Ren Mai (Conception Vessel) Channel
Central Gate
中极Zhōng JíContraindicated during pregnancy
Front-Mu point of the Bladder, over the uterus. Needling the lower abdomen is proscribed in pregnancy.
Anatomical location
On the midline, 4 cun below the navel.
Main function
Regulates the Lower Jiao, benefits the Bladder and genitals.
- Front-Mu point of the Bladder
- Crossing point with the Spleen, Liver, and Kidney
Therapeutic indications
- Urogenital dysfunction
- impotence
- infertility
- enuresis
- urinary retention
- dysuria
- cystitis
- irregular menstruation
- dysmenorrhea
- leukorrhea
- uterine prolapse
- kidney stones and renal colic
- prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia
- polycystic ovary syndrome
- endometriosis
Name and classical tradition
Zhongji, 中极, is the “pole of the center.” 中 is the center; 极 (極) is the pole, the extreme, the highest point. The modern gloss explains it through proportions: the point would mark the center of the body in the classical system of measurement. Another gloss speaks of the Qi that rises from CV2 and reaches its peak here. Both are textbook explanations.
The Suwen (Basic Questions), in the Gu Kong Lun chapter (骨空論), begins its description of the Ren Mai precisely here: «任脈者，起於中極之下», the Ren Mai begins below Zhongji. It is the most reliable ancient reference for the point.
Zhongji is the Front-Mu point (募穴) of the Bladder and a crossing point of the three Yin channels of the foot with the Ren Mai. The reference works give it the alternative names 玉泉, “jade spring,” 氣原, “origin of Qi,” and 氣魚.
Other names
- 氣原Jiayi Jing
- 玉泉Jiayi Jing
