地倉 : Dicang : Earth Granary

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Binding point of the foot Yangming Sinews

Meetings:

Meeting of Stomach with Large Intestine, Yang Qiao Mai, Ren Mai, Stomach Divergent and Spleen Divergent

Location:

0.4 cun lateral to the corner of the mouth

Needling:

Transverse insertion to join with such points as Jiache ST-6, Yingxiang L.I.-20, Chengqiang Ren-24, etc

Classical Needling:

"The Yangming usually has much Qi and much Blood" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel can normally be needled or bled.
"The foot Yangming is to be pierced 6 fen deep and remain inserted for ten exhalations" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"It is needled to a depth of three fen" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Eliminates Wind from the face
Activates the channel and alleviates pain

TCM Indications:

• Deviation of the mouth, pain of the cheek, trigeminal neuralgia, drooling, food and drink leak out of the mouth, numbness of the lips and face, toothache, contraction of the facial muscles, loss of speech.
  
• Ceaseless movement of the eyeball, inability to close the eye, twitching of the eyelids, itching of the eye, blurring of distant objects, night blindness.
  
• Atrophy disorder with inability to walk, swelling of the leg, inability to eat.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Depending on direction of needling: mental (inferior) or buchal (lateral) branches of mandibular nerve, or infraorbital (superior) branch of maxillary nerve

Dermatome Segment: CN V3 mandibular branch of trigeminal

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

A strike here will shock the whole system if hard enough and cause a knock out. However, it must be quite accurate (Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com).

Major Combinations:

• Deviation of the mouth:
    Dicang St-4 with Jiache St-6
    (Yu Long Fu, 玉龍賦, Ode of the Jade Dragon. First recorded in Gao Wu, 高武, 1529: Zhen Jiu Yu Jing, 針灸聚英, Glorious Anthology of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Deviation of the mouth:
    Dicang St-4 with Lieque Lu-7
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Deviation of the mouth and eye:
    Dicang St-4 with Jiache St-6, Renzhong Du-26, Chengjiang Ren-24, Tinghui GB-2 and Hegu LI-4
    (Zhang Jiebin, 張景岳, 1624: Lei Jing Tu Yi, 類經圖翼, Illustrated Supplement to the Classic of Categories).
  
  
• Legs withered and lame:
    Dicang St-4 with Tianuan Lu-9
    (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 Su Wen Ch. 20, Discourse on the Three Sections and Nine Indicators, describes "the moving vessels on the two [sides of the] cheeks" as the "The earth [indicator] of the upper section... The earth [indicator] serves to examine the qi of mouth and teeth". Wang Bing's commentary says this means "This is the vessel movement to be felt on both sides, next to the grand crevice, below the nose holes. The movement of the qi of the hand yang brilliance vessels [can be felt] there"(Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, trans. Unschuld & Tessenow, 2011). This suggests this point although Wang (2019, Daoist Internal Mastery) translates this verse as "They are located on both sides of the nostrils, near the edges. Use your hands to feel them. The Yang Brightness meridian of the foot also runs here" which implies Yingxiang LI-20 but palpation to find the pulse between these points should be used.

This point would also be on the upper trajectory of the Chong mai in Jeffrey Yuen's descriptions (Yuen, 2005, The Extraordinary Vessels).

The trigger point location for zygomaticus major would lie slightly superior to this point, between Juliao St-3 and Dicang St-4 (Travell & Simons, 1998, Trigger Point Manual)

Lad and Durve (2008) in Marma Points of Ayurveda call this point Chibuka and associate it with the doshas: Bodhaka Kapha, Prana Vayu and Apana Vayu.

They give the following functions:
- Regulates Bodhaka kapha and salivary secretions
- Promotes appetite and improves digestion
- Improves facial colour complexion, relieves facial pain
- Balances apana vayu

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