Atlas of Acupuncture

5.3 Du mai

5.3 Du mai

Synonym:Governing Vessel

Relationships (➞1.7.3)

● Yin/Yang:ren mai/du mai

● Central/peripheral:du mai/yang qiao mai. Regions sup-

ported by this pairing: inner canthus of the eye, occiput,

shoulders, back, S.I. and BL channels, opening point: S.I.-3

(houxi), coupled point: BL-62(shenmai)

Pathway

The extraordinary vessel du maioriginates like the chong mai

and ren maiin the lower abdomen (bao zhong), according to

some authors at the Kidneys, emerges at the perineum and

divides into several branches:

➡The main pathwayof the du maibegins at ➞Ren-1(huiyin)

at the perineum, reaches Du-1(changqiang) between the

anus and the coccyx and ascends the posterior midline along

the spine. At Du-12(shenzhu), below the spinous process of

T3, a branch separates on either side to reach ➞BL-12(feng-

men), rejoining the main branch at Du-13(taodao) below the

spinous process of T1. It then continues to Du-16(fengfu) on

the lower border of the occipital bone. Here, an internal

branchenters the Brain. The external pathway continues to

ascend the head to Du-20(baihui), from there beginning its

descent along the midline to the forehead and the nose to

Du-26(renzhong) where it crosses the ST and L.I. channels.

It terminates inside the mouth below the frenulum at Du-28

(yinjiao) where it meets the ST channel and the extraordinary

vessel ren mai.

➡one branchof the du mai(the spinal branch) originates at

➞Ren-1(huiyin), courses to the tip of the coccyx where it

meets the Kidney primary channel, ascends withinthe spinal

canal to the space between L2 and L3 and enters the Kidneys.

➡The second branchof the du mai(the abdominal branch)

also originates at ➞Ren-1(huiyin), encircles the external

genitalia and ascends to the umbilicus, passes through the

Heart (xin), continues to the throat, circles the lips, travels to

the cheek, passes ➞ST-1(chengqi) at the infraorbital ridge

and reaches ➞BL-1(jingming).

➡The third branchof the du maitravels bilaterally alongside

the BL channel from ➞BL-1(jingming) to the vertex. From

here, it branches out internallyinto the Brain. The external

pathway follows the medial branches of the BL channel in an

inferior direction and enters the body at the level of the lower

border of the spinous process of L2 at ➞BL-23(shenshu) to

terminate at the Kidneys (shen).

Du-28

BL-12

Du-21

Du-16

Du-1

2

3

Du-9

Du-12

Du-1

4

BL-23

67

8

Du-10

Du-11

BL-1

Du-14

Du-1 Ren-1

Du-12

Du-13

Du-16

BL-23

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