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CV4

Ren Mai (Conception Vessel) Channel

Gate of Origin

关元Guān Yuán

Contraindicated during pregnancy

Front-Mu point of the Small Intestine, over the uterus. Its action on the Lower Jiao rules it out entirely.

Anatomical location

On the midline, 3 cun below the navel.

Main function

Tonifies the Original Qi, strengthens the Kidney, nourishes Yin.

  • Small Intestine Front-Mu point
  • Crossing point with the Spleen, Liver, and Kidney

Therapeutic indications

  • General weakness
  • infertility
  • impotence
  • diarrhea
  • fatigue
  • exhaustion
  • chronic diarrhea
  • irregular menstruation
  • dysmenorrhea
  • nocturnal emission
  • enuresis
  • urinary frequency
  • pain in the hypogastrium
  • collapse
  • cold extremities
  • hernia
  • panic attacks (Ben Tun Qi)
  • diabetes mellitus (Xiao Ke)
  • hypothyroidism
  • ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease
  • kidney stones and renal colic
  • COPD and chronic bronchitis
  • low blood pressure
  • prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia
  • polycystic ovary syndrome
  • endometriosis
  • osteoporosis
  • chemotherapy-induced leukopenia
  • anemia

Name and classical tradition

Guanyuan, 关元, is the “gate of origin.” 关 (關) is the bolt, the door that closes; 元 is the origin, the primordial, the Original Qi. The usual reading describes it as the gate behind which the body's Original Qi is kept. Hence its identification with the dantian (丹田), the “field of cinnabar” of Taoist internal alchemy, a well-documented tradition, but of Taoist rather than ancient medical lineage.

The highest-quality citation on the point comes from a named commentator. Wang Zhizhong, in the Zhenjiu Zisheng Jing (Classic of Nourishing Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion), in the Song period, explains one of its aliases: «亦名大中極，言取人身之上下四向最為中也», it is also called the “great central pole,” because it lies at the center of the body in all four directions. The Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) places it «在臍下三寸», three cun below the navel. The textual origin of the name is uncertain: some sources place it in the Suwen (Basic Questions) and others in the Lingshu (Spiritual Pivot).

Guanyuan is the Front-Mu point (募穴) of the Small Intestine and a crossing point of the Ren Mai with the Kidney, Spleen, and Liver channels. Hence another of its aliases, 三結交, “where three are knotted together.” 下紀, 次門, and 丹田 are also added. It shares the name dantian with CV5 and CV6, and the schools debated for centuries which of the three was the true one.

Other names

  • 次門Jiayi Jing
Location of point CV4, Gate of Origin
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View point on the 3D modelCV4 on the anatomy
Needling techniquePerpendicular insertion 0.5-1.5 cun.
Depth0.5-1.5 cun
MoxibustionApplicable (5-10 cones or 10-20 minutes, indirect moxa)
PrecautionsAvoid deep needling so as not to injure internal organs.

Patterns that use it · 9

Classical combinations · 2

  • Support the Yuan QiGathers and sustains the Original Qi of the Lower Jiao; with moxibustion, it warms the Yang.
  • DysmenorrheaMoves stagnant Blood in the uterus and loosens Liver Qi.

Basic formulas from the vademecum · 4

View the vademecum

Named functional sets from the school: here the point does not act on its own, but through the role it plays within the maneuver.

  • CoolingPregnancyIt does not disperse Heat: it replenishes the Yin that should contain it. KI3 as the Yuan-Source point of the Kidney, SP6 for the three Yin channels, and CV4 as the root of the Yuan Qi in the lower abdomen.
  • Descend the YangPregnancyBrings down the Yang that has stayed above, using the lower He-Sea points of the Large Intestine (ST37) and the Small Intestine (ST39) together with their Mu points (ST25) and the anchor of the lower abdomen (CV4).
  • Tonify Kidney YinPregnancyReplenishes the Yin and the Essence: KI3 as the Yuan-Source point, KI7 as the tonification point (Metal, the mother), KI10 as the channel's own Water point, GB25 as the Front-Mu point of the Kidney, and CV4 as the root of the Yuan Qi.
  • Tonify the BloodPregnancyCovers the three sources of Blood: it is produced in the Center (LR13, Influential point of the organs), gathered at BL17 (Influential point of Blood) and SP10, rooted in the Kidney (BL52, home of the Zhi, and CV4), and driven from LU9, the Influential point of the vessels. SP6 stitches the whole together.
Cover of the guide “Protocols for the 20 most common patterns”

Free guide · PDF

Protocols for the 20 patterns you see most in practice

Each pattern with its tongue, its pulse, the treatment principle and the points to tonify and disperse. Made for the treatment table, not the bookshelf.

Do you use CV4 with your patients?

In the Clinic you record it in the patient's file, next to the tongue, the pulse and the measurements, so at the next session you know exactly what you used. The Atlas is built in.

See the Clinic