List of acupuncture points#Locations and basis

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More than four hundred acupuncture points have been described, with the majority located on one of the twenty main cutaneous and subcutaneous meridians, pathways which run throughout the body and according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) transport qi. Twelve of these major meridians, commonly referred to as "the primary meridians", are bilateral and practitioners{{Who|date=December 2022}} associate them with internal organs. The remaining eight meridians are designated{{By whom|date=December 2022}} as "extraordinary", and are also bilateral except for three, one that encircles the body near the waist, and two that run along the midline of the body. Only those two extraordinary meridians that run along the midline contain their own points, the remaining six comprise points from the aforementioned twelve primary meridians. There are also points that are not located on the fourteen major meridians but do lie in the complete nexus referred to as Jīngluò ({{lang|zh|經絡}}). Such outliers are often{{Specify|date=December 2022}} referred to as "extra points".Deadman, P, Baker K, Al-Khafaji, M. 2007. A Manual of Acupuncture, 2nd Edition. Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications. {{ISBN|978-0951054659}}.

There is no anatomical and physiological basis for acupuncture points and meridians.Napadow V, Ahn A, Longhurst J, et al. 2008. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3155097/ The status and future of acupuncture mechanism research.] J Altern Complement Med 14(7): 861–869. In practice, acupuncture points are located{{By whom|date=December 2022}} by a combination of anatomical landmarks, palpation, and feedback from the patient.

The eight extraordinary meridians ({{zh|t=奇經八脈 |s=奇经八脉 |p=qí jīng bā mài}}) are of pivotal importance in the study of qigong, tai chi, and Chinese alchemy.T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Meditation by Da Liu, pages 35-41 - Routledge and Keegan Paul 1987 {{ISBN|0-14-019217-4}} Though many are listed, only the Governing Vessel and the Conception Vessel meridians have points not associated with the previous 12 meridians.

Some acupuncture points have several traditional names, for example tài yuān ({{lang|zh|太渊}}) and gui xin ({{lang|zh|鬼心}}) are two names used for the 9th acupuncture point on the lung meridian.{{Cn|date=December 2022}} The World Health Organization (WHO) published A Proposed Standard International Acupuncture Nomenclature Report in 1991 and [https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9290611057 2014], listing 361 classical acupuncture points organized according to the fourteen meridians, eight extra meridians, 48 extra points, and scalp acupuncture points,Regional Office for the Western Pacific, WHO. 1991. [http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/1991/9241544171_eng.pdf A Proposed Standard International Acupuncture Nomenclature Report of a WHO Scientific Group] (pdf). World Health Organization. Retrieved Sep-05-2014. and published [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2393122/pdf/bullwho00053-0028.pdf Standard Acupuncture Nomenclature] in 1993, focused on the 361 classical acupuncture points.Regional Office for the Western Pacific, WHO. 1993. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140905172427/http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/documents/s7143e/s7143e.pdf Standard Acupuncture Nomenclature, 2nd ed] (pdf). World Health Organization. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110228201809/http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/8DDB198B-B00B-47AB-9BA1-9337CF49C5A5/0/Standard_Acupuncture_Nomenclature_2nd_ed.pdf Archived from the original on 28 February 2011]. Retrieved Sep-05-2014. Each acupuncture point is identified by the meridian on which it is located and its number in the point sequence on that channel. For example, Lu-9 identifies the 9th acupuncture point on the lung meridian. The only{{Verify source|date=December 2022}} ambiguity with this unique systemized method is on the urinary bladder meridian, where the outer line of 14 points found on the back near the spine are inserted in one of two ways; following the last point of the inner line along the spine ({{lang|zh|會陽}}) and resuming with the point found in the crease of the buttocks ({{lang|zh|承扶}}), or following the point in the center of the crease of the knee ({{lang|zh|委中}}) and resuming with the point just below that ({{lang|zh|合陽}}), found in the bifurcation of the gastrocnemius muscle. Although classification of the extra points often tries to utilize a similar shortcut method, where a numbered sequence along an assigned body part is used, there is no commonly agreed-upon system and therefore universal identification of these points relies on the original naming system of traditional Chinese characters.

The tables in this article follow the WHO numbering scheme to identify the acupuncture points of the main channels. For extra points the tables follow the numbering scheme found in A Manual of Acupuncture.

Abbreviated as LU, named {{zh |labels=no |s=手太阴肺经穴|t=手太陰肺經}} "The Lung channel of Hand, Greater Yin". This refers to the meridian starting in the arm, the lung's association with yin, and that it is considered more easy to find.

Abbreviated as LI or CO (colon), named {{zh |labels=no |s=手阳明大肠经穴|t=手陽明大腸經}} "The Large Intestine channel of Hand, Yang Bright".

Abbreviated as ST, named {{zh |labels=no |s=足阳明胃经穴|t=足陽明胃經}} "The Stomach channel of Foot, Yang Bright".

Abbreviated as SP, named {{zh |labels=no |s=足太阴睥经穴|t=足太陰脾經}} "The Spleen channel of Foot, Greater Yin".

Abbreviated as HE, HT or H, named {{zh |labels=no |s=手少阴心经穴|t=手少陰心經}} "The Heart channel of Hand, Lesser Yin".

Abbreviated as SI, named {{zh |labels=no |s=手太阳小肠经穴|t=手太陽小腸經}} "The Small Intestine channel of Hand, Greater Yang".

Abbreviated as BL or UB (urinary bladder), described in Chinese as {{zh |labels=no |s=足太阳膀胱经穴|t=足太陽膀胱經}} "The Bladder channel of Foot, Greater Yang".

An alternative numbering scheme for the "appended part" (beginning with Bl-41 in the list below), which places the outer line along the spine after Bl-35 ({{lang|zh|會陽}}) instead of Bl-40 ({{lang|zh|委中}}), will be noted in the Alternative names column.

Abbreviated as KI or K, described in Chinese as {{lang|zh-hans|足少阴肾经穴}} or {{lang|zh-hant|足少陰腎經}} "The Kidney channel of Foot, Lesser Yin".

Abbreviated as PC or P, named {{zh |labels=no |s=手厥阴心包经穴|t=手厥陰心包經}} "The Pericardium channel of Hand, Faint Yin".

Also known as San Jiao, triple-heater, triple-warmer or triple-energizer, abbreviated as TB or SJ or TE and named {{zh |labels=no |s=手少阳三焦经穴|t=手少陽三焦經}} "The Sanjiao channel of Hand, Lesser Yang".

Abbreviated as GB, this meridian is named {{zh|labels=no |s=足少阳胆经穴 |t=足少陽膽經}} "The Gallbladder channel of Foot, Lesser Yang".

Abbreviated as LR or LV, named {{zh|labels=no |s=足厥阴肝经穴|t=足厥陰肝經}} "The Liver channel of Foot, Faint Yin".

Also known as Du, abbreviated as GV and named {{zh|labels=no |s=督脉穴|t=督脈}} "The Governing Vessel".

Also known as Ren, Directing Vessel, abbreviated as CV and named {{zh|labels=no |s=任脉穴|t=任脈}} "The Conception Vessel".

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Acupuncture points