Let’s dig in to the etymology and symbolism of the acupoint Zhigou (Sanjiao-6), with the goal of deepening our understanding of the point.

At the end of this exercise, I’ll offer a few different translations of the point name that might help illuminate Zhigou’s location, its function, the physiology and pathology associated with it, and the “field” of meaning it resides within.

First, let’s refresh with some of the point’s basic characteristics:

Point Category
Sanjiao-6, the Jing-River & Fire point of the Sanjiao channel

Location
3 cun proximal to Yangchi (Sanjiao-4), in the depression between the radius and the ulna, on the radial side of the extensor digitorum communis muscle

Indications
Zhigou is the most versatile point on the Sanjiao channel for moving Qi and clearing heat throughout the body. The Fire point of a Fire channel, it is indicated for heat in the head, manifesting as redness, pain, and swelling of the eyes; tinnitus and deafness; lockjaw; and pain and swelling of the throat. As a Jing-river point, it treats sudden loss of voice.

In the Upper Jiao, Zhigou resolves stagnant Qi in the chest giving rise to cough and chest oppression and pain. In the Middle Jiao, it is an essential point for treating rib-side disharmony, and also treats sudden turmoil and abdominal distention. In the Lower Jiao, Zhigou serves as a major point for moving the Qi of the Intestines, treating constipation due to any etiology. It also relieves blockage of the Renmai.

Lastly, Zhigou is indicated for various channel disorders affecting the upper limb, axilla, shoulder, and back, as well as tremors and numbness of the hand.

***

An Exploration of Etymology & Symbolism

三焦 Sanjiao is the Fire-Water organ network. 三 San means “three,” which naturally evokes the three-fold nature of both the macrocosm (Heaven, Earth, Human) and the human (Jing, Qi, Shen). San also connotes water: consider the three droplets 氵used for the water radical or the three vertical lines in 川 chuan “river.” Meanwhile, 焦 Jiao features a bird (symbolizing Yang) over the character for fire. The Sanjiao is a Fire meridian in a Water state, in that it flows without flaring. Ministerial Fire should be Wuwei—in a state of non-doing, where somehow everything still gets done.

According to Heiner Fruehauf, the Sanjiao resonates with the tenth month of the year, the first month of Winter, and the most Yin of hexagrams (Kun ䷁). Its resonant animal is the pig, whose power comes from its capacity for storage, existing outside of the pressures of time, lounging about in the muck, doing nothing and yet growing robust and exhibiting tremendous power and sexual virility. With the Sanjiao, no effort is required, for one is entirely in the flow, carried along naturally by the movements of the universe.

Suwen 8 says: 三焦者, 決瀆之官, 水道出焉 “The Sanjiao is the dredger of the waterways; out of it comes the Dao of Water.” Mythological figures associated with this role include Gun, father of Yu the Great, both of whom sought to stem the flooding of the Yellow River (only Yu succeeded, by digging ditches); and Nuwa, who plugged a hole in the sky to bring an end to torrential rains.

In the body, the Sanjiao governs the smooth flow of our various coursing pathways throughout the three Jiao—which we can generally think of as the membrane-delineated cavities of the chest cavity, the peritoneal abdominal cavity, and the retroperitoneal cavity—and beyond, into the limbs and the neck and head. It regulates our inner “rivers” of Qi, blood, lymph, and water.

The Sanjiao also ensures harmonious, rhythmic flow between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (recall that the Sanjiao emerges from between the kidneys, the Mingmen, an area brimming with neural activity). The channel disperses in the chest, a domain of the ventral vagus nerve, which is responsible for establishing a safe and supportive relationship with others and our environment.

支溝 Zhigou is an essential point for stimulating proper Sanjiao flow. Its function is revealed in its name, so let’s examine these characters. 支 Zhi originally depicted an arm holding a tree limb, and thus meant “branch.” By extension, the character means “arm, offshoot” and “to support, bear, sustain, raise, protrude.” Zhi is found in 地支 Dizhi “the earthly branches.” The early dictionary Shuowen jiezi defined Zhi as 去竹之枝也 “to remove a branch of bamboo.”

Zhi can also mean “to pay,” “to disburse,” and “to send away.” These meanings suggest an extending of the arm. In a negative sense, this is giving someone “the stiff arm,” keeping others “at arm’s length,” maintaining distance, aloofness. In a positive sense, this might reflect the Sanjiao’s partnership with the Xinbao (Heart Protector) in protecting the emperor (the Heart) from excess heat and from the advance of threatening pathogens.

A branch is an isolated part of a larger organism, a “deviation” or protrusion from the trunk. This corresponds with the Sanjiao’s role as the “loner” organ network. It existed alone for centuries before the Xinbao was introduced as its Zangfu partner. The Sanjiao is the solitary creatrix; the recluse, shaman, or witch; the one who is so fully “dialed in” to the cosmos that she, despite her solitude, never feels alone. She is in instant connection with all things, inextricably and immediately fused with the macrocosm.

溝 Gou, the point’s second character, is “a ravine, trench, ditch, narrow waterway, groove, rut.” It suggests drainage and flow. Stripped of the water radical, the character 冓 Gou means “trellis, framework” and “to interweave, join.” This calls to mind the intricate framework of the fascia, the thin, moist membranes that inter-connect the body’s many parts and conduct its substances to and fro. It also calls to mind the Sanjiao’s resonant river, the Luo, the river that “inter-webs.” Indeed, the character 冓 itself resembles the trellised pattern of trenches one might have found on Chinese farms two thousand years ago.

Shuowen jiezi refers to 溝 Gou as 水瀆廣四尺深四尺 “a water ditch four Chi wide and four Chi deep.” Gou can refer to a ditch for irrigation purposes or for waste. It should be noted that Jing-river points (like this one) were originally known as 渠 Qu or Ju (“ditch”) points; Gou is a type of Qu.

Brought together, Zhigou refers to the branching and flowing function of the Sanjiao. Zhigou thus points to the membranous system that inter-links the body. When working smoothly, this system assures proper fluid dynamics; hormonal regulation; immune functioning; and neural connectivity.

Zhi and Gou are both antonymous and synonymous with one another. On the one hand, Zhi can represent isolation (a branch being snapped off a tree), while Gou is an image of connectivity. On the other hand, they can both refer to small channels, to branching waterways or grooves that connect to larger bodies. Just as the terms both oppose one another and merge into a single meaning, the Sanjiao type simultaneously stands in opposition to the universe, as a solitary shaman, emerging as a distinct droplet out of the vast ocean, and yet that very same person resides in complete connection with the flow of all things.

***

The etymology of the characters and the symbolism of the organ network combine to produce the following themes:

(1) Proper circulation of the body’s waterways, including the lymphatics—the ditches into which the body guides its waste. Disruption of this function can result in pain and swelling all along the channel and throughout the three Jiao, especially in such Shaoyang regions as the neck, shoulders, and rib-side.

(2) The capacity to communicate, to branch out, to be able to organize intricate patterns of connectivity and information-sharing. Those who are rigid, who cannot smoothly makes new links, who have difficulty letting things go (“anal-retentive”) could use some of Zhigou’s influence. (Recall Zhigou’s ability to treat constipation by re-establishing proper flow in the Intestines.) These types might keep others at arm’s length (支), and have difficulty feeling part of a group, feeling connected to something larger than themselves. They are in a rut (溝), and are unwilling to climb out of their own muck (perhaps wallowing like the pig) because, after all, it is familiar and any alternatives are new and frightening.

(3) The capacity to guide Yangqi into storage. The Shaoyang works as a hinge or pivot; correspondingly, the Sanjiao not only spreads Yangqi outwardly, but it must also allow for the flow of Yangqi inwardly, using the body’s intricate pathways to return Yang to the source, just as the trellised ditches eventually return to the streams, rivers, ultimately, the great ocean. We can thus consider using this point in cases where Yang is is erratically flaring at the surface, leaving the “battery” between the kidneys empty. An example of this is the Lyme patient presenting with nervous tics, tremors, electrical sensations, hypervigilance, and insomnia. Similarly, in Running Piglet Syndrome, the pig that should be in a state of Wuwei has become constrained by time: the body feels pressure and urgency, as if it cannot let its guard down. Yangqi must be led back into storage, into timelessness; Zhigou can assist in this process.

***

With the above context in mind, here are a few attempts at translating Zhigou:

Location translation of Zhigou: “Arm Trench.” Zhigou is located in a valley between the radial and ulnar bones, and between the radial bone and extensor digitorum communis muscle.

Function translation: “Coursing & Draining Fire.” This is a Qu/Gou/Jing-river and Fire point to make Ministerial Fire flow like water in cases of stagnation or upward-flaring.

Physiology translation: “Branching & Flowing, Solitary Yet Connected.” Outwardly, one is completely interconnected with the cosmos; inwardly, there is smooth flow within the body’s intricate communication networks. One is “in the 溝 groove”—unperturbed by the loneliness of humanhood.

Pathology translation: “Stuck in the Gutter, Alienated and Inflamed.” When the Sanjiao is diseased, the person keeps the world at arm’s length and has difficulty 支 branching out and transforming habitual patterns; she gets stuck in 溝 ruts and feels depressed. Her lymphatics are “gunked up,” causing pain in the rib-side, shoulder, and neck. Her digestion is stagnant, resulting in constipation. And her nervous system is on edge, flaring at the surface.

Final translation: “The Witch & the Ditch.” 支 Zhi represents the one who protrudes out from the oceanic body, who embraces aloneness, the witch on the edge of town. 溝 Gou stands for the fluidic network that interweaves the various systems of the human body. The Sanjiao is most potent when the experience of solitariness and the experience of complete immersion are non-dual, when the flow between self and selflessness is seamless.