Groups of five transport points | Source points & connecting points | Back transport points & alarm points | Eight influential points | Cleft points | Lower sea points | Eight confluent points of the extra meridians | Crossing points

The Cleft Points

TCM believes that these sixteen points are where the meridians' qi deeply gathered, and they are mostly located distal to the elbow and knee joints. Under normal circumstances they cannot be attacked easily by the pathogens. In cases if there are reactions in these points, it means pathogens have deeply entered the body and conditions can develop rapidly and seriously. The cleft points are often selected when acute severe pain and inflammation occurred along the meridians or in the corresponding organs. The cleft points in the yin meridians tend to arrest bleeding, while those in the yang meridians tend to stop pain. For example, kong zui (Lu 6) is used for vomiting up of blood due to lung diseases, zhong du (Lr 6) for excessive menstruation, and wen liu (Li 7) for toothache.

The cleft points can be used alone, but often be combined with the eight influential points in acute conditions. For example, in treating acute gastritis, physicians will select liang qiu (St 34) and combine it with zhong wan (Cv 12, influential point of the qi).

Table of the 16 Cleft Points on the Yin and Yang Meridians

The Cleft Points