Du Mai (Governing Vessel) Channel
Central Pivot
中枢Zhōng ShūAnatomical location
Below the spinous process of the 10th thoracic vertebra (T10).
Main function
Strengthens the Spleen and Stomach, regulates the Middle Jiao.
Therapeutic indications
- Back pain
- abdominal distension
- jaundice
- nausea
- Low back pain
- Gastric pain
- Poor appetite
- Stiffness of the back
Name and classical tradition
Zhongshu, 中枢, is the “central pivot.” 中 is the center; 枢 (樞) is the pivot, the hinge. The point lies below the tenth thoracic vertebra, in the middle zone of the spine, which works as the hinge for the movement of the trunk. This is the direct reading of the characters.
Its textual history is uncertain. The name appears in the Suwen (Basic Questions), chapter Qi Fu Lun (氣府論), but, according to the sources, through Wang Bing's annotation in the 8th century and not in the original text. Several searches have failed to find it in the index of the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion). It could therefore be a late addition, perhaps consolidated in the Song period. It is the Du Mai point with the most doubt about its origin, and it is best not to give it an antiquity that has not been demonstrated.
No alternative names are known for it. Below it, on the spine, is GV5, the suspended pivot.
