ACUPUNCTURE
Zhong Wan: TCM Acupoint Guide
ZHONGWAN
Name
Zhong Wan (Zhongwan)
Location
On the midline of the abdomen, 4 cun above the umbilicus, midway between the umbilicus and the sternocostal angle.
Needling
- Perpendicular insertion, 0.8 to 1.5 cun.
- Caution: in thin patients, deep needling may penetrate the peritoneal cavity.
- Straight insertion, 1 to 2 cun, or the needle may be inserted at a slant in all directions around the point. Sensation: a heavy, distended feeling in the upper abdomen, or a feeling of contraction in the Stomach region.
- Caution: because the Stomach, pancreas and abdominal aorta lie deep behind this point, do not needle too deeply, particularly in thin patients.
- Caution: in patients with an enlarged Liver or Spleen, slanted needling to the left or right of the point should be avoided.
- Puncture perpendicularly, 0.5 to 1.2 cun.
- Moxibustion is applicable.
Command Functions
- Front-Mu point of the Stomach
- Front-Mu point of the Middle Jiao
- Meeting point of the Fu organs
- Meeting point of the REN channel with the Small Intestine, San Jiao, Lung, Liver, Pericardium and Stomach channels
Actions
- Harmonizes the Middle Jiao
- Descends Rebellious Qi
- Tonifies the Stomach
- Fortifies the Spleen, especially its Qi and Yang
- Regulates Qi and Blood
- Warms Cold
- Regulates Stomach Qi and Yin
- Alleviates pain
- Relieves Food Retention
- Reduces digestive Stagnation
- Eliminates Dampness
- Transforms Damp-Heat and Phlegm
- Dries Cold-Dampness
- Calms the fetus
- Tonifies Ying Qi
- Clears Stomach Fire and Heat
Indications
- All diseases of the Stomach and Spleen
- Interior injury to the Stomach and Spleen
- Epigastric pain and fullness
- Difficult ingestion
- Eats little but is easily full
- Nausea
- Stomach reflux
- Vomiting
- Hematemesis
- Abdominal distention
- Focal distention and fullness
- Gastric distention
- Pain of the Spleen
- Hardness and pain of the lateral costal region
- Loss of consciousness
- Mania
- Depression
- Epilepsy
- Tongue-thrusting
- Dyspnea
- Hiccup
- Cold counterflow of the limbs
- Intermittent suffocation
- Dysentery
- Fever and chills in Cold Attack
- Difficulty bending the body
- Gastric pain
- Abdominal pain
- Malaria with diarrhea and abdominal pain
- Sour taste on swallowing
- Vomiting of food long after ingestion
- Acute and chronic gastritis
- Jaundice due to Spleen Deficiency
- Yin Cold diarrhea
- Anorexia
- Gastric hemorrhage
- Gastric spasms
- Borborygmus
- Acute intestinal obstruction
- Hyperacidity
- Uterine diseases
- Madness
- Consumptive illness
- Pains due to disorders of Qi
- Discomfort in the diaphragm
- Insomnia
- Atrophy syndrome due to Damp-Heat
- Restless fetus
- Pulmonary tuberculosis with anorexia
- Headache due to indigestion
- Dizziness
- Vertigo
- Insanity
- Palpitations
- Bell's palsy
- Numbness
- Vaginal abscess
- Injury by worry, anxiety and overthinking
- Injury by the seven emotions leading to epigastric pain
- Diarrhea
- Undigested food in the stool
- Red and white dysenteric disorder
- Difficult defecation
- Heat in the Small Intestine
- Dark urine
- Sudden turmoil disorder
- Deficiency-taxation
- Sallow complexion
- Postpartum Blood dizziness
- Heart pain
- Chronic and acute childhood fright Wind
- Cold body
- Scorched, foul odor in the nose
- Running piglet Qi
- Warm malaria
- Aversion to Cold
- Purple lips
- Swelling
- Somber complexion
- Dyspepsia
- Stomach ache
- Distention and pain in the abdomen and Stomach
- Pain in the Spleen
- Sudden abdominal distention
- Hypertension
- Cholera with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
- Inability to eat due to Spleen dysfunction, with a sensation like an inverted cup below the false ribs on the left side
- Acute and chronic enteritis
- Gastric and duodenal ulcers
- Constipation
- Gastric cancer
- Gastric prolapse
- Neurasthenia
- Nine types of Heart pain
- Mental diseases
- Spitting Blood related to consumptive diseases
- Fever from epidemic diseases
- Yellowish complexion without jaundice
- Renal inflammation
- Middle Jiao wasting and thirsting syndrome with emaciation
- Childhood nutritional impairment
- Fatigue after childbirth
- Morning sickness
- Burning sensation in the esophagus and throat
- Difficulty breathing
- Suicidal tendencies
- Paralysis
- Facial paralysis
- Vaginal prolapse
Combinations
| Points | Indications |
|---|---|
| UB-17 Geshu, LIV-13 Zhangmen | Vomiting |
| REN-17 Shanzhong, PC-7 Daling, PC-8 Laogong | Vomiting clear, watery saliva |
| SP-4 Gongsun, ST-41 Jiexi, ST-36 Zusanli | Food stagnation in the mid-abdomen; stabbing pain in the abdomen that does not cease |
| PC-6 Neiguan, ST-36 Zusanli | Abdominal pain |
| REN-10 Xiawan | Hardness of the abdomen |
| ST-20 Chengman | Hardness and pain in the lateral costal region |
| UB-22 Sanjiaoshu | Abdominal masses in the hypogastrium due to Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis that are hard and big like a plate, with epigastric distention and undigested food |
| SP-6 Sanyinjiao | Undigested food in the stool |
| ST-25 Tianshu, REN-3 Zhongji | Ceaseless diarrhea |
| ST-36 Zusanli, REN-6 Qihai | Hemafecia |
| KI-4 Dazhong, UB-33 Zhongliao, REN-4 Guanyuan, UB-57 Chengshan, KI-3 Taixi | Difficult defecation |
| ST-40 Fenglong | All Phlegm diseases, head Wind, dyspnea and cough, all types of Tan Yin |
| LIV-14 Qimen, LI-9 Shanglian | Dyspnea with inability to walk |
| ST-36 Zusanli | Tonifies the Spleen and Stomach |
| SI-4 Waigu | Tonifies the Middle Jiao |
Contraindications
Do not use moxibustion if the pain is sharp.
Notes
This point is equally applicable for Excess and Deficiency. It is the best point to use, especially with moxibustion, for Cold-Deficient patterns of the Spleen and Stomach. It is very widely used to eliminate Dampness in any part of the body.
Sources and further reading
We cite classical materia medica and modern reference works. This article is health education, not medical advice.
- Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), Han dynasty.
- Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen, 1578.
- Chinese Pharmacopoeia, current edition — identity, quality and safety monographs.
- NCCIH and WHO reference material on traditional medicine safety.
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