Glossary

The Ling Shu ch. 52 describes four Qi "Streets" (街 Jie, "street or market") on the head, chest, abdomen and shins. This implies a place where Qi travels and can be exchanged with the Zangfu.

The points of the Stomach and Kidney Channels are the most likely candidates for the Qi Streets of the chest and abdomen. The Kidney channel transports Yuan Qi upwards and the Stomach channel transports Ying Qi, received from the from the Breast Shu, downwards. As they pass certain points connected to their Chest Shu and the Front-Mu, they are able to impart their Qi to their respective Zangfu to enhance their function.

The sequence is the same as the Chest Shu on the ribcage, and the Front-Mu on the abdomen and are located at the same level as these points. The anatomical division of the chest and abdomen divides them into Zang and Fu organs, but another logical division would be into the separate Channels, the types of Qi they carry and the direction of their flow. This would make:

Most of these are supported by their actions and indications with details in the notes of each point.

The Ying Qi Street can be used in milder cases where it is not necessary to draw upon the Kidneys to nourish the Zangfu, while the Yuan Qi Street implies more serious conditions where depletion cannot be resolved using postnatal Qi alone. Their most common use may be to support the draining function of the Front-Mu and provide nourishment in the event of inducing excessive drainage.

Some peculiarities of this order can be noted. Firstly, the Pericardium is assigned at the base of the Chest Qi Street, either side of Juque Ren-14, the Heart Mu point. This reflects its unusual nature as a Zang Organ but which is technically hollow, acting as a container for the Heart, and the relationship of this channel to the Heart and Stomach. The second oddity is the location of the Spleen point on the Ying Qi Street as being Ruzhong St-17, directly on the nipple, which is not used for treatment. This is because the Spleen is what creates the Ying Qi so it makes little sense to nourish itself. The one time when Ying Qi will be used to nourish the Spleen is when a mother is nursing, at which point the nipple becomes the place where she passes her Ying Qi and Blood in the form of milk to the infant.