A set of twelve Shu points on the chest is mentioned in the Su Wen Ch. 58 and listed by Wang Bing in his commentary. However, no indications are given for their use leaving several traditions to emerge.
The points are:
Kid-27: 俞府 Shufu
Kid-26: 彧中 Yuzhong
Kid-25: 神藏 Shencang
Kid-24: 靈墟 Lingxu
Kid-23: 神封 Shenfeng
Kid-22: 步廊 Bulang
Five Element Spirit Points
The Five Element tradition has given these points much attention due to the name of the middle three whose names involve some aspect of the spirit, earning them the title of "Spirit Points". By associating
Shen with
Yang and
Ling with
Yin, they make the Trigram ☲ (
離 Li, "Flame, illumination"), representing the Spirit (Jarrett, 1998,
Nourishing Destiny). Generally their function is decided based on the meaning of their name, i.e.
神藏 Shencang, "Spirit Storehouse" for nourishing the Spirit,
靈墟 Lingxu, "Spirit's Ruin" for hopelessness and despair and
神封,
Shenfeng, "Spirit Seal" for a loss of connection to ones Spirit.
Yuen's Front Shu
The tradition of Jeffrey Yuen (2005,
Eight Extraordinary Vessels, p. 58) locates these points on the
Chong Mai trajectory where they serve a similar function to the
Back Shu points but transmitting
Yin from the Kidneys via the
Ren and
Chong Mai and can be used to treat deficiency or stagnation of
Yin, Blood and fluids.
Their order follows the same pattern as the Back-
Shu points:
Kid-26: 彧中 Yuzhong: Lung (Metal)
Kid-25: 神藏 Shencang: Heart (Fire)
Kid-24: 靈墟 Lingxu: Liver (Wood)
Kid-23: 神封 Shenfeng: Spleen (Earth)
Kid-22: 步廊 Bulang: Kidney (Water)
Kid-27: 俞府 Shufu functions as the Master
Shu point and governs all front
Shu points.
As they are on the trajectory of the
Chong Mai, they can also be used in Extraordinary Vessel treatments to access Pre-Natal Qi. When doing this they are usually located slightly medial to the usual upper Kidney points, 0.5 cun from the midline and their elemental order is reversed:
Kid-26: 彧中 Yuzhong: Kidney (Water)
Kid-25: 神藏 Shencang: Spleen (Earth)
Kid-24: 靈墟 Lingxu: Liver (Wood)
Kid-23: 神封 Shenfeng: Heart (Fire)
Kid-22: 步廊 Bulang: Lung (Metal)
Kid-27: 俞府 Shufu continues to function as the Master
Shu point.
Alchemical Perspectives
From an alchemical (
Neidan) perspective, the Front
Shu can be seen to function as a
Yin counterpart to the
Back Shu. While the
Back Shu transmit cosmic
Yang in the form of
Yang Shen and
Yuan Qi from Heaven, issuing commands to the
Zangfu through the Governing (
督 Du) function of the
Du Mai; the Front-
Shu transmit the cosmic
Yin in the form of
Yin Shen and
Yuan Jing upwards from the Earth, providing the sense of receptivity and responsibility (
任 Ren) from the
Ren Mai to carry out the commands of Heaven without rebellion. Together they bring us in line with our destiny (
性 命 Xingming) and generate the mingling of Yin and Yang which generates the Hexagram ䷊ (
泰 Tai, "Peace") and forms the
魂 Hun and
魄 Po souls. In this case the order and assignment of the Front
Shu remain the same as in the Yuen system. This may be an aspect of Yuen's system, although there is little written about this by his followers and so this is mostly personal extrapolation based on the
Cantong Qi and commentary by Pregradio (2011).
Connection with the Chest and Abdomen Qi Streets
It is also not difficult to posit further points on the abdomen that can influence the
Fu since most of the
Fu are represented as
Mu points on the
Ren channel and the Kidney /
Chong points besides them are seen as their complements. This would only leave the Stomach, Pericardium and Gall Bladder unrepresented, for which the Stomach would naturally be on the same level as its
Mu, level with the umbilicus, the Pericardium would be level with the Heart
Mu, surrounding and encasing the Heart and providing actions on pacifying the Stomach like its Channel does, while the Gall Bladder would be just below, level with Ren-13, also level with its
Mu and has the action of Transforming Phlegm with indications similar to the formula
Wen Dan Tang. However, these primarily support the draining function of the Front-
Mu points and protecting the
Yin from excessive drainage which is why they are not listed as
Shu points like those of the chest. The Pericardium stands out as unusual for being the only
Zang, but this organ is unusual in that its structure and function is somewhat like a
Fu being an encasing for the Heart and which acts primarily like a minister, transmitting and protecting the Heart itself which is contained inside.
The complete list would be:
Kid-21: 幽門 Youmen: Pericardium
Kid-20: 腹通谷 Futonggu: Gall Bladder
Kid-19: 陰都 Yindu: Stomach
Kid-16: 肓俞 Huangshu: Large Intestine
Kid-14: 四滿 Siman:
San Jiao
Kid-13: 氣穴 Qixue: Small Intestine
Kid-12: 大赫 Dahe: Bladder
