Gallbladder Channel
Suspended Skull
悬厘Xuán LíAnatomical location
In the temporal region, at the junction of the lower quarter and the upper three quarters of the curved line connecting ST8 (Touwei) with GB7 (Qubin).
Main function
Eliminates Wind-Heat, relieves headache.
Therapeutic indications
- Migraine
- eye pain
- vertigo
- Tinnitus
- Fever
- Irritability
Name and classical tradition
Xuanli, 悬厘, continues on the temple the series of names with 悬, "to hang," that begins at GB5. The second character, 厘, is harder: it means "to regulate," "to put in order," and it is also a tiny unit of measure, the thousandth. Contemporary popular accounts explain the name with a physiological image: the damp Qi descending from Xuanlu would be put in order here, separating the clear from the turbid. It is a modern gloss, of the kind that likens Qi to water vapor, and no ancient text supports it.
Little is certain. The reference works trace it to the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), with no citation located, and no alternative names or specific classical commentaries are known. It is one of those points whose name has reached us without its original explanation, and where prudence advises against filling the gap.
