Lung Point 9 Taiyuan: Great Abyss

Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott

February 24, 2020

Lung point 9 has a number of important properties:

Shu-stream point: so can be used to treat the lung organ
Yuan source point
Earth Point (tonification point)
Hui-Meeting point for the Blood Vessels

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This page is all technical stuff, mainly useful to acupuncture students, and also to the author, to remind him of stuff he’s forgotten. If you’re interested in learning more about acupuncture and the ideas behind it, click here for something more appropriate.

Location of Lung Point 9 Taiyuan

In the wrist crease on the anterior forearm between the radial bone and the first metacarpal bone, between the radial artery and the tendon of abductor pollicis longus – the tendon that abducts the thumb.

Needling

Insert needles into Lung Point 9 perpendicular to the skin. Depth? – 0.25 cun is usually enough but in some people can be up to 0.5 cun.

When needling this point, some acupuncturists find the radial pulse, then press laterally to it with a fingernail to push it away (ie medially) as the needle penetrates. I’ve never needed to do this, however, because it’s quite hard to penetrate the artery wall, and the point is usually easy to find just medial to the abductor pollicis longus.

Needling Sensation

Lung point 9 produces a heavy aching sensation deep within the wrist joint, spreading out from the tip of the needle.

Actions of Lung Point 9: Taiyuan

Tonifies, circulates and supports Lung qi and Lung Yin
Stimulates the descending function of the Lung
Eliminates Wind and by regulating qi, transforms phlegm: stops cough
Harmonises excess Stomach qi
Steadies and harmonises the (100) Blood vessels

Indications and Comment for Lung Point 9

Because of the various actions of this point, the origin of the Lung channel in the epigastrium and stomach, the relationship between the lung and the heart in the Upper Jiao, and its relationship with the Large Intestine channel and zang, we can divide its actions into various groups.

However, please realise that in many cases the nature of the symptom means that it could be classified in several ways. Also, it would be wonderful to be able to ascribe complete healing of all the following symptoms to Lung point 9 alone, but in practice few acupuncturists would risk it: they’d use other points to back it up, depending on the exact diagnosis.

Duplication below is on purpose, and not intended to be complete.

Tonifies Lung qi and Lung Yin

Rebellious Lung qi: cough
Sighing and yawning
Shortness of breath and wheezing: asthma with much watery phlegm.
Lung point 9 is the best point on the Lung channel for conditions with Cold and cold Mucus (for more on this see our page on Lung Phlegm Fluids). Most other Lung channel points are better for clearing heat but as this point circulates Lung qi, and affects Water as well, being the main point on the channel to do so, this makes if often an excellent point for Cold conditions: it’s not that this clears Cold by introducing Yang, but by circulating qi and fluids – more like a Heat Exchanger Pump than a Fire. (However, use Lung 7 Lieque to clear an invasion of exterior Wind-Cold.)
Feeling of fullness and oppression in the chest
Shivering and panting with cold
Oedema of the face
Breathing difficulty when lying: can’t lie flat

Stimulates the descending function of the Lung

Sighing and yawning
Shortness of breath and wheezing
Breathing difficulty when lying: so can’t lie flat
Asthma: can’t catch breath
Rebellious Stomach qi: belching, hiccups
Difficulty urinating

Lung point 9 and Lung qi

Frequent tiredness; needs to pause often to catch breath when talking, walking or climbing (eg stairs)
Numbness of chest
Asthma
Much watery phlegm
Breathing difficulty when lying
Asthma: can’t catch breath
In chronic conditions, of Lung qi deficiency, one would certainly use other points as well, such as Stomach 36, or Conception Vessel points 12 or 17)

Heat in Lungs and/or Lung yin deficiency

Haematemesis: vomiting blood
Haemoptysis: coughing up blood
Dry throat
Agitation: crazy, raving talk, and can’t get to sleep
Colitis

Lung point 9 and Lung Yin deficiency

Insomnia: wakes and worries after 3am (but there are other possible reasons for this, including Liver qi stagnation, Kidney Yin deficiency, Stomach Heat)
Palms of the hands are hot. (Interesting how we usually say “palms ‘of the hands’”! Unless you have other palms about your person, surely ‘of the hands’ is redundant? Equally, we say ‘soles of feet’. Where else would they be?)
Asthma: can’t catch breath (although this would almost certainly entail some Kidney qi deficiency as well, possibly caused long term by failure of the Mother-Child relationship between Lung and Kidney, as per the 5 Phase/Element diagram)
Dry throat and/or mouth
Haemoptysis: coughing up blood
Sparse, dry phlegm

Lung point 9 and Relationship with Stomach qi

Rebellious Stomach qi: belching
Difficulty swallowing: stenosis (narrowing) of the oesophagus
Toothache
Pain in the breasts
Eye: inflammation of the whites of the eyes; blepharitis (inflamed eyelids); eye pain

Spreading fluids so they don't get lumpy in one place — Photo by Methi SOMÇAĞ on Unsplash

Meeting Point for the 100 Vessels

When Lung qi is healthy, the movement of Blood around the body is harmonious. This means that when Lung qi is deficient or excessive, Blood movement becomes disturbed.

When deficient, it can seem impossible to feel the pulse at the wrist, and difficult even at other points eg the carotid artery in the neck.

An old trick if you can’t feel the pulse, is to needle Lung point 9: this brings qi to all the pulses, at least temporarily. In so doing, of course, you may alter the quality of the pulses making your diagnosis of the kind of pulse less certain:

Heaviness, oppression, fullness, in the chest
Chest pain: eg of heart and lung
Agitation mentally, (crazy talking), with a choppy pulse and difficulty breathing
Cardiac pain
Distension of the lungs and can’t breathe out properly

Lung’s relationship with the Water passages

Oedema in the face – but can be elsewhere in the upper part of the body. Typically, the face is puffy on waking in the morning, and/or there are large white bags of fluid under the eyes. (If the bags under the eyes are blue or black, suspect Kidney involvement as well.)
Difficulty urinating
Blood in the urine

Lung Channel problems

Pain or weakness in the thumb, wrist, anterior/radial side of the forearm, biceps, shoulder and supra-clavicular fossa.

For other points on the Lung channel, click below:

Lung-1	Zhongfu	Middle Mansion
Lung-2	Yunmen	Cloud Gate
Lung-3	Tianfu	Heavenly Palace
Lung-4	Xiabai	Protecting White
Lung-5	Chize	Foot Marsh
Lung-6	Kongxui	Great Opening
Lung-7	Lique	Broken Sequence
Lung-8	Jingqu	Channel Gutter
Lung-9	Taiyuan	Great Abyss
Lung-10	Yujo	Fish Region
Lung-11	Shaoshang	Lesser Shang