Stomach Channel
Yin Market
阴市Yīn ShìAnatomical location
3 cun above the superior border of the patella, in the depression of the vastus lateralis muscle.
Main function
Disperses Wind-Dampness, benefits the knee, relieves pain.
Therapeutic indications
- Knee pain
- thigh pain
- paralysis of the lower limb
- sciatica
- knee pain and stiffness
- sensation of cold in the knee
- paralysis of the lower limb
Name and classical tradition
Yinshi (阴市) is the “yin market.” 阴 (陰) is Yin, and here Cold; 市 is a market, a place where something gathers. The functional reading, consistent with the point’s traditional indications, understands that pathogenic Cold accumulates here, so the point is used for Cold pain of the knee and leg. It is not an empty gloss but an interpretation tied to its use.
The name recalls that of GB31, Fengshi, the “wind market,” on the lateral aspect of the thigh: two markets, one of Wind and one of Cold, in the same region. The first work to record Yinshi is the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), which gives it the alternate name 陰鼎, “yin tripod,” places it three cun above the knee, below Futu, and describes a very ceremonial way of locating it: “若拜而取之,” take it in the posture of someone bowing. And it forbids moxa on it: “禁不可灸.”
Other names
- 陰鼎Jiayi Jing
