigorates the Kidneys

TCM Indications:

• Dribbling and hesitant flow of urine, difficult urination, retention of urine due to foetal pressure, enuresis, the five types of painful urinary dysfunction.
  
• Fullness, distension and pain of the lower abdomen, acute lower abdominal pain, painful Shan (疝) Disorder.
  
• Impotence, seminal emission, dampness and itching of the scrotum, contraction of the penis, dryness and pain of the genitals.
  
• Red and white leucorrhoea, irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhoea.
  
• Deficiency and exhaustion of the five zang, deficiency and weariness with extreme cold.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Ilioinguinal nerve (L1)

Dermatome Segment: S4

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 Shen 申 Monkey (3 - 5 pm) and the Bladder meridian (McCarthy, 2016, Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat).

This is one of the eight striking points in Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. These are the nonfatal areas on an attacker's body that can be struck when just defending or wanting to defeat an attacker. Wong Honfan (1946) describes it as "the pelvic bone" suggesting Ren-2 (Ravenswood Academy, 2020, The Eight Forbidden Strikes of Praying Mantis Fist). A Chinese site concurs with this describing it as "pubic symphysis (Zhongwu Sports, 2018, Chinese martial arts "eight hits and eight don't hits"). However, Olson describes it as "The points in the lower and middle abdomen" with the diagram showing them at Ren-6 and Ren-4 (Olson, 2010, The Complete Guide to Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu).

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

Major Combinations:

• Inability to urinate:
    Qugu Ren-2 with Zhongji Ren-3, Guanyuan Ren-4, Shimen Ren-5 and Sanyinjiao Sp-6
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Red and white leucorrhoea:
    Seven cones of moxa on Qugu Ren-2 with one hundred cones on Tianshu St-25, Taichong Liv-3, Guanyuan Ren-4, Fuliu Kid-7 and Sanyinjiao Sp-6
    (Liao Runhong, 廖润鸿, 1874: Zhen Jiu Ji Cheng, 針灸集成, Compilation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Fright epilepsy, mad walking and Madness:
    Qugu Ren-2 with Xingjian Liv-2, Jinsuo Du-8 and Yingu Kid-10
    (Sun Simiao, 孫思邈, 625: Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang, 備急千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth A Thousand Gold).

Notes:

The Broken Line (Xiuming Xian 修命線) is an internal line used in inner cultivation arts (Neigong Shu 內功術) that connects from Tianting Du-24, 3 cun above Niwan to the front genitalia at this point. It is called broken because it runs in straight line with two breaks, the first underneath the eyebrows and above the palate of the mouth, the second at the throat from Lianquan Ren-23 and Xuanji Ren-21 which is called the Twelve Storied Tower (Wang, 2019, Daoist Internal Mastery ).

In Tung lineage acupuncture the Bowel Nest 23 (Fu Chao Er Shi San) are a group of points located in a line at 1 cun intervals between Ren-2 and Ren-10. An additional eight points on either side form a 4x5 grid at the levels of Ren-9 to Ren-5, also at 1 cun intervals. Ren-8, on the navel, is not included.

They are pricked using Tung's method in local disorders of pain, stagnation and heat in the abdomen such as uteritis, nephritis, umbilical area pain, enteritis, appendicitis and intestinal cancers (McCann, 2014, Pricking the Vessels).

Ge Hong (4th century) recommends for Dian Kuang with symptoms of falling fits and manic frenzy that the practitioner should cauterise this point with three cones of moxa and when the subject urinates he is cured. This may be complemented with two groups of seven cones burned along the seam behind the testicles at Huiyin Ren-1 (Strickmann, M, 2002, Chinese Magical Medicine, p. 240, Stanford University Press).

Several medieval phlebotomy points exist between Ren-1 and Ren-2 on the genitals themselves (Hans von Gersdorff, 1517: Feldtbüch der Wundartzney, www.nlm.nih.gov; Hans von Gersdorff, 1517: Feldtbüch der Wundartzney, www.nlm.nih.gov). See note to Huiyin Ren-1

In the Vedic tradition this point would be the location of the kshetram or activation point of the Swadhisthana chakra.

In ayurvedic medicine:
Vastih marma point
Size: 4 angula (cun)
Structure: Ligament
Effect of Injury: Fatal (sadhyapranahar marma)
(Harish Johari, 1996, Ayurvedic Massage, Sanatan Society; Anupama Bhattacharya, n.d. Marma Shastra)

Lad and Durve (2008) in Marma Points of Ayurveda call this point Bhaga and associate it with the doshas: Apana Vayu, Vyana Vayu, Ranjaka Pitta and Kledaka Kapha.

They give the following functions:
- Regulates male and female reproductive organs
- Enhances circulation and function in the pelvic organs
- Relives pelvic pain
- Regulates bladder and treats urinary dysfunction
- Stimulates sexual energy

In Tibetan medicine:
Moxa point (AMNH, Tibetan Medical Paintings).

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