What Yanglingquan does
Yanglingquan 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
- Resolves Liver Qi Stagnation
- Resolves Damp-Heat in the Liver and Gall Bladder
- Benefits the sinews
- Removes Obstructions from the Channel
Location
The written location is summarised from the classical record; use the landmark named there together with the diagram.
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. Bend the knee first, which separates the structures at the outer edge of the joint. Place the index and middle fingers on the head of the fibula as though holding it with a pair of tweezers, then slide both fingers down the shaft of the bone. The point is the hollow that opens just below and in front of the head, where the fingertips dip as they pass the bone. Pressing there is usually distinctly sore, and the tenderness is a useful confirmation that the hollow found is the right one.
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: 90 degrees, perpendicular Depth: Standard depth one to one and a half cun. Direction: Needle in the direction the location describes.
Moxibustion
The reference gives ten to twenty minutes of moxibustion at this point. Warmth suits the cold and deficient end of the picture, such as a knee that aches and stiffens in cold weather, while the damp-heat presentation that calls for the point with Riyue GB-24 is handled with the needle rather than with moxa.
Bleeding
Bloodletting is recorded as questionable at Yanglingquan, so it does not belong to the standard approach described for the point. The common peroneal nerve passes close by and the head of the fibula lies just under the skin, both of which argue for care with any technique that breaks the surface.
Skin uses
Yanglingquan is the He-sea point of the Gallbladder and the Hui-gathering point of the sinews, recorded to resolve Liver Qi stagnation, clear Damp-Heat from the Liver and Gallbladder and benefit the sinews. Its skin relevance is indirect and pattern-based: Damp-Heat is one traditional explanation for a red, weepy surface picture, and resolving stagnation is the recorded action that supports considering the point where that pattern is central. The classical record concerns the Gallbladder, rib-side fullness and sinew problems, not the skin. Because no skin-specific classical indication is recorded for the point, the connection above is 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 |
|---|---|
| Five phase | Earth-Tu |
| Transporting type | Sea-He Point |
| Mother-child role | Child (Reducing) |
| Classical groups | Ma Dan Yang Heavenly Star |
Classical record
The Hui-Gathering point of the Sinews is at Yanglingquan.
Classical citation for this point.
Gallbladder distension with pain and fullness below the ribs, bitter taste and frequent sighing: Yanglingquan treats this. Fullness below the ribs with vomiting and counterflow: Yanglingquan treats this.
Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), the compilation that fixes the indications of the point for later practice.
The Yang Mound lies beneath the knee, on the outer calf, one inch in. For a swollen knee with numbness and rheumatic pain from cold, a needle of six fen halts it: something magical, mysterious and peerless.
Ma Dan Yang's Heavenly Star Poem, the verse that gave the point one of its best known epithets. Six fen is a shallow insertion for a point usually needled deeper, so the line is a mnemonic rather than a fixed dosage.
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: contraindicated or restricted in pregnancy; a nerve runs in the deeper layer; avoid overstimulation. Needle with care, adjust depth to the patient's build, and modify or avoid the point where a flag applies. Several practical cautions belong with this point. Some classical sources advise care after the second month of pregnancy. When the through-needling method towards Yinlingquan SP-9 is used, the shaft should pass behind the tibia so that it does not scrape the periosteum. Strong stimulation can leave the leg briefly weak. The common peroneal nerve lies in this region, so angle and depth are kept inside the ranges given above, and any sharp electric sensation means the needle is drawn back a little.
Deficiency and constitution
In a depleted patient the point is worked gently and briefly. Where the patient is depleted the response is built with a tonifying method and a shorter retention, or with moxa, rather than with the vigorous reducing technique used when qi is simply stuck.
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 Yanglingquan do in skin practice?
It is used where the skin picture includes the conditions it is used with, always as part of a combination chosen for the pattern.
Is it safe?
Some classical texts advise caution after the second month of pregnancy. When using the through-needling technique toward SP-9 (Yinlingquan), ensure the needle passes posterior to the tibia to avoid periosteal contact. Strong stimulation may cause temporary leg weakness. The common peroneal nerve passes near this region, so proper angle and depth should be maintained.
What does the meeting point of the sinews mean?
Nan Jing chapter 45 gives that title to Yanglingquan GB-34, which places it among the eight influential points of the classical system. In that scheme the sinews of the whole body gather here, so the point is chosen for contracture and stiffness wherever they appear, and not only in the leg. It is the reason the page lists stiff neck, stiff shoulder and elbow pain beside knee problems.
Can it be used during pregnancy?
The reference notes that some classical texts advise caution after the second month of pregnancy, so the point is used sparingly or left out during that period. Where it is needed, depth and stimulation are kept modest and it is weighed against the rest of the prescription. Nothing on this page substitutes for that judgement by the practitioner.