Bladder Channel
United Meeting
附分Fù FēnAnatomical location
In the dorsal region, 3 cun lateral to the midline, at the level of the space between the spinous processes of T2 and T3.
Main function
Expels Wind, strengthens the sinews, relieves pain in the shoulder and back.
Therapeutic indications
- Back pain
- neck stiffness
- shoulder pain
- numbness in the arms
- Stiffness of the nape of the neck
- Shoulder and back pain
- Numbness of the elbow and arm
Name and classical tradition
Fufen, 附分, combines 附, to adhere or lie alongside something, and 分, to divide or separate. The usual reading refers to the pathway: on the back, the Bladder channel runs in two parallel lines, one at one and a half cun from the spine and the other at three cun. Fufen marks the beginning of the outer line, the place where the branch splits off and runs attached to the other.
The Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) locates it “在第二椎下，附項內廉兩傍各三寸”: below the second vertebra, three cun to each side. It is the first point of the second line of the back, the series that continues with BL42, BL43, and BL44 and in which the points with names of the soul faculties are lined up. Some sources consider it a meeting point of the hand and foot Taiyang, with no classical citation to confirm it.
