Stomach Channel
Pass Gate
关门Guān MénAnatomical location
3 cun above the umbilicus, 2 cun lateral to the anterior midline.
Main function
Regulates the Stomach, strengthens the Spleen, relieves abdominal pain, transforms Dampness.
Therapeutic indications
- Abdominal pain
- diarrhea
- constipation
- loss of appetite
- edema
- abdominal distension
- borborygmi
- anorexia
Name and classical tradition
Guanmen (关门) is the “gate of passage.” 关 (關) is the pass, the barrier; 门 (門) is the gate. It is a simple topographic and functional name, consistent with the series of epigastric points, ST19, ST20, ST21, Guanmen, and ST23, that follows the descent of food.
The Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) locates it by reference to its neighbors: “在梁門下，太乙上，足陽明脈中間”, below Liangmen, above Taiyi, on the Yangming channel of the foot. This is a direct quotation. One source mentions the alternative name 關明, which has not been verified in any ancient text.
