Navel

Shenque, 神阙, is the navel, and its name is one of the most evocative on the Ren Mai. 神 is the spirit, and also whatever changes in unpredictable, prodigious ways (變化莫測為神); 阙 (闕) is the entrance tower of a palace, the majestic gate. The usual reading goes back to the life of the fetus: the umbilical cord, which attaches here, brings the nourishment that makes the marvel of development possible, and the navel would be the palace gate of that process. It is a coherent etymology, though it comes from modern manuals rather than from an ancient commentator.

The firmest fact is a prohibition, found in the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), which does not call the point Shenque but simply 臍中, the center of the navel: "臍中，禁不可刺，刺之令人惡瘍，遺矢者死不治." It is not to be needled; doing so produces malignant sores, and if fecal incontinence appears, death is certain. The name 神闕 is therefore later. The prohibition has held in practice: the navel is treated with indirect moxa, over salt or ginger, never with a needle.

Its alternative names include plain descriptions, 臍中, the name in the Jiayi Jing, and 臍孔, as well as more evocative ones: 命蒂, "stalk of life," which alludes to the umbilical cord, 氣合, 環谷, and 維會.