Glossary

The five transport points refers to a categorisation of peripheral points below the elbows and knees based upon the Five Phase (五行, Wu Xing) system using the metaphor of a river on which things are transported. It is from these that the points are selected in five element acupuncture styles based on mother/child relationships to reinforce and drain (and occasionally the father on the controlling cycle). Classically their actions are as follows:

• 井 Jing-Well points:
  Wood (Yin) or Metal (Yang) points located at the most distal point of the channel, usually on the nail bed. Indicated and restoring consciousness, clearing Heat from the Zang and releasing Pathogens from the Exterior, including the Sinew channels.
• 荥 Ying-Spring points:
  Fire (Yin) or Water (Yang) points, usually located on the web margins of the fingers and the toes. They are said to be where the channel runs quickly and are indicated for clearing Heat.
• 输 Shu-Stream points:
  Earth (Yin) or Wood (Yang) points indicated for diseases of the Zang. These are like two-way gates that provide access between the Exterior and the Interior, hence they can be used move Pathogens outwards from the Interior to the Exterior. They have a close relationship to the Yuan-Source points which are the same as the Shu-Stream on the Yin meridians and so can be used to influence the Zang organs on these channels. On the Yang channels they treat channel stagnation and intermittent diseases and are important in the treatment of Retained Pathogens due to their special relationship with the Luo-Network points. When invading Pathogens seeking entrance to the Interior reach the Shu-Stream it sends them to the Luo that grows Blood vessels in which to store the pathogen. When full and the Luo becomes visible, it sends the Pathogen to the Shu-Stream point of its Yin/Yang paired channel which passes it to its corresponding Luo. When both are full it may pass it to another Luo or allow it to advance along the channel to the He-Sea point when it is diverted into a Divergent Channel.
• 经 Jing-River points:
  Metal (Yin) or Fire (Yang) points usually located around the wrists or ankles and is where the channel runs deeper. Mainly indicated for cough, wheezing, fever and chills from External Pathogens, diseases affecting the voice and local disorders of the sinews and bones.
• 合 He-Sea points:
  Water (Yin) or Earth (Yang) points located at the elbows and knees. 合 actually means "uniting" and gets its translation from the stream imagery, as the place where the river unites with the sea. This is where the channel unites with its Zangfu organ and indicated for diseases of the organs, especially when caused by irregular diet or rebellious Qi. The points on the Yang channels are often used for skin disorders while the points on the Yin channels, being the Water point, are also often significant for their function of regulating fluids by draining Damp and tonifying Yin. As the most Interior points they provide access to the Interior and Yuan Qi and have a close relationship with the Divergent meridians which separate at the channel from this point and are used to store Pathogens in latency that the body was too weak to expel and the Luo could not hold.

The following table provides the information on the Shu-Transport points as found in the Ling Shu and Nanjing (Elio Basagni, 2014).