Specific points are those whose function is defined by a category rather than by their location on a channel. The five shu points, the yuan-source points, the luo-connecting points, the back-shu and front-mu points, the xi-cleft points, the lower he-sea points, the eight influential points, the eight confluent points and the intersection points together form the working vocabulary of point prescription.
Knowing the categories is what allows a practitioner to build a prescription rather than collect one. A disorder of the stomach, for instance, might be addressed through its front-mu point, its back-shu point, its lower he-sea point and a xi-cleft point, each chosen for a different aspect of the same pattern.