The origin of the five shu point theory: well, spring, stream, river and sea points of the five zang and six fu.
Ling Shu (灵枢)Meridians and Points
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
The English is translated from the Chinese vernacular. The original text and its pinyin sit beneath each sentence in smaller type; hide them whenever you prefer to read the translation alone.
The qi of the lung channel emerges at Shaoshang. Shaoshang lies at the inner side of the tip of the thumb; it is the well point, wood in phase.
The heart channel emerges at Zhongchong … the liver at Dadun … the spleen at Yinbai … the kidney at Yongquan … and the remaining channels follow the same pattern.
Ben Shu establishes the five shu points for each of the eleven channels known at the time, arranging them as well, spring, stream, river and sea. The names are hydraulic metaphors: qi is pictured rising at the well point, gathering at the spring, flowing at the stream, moving onward at the river and entering deeply at the sea.
The chapter also links these points to the five phases and to the seasons, which is what later allows a practitioner to select a point by correspondence rather than by local tenderness. Every system of five-phase point selection, including mother-son tonification and the seasonal rules, is built on this chapter.
ANNOTATION
Well (井): water upon wood, the image of water first emerging. Well points lie mostly at the tips of fingers and toes, where yin and yang channels meet, and are therefore used in emergencies and to drain heat.
Slip, flow, move, enter (溜、注、行、入): four progressive terms describing channel qi passing from well to sea, from shallow to deep, from faint to full.
Moving without rest (动而不居): the pulse beating without pause, describing the radial pulse felt at Lieque’s neighbour, Jingqu.
COMMENTARY
The five transport points form the most tightly ordered group of specific points in point theory. What is used clinically today — bleeding the well points in emergency, clearing organ heat at the spring points, treating bowel disorders at the sea points — all rests on this chapter. When studying, tabulate the five transport points of the twelve channels by channel and phase, and write them out repeatedly, so that mother-child tonification and reduction come to hand without effort.