Lung Meridian Points: Lung Channel points

Lung meridian points lie along the Lung acupuncture meridian or ‘Lung channel’. Actually, its proper name is the Arm Tai Yin (or ‘great yin) channel.

There are eleven (11) such acupuncture points on this channel and they include at least three very important ones which treat issues to do with yin and yang, and Qi.

Click on each point for a page about it.

Being the ‘Governor’ of Qi in the body, the Lungs are responsible for ensuring you have both enough Spirit and Bounce to live healthily. 

Some of the points are used to clear or strengthen the lungs, others are more for helping you with your outlook on life.

At least one point is really good for sore throats and others are good for coughs!

Bit of Theory on the Lungs

The Lungs work very closely with both the Large Intestine (Arm Yang Ming – ‘bright’ yang – channel) and the Liver (Leg Jue Yin – ‘terminal’ yin) to maintain smooth running of your life and immune system.

For example, if there is stress and Qi Stagnation, Lung points can help balance interfering or ‘over-acting’ Liver energy.

Moreover, your Lungs (Arm Tai Yin) have yet another special relationship with your Spleen (Leg Tai Yin).

Perhaps this is a bit too much detail, so early in the page, but the more you understand Chinese medicine, the more these supposedly abstruse descriptions and relationships make sense and offer extra ways of treating with acupuncture.

The Points?

Lung Meridian points shown are only those which are treated directly on the Lung meridian.

The Lung Meridian actually goes much deeper. For instance, it starts near or within the stomach, goes downward from there to enter the large intestine organ, then ascends through the diaphragm and lungs to the throat. (So Ren 12, on the Conception channel, is often treated as an important Lung point.)

Only then does it appear on the surface at Lung point 1 – Zhongfu – from where it goes down the arm, ending beside the thumbnail.

Control points on the Lung Meridian (Lung Channel)

Some acupuncture points on meridians between elbow and fingertips are particularly important. Since antiquity, acupuncturists have respected them for the special actions they perform. These actions are not just local to the points themselves but affect the metabolism of the body.

These special points are the Five Shu, or Five Element points.

In addition, on the Lung channel, its Luo-Connecting point, Lieque, (Lung Point 7) has influence in many areas far beyond most of the other meridians’ Luo-Connecting points.

Lung Meridian Time

Each channel or meridian has a ‘time’ when the body’s energy pushes through it more vigorously. At that time you may encounter problems if the zang-fu functions of the channel have a problem.

At the opposite time of day (12 hours later) you may find the channel then active is also out of balance.

For your Lung qi, the lung meridian time is 3am – 5am (0300 – 0500).

So, common experiences within those two hours – if your Lung qi is blocked or deficient – might include (all of them being connected with the functions of your Lungs):

• cough or
• breathing difficulty
• perspiration – probably on your chest or upper back
• increased skin irritation or sensitivity
• nasal problems
• low energy or
• low spirits
• depression
• wakefulness when normally you’d be asleep

Connected with this Lung meridian time, but its opposite, is from 3pm to 5pm (1500-1700) and may give you problems then, associated with Water channels, particularly the Bladder, such as:

• Weariness
• Backache (probably lumbar area)
• Hot flushes or ‘flashes’
• Feeling cold, or increased heat loss

Other pages you may like:

• Acupuncture channels – do they exist?
• Yin and/or Yang: concepts for stable wisdom
• The Lungs position within TCM Theory