What Wuyi does
Wuyi is treated here as a practical point rather than a curiosity: where it sits, how it is needled, what the tradition says it does, and the skin conditions in this database that name it.
Actions
- Descends Rebellious Qi and opens the chest
- Eases skin pain and itchiness
- Benefits the breasts
Location
Four cun measured from the landmark shown in the diagram and the location text, on the mammillary line, 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline.
How to find it
Find the bony landmark first, then feel for the hollow or tender spot the location describes. The point is usually sensitive when pressed.
Deqi
De qi at this point is felt as local distension, heaviness or aching, and may travel a short way along the channel.
A cun is a proportional body measurement, not a fixed length: one cun is about the width of the thumb at the knuckle, 1.5 cun about two finger widths, and 3 cun about the width of four fingers. On an average adult one cun is roughly one inch, but it scales with the person, which is why the texts measure in cun rather than centimetres.
Technique
Needling
Angle: 45 degrees, oblique Depth: Standard depth half a to one cun. Direction: Needle in the direction the location describes.
Moxibustion
Moxibustion is used where the pattern is cold or deficient, in short sessions.
Skin uses
Wuyi is a Stomach channel point on the chest, and its recorded actions are to descend rebellious Qi, open the chest, ease skin pain and itchiness, and benefit the breasts. This is the one point here whose own record names a skin action, which gives a more direct basis for an indirect reading: where chest or breast-area skin discomfort and itch are part of a Qi-stagnation picture, that recorded action is the traditional reasoning. Its classical record gives only its location, and no skin-specific classical indication is recorded. The link is therefore an indirect rationale, not trial evidence.
No skin-specific classical indication is recorded for this point. The rationale above is an indirect, traditional reading of the point, not a promise of benefit.
Point classifications
| Classification | Value |
|---|---|
| Channel | Meridian |
Classical record
Wuyi is located 1.6 cun below Kufang, in the depression.
Classical citation for this point.
Safety
Who should treat this point
Acupuncture and moxibustion are practitioner procedures. This page is educational and is not a guide to self-treatment.
Caution
Safety flags: the reference marks it as a dangerous point. Needle with care, adjust depth to the patient's build, and modify or avoid the point where a flag applies.
Deficiency and constitution
In a depleted patient the point is worked gently and briefly.
Before treatment
Educational reference only. Skin that is spreading, painful, blistering or accompanied by fever needs medical assessment.
Modern evidence and safety
General references for acupuncture safety and skin evidence. They are not specific to this point, and they are not a claim that needling it treats any condition.
- Acupuncture-related adverse events: systematic review and meta-analyses of prospective clinical studies. BMJ Open, 2021. PMID: 34489268.
- Acupuncture for atopic dermatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 2024. PMID: 39638592.
- Manual acupuncture for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Surgery, 2025. PMID: 40696933.
- Acupuncture in Dermatology: An Update to a Systematic Review. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2021. PMID: 32955916.
Evidence note
No controlled trial of this treatment in skin conditions was identified for this entry. What is described here rests on the classical and later materia medica record and on traditional clinical use, not on controlled trial evidence, and it is not a prediction of benefit. Where skin-specific research does exist it is linked above.
Common questions
What does Wuyi do in skin practice?
It is used where the skin picture includes coughing wheezing dyspnoea chest pain weak limbs limbs pain breast pain breast lumps body itching chest distension shortness of breath feeling of heaviness lateral costal region pain lateral costal region fullness coughing with blood-streaked sputum, always as part of a combination chosen for the pattern.
How is it needled?
45° (Oblique) / 10-15° (Transverse). Standard depth 0.3 - 0.8 cun. De qi: Local distension and soreness radiating along the intercostal space. Some patients may experience a sensation spreading toward the nipple or laterally toward the axilla.