Quchi 曲池

🖼See it in pictures

Rendered straight from the 3D model at the computed location. The glowing ring marks Quchi.

1Where is Quchi?

Outer side of the elbow, halfway between LU5 (Chize) and the humerus's lateral epicondyle.

With the elbow bent as far as it goes, it roughly matches the hollow at the outer end of the elbow crease.

2How do I find it on my body?

1. Find the firm biceps tendon in the middle of the elbow crease. The hollow on its thumb side is LU5.
2. Find the bony bump on the outer elbow, the humerus's lateral epicondyle.
3. Press halfway between the two.

3The classical posture

1. Sit, bend your elbows and hold your hands together in front of your chest (the classical "hands joined at the chest").
2. Follow the crease across the front of the elbow toward the thumb side and press the hollow at its end. With the elbow fully bent the point sits right at the end of the crease; with the elbow at about a right angle it lies just beyond it (WHO 2008; China GB/T 12346-2021).
3. Our 3D model keeps the arm straight, so the crease does not show; this bent-arm method lands at roughly the same spot as "How to find" above (halfway between LU5 and the lateral epicondyle).

4Before you press

5How has it been used traditionally?

• Classified as the He-sea (Earth) point of the channel; classical theory describes it as a point for dispelling 'wind'.
• The name joins qu (bend) and chi (pond): the spot that hollows out like a pond when the arm is bent.
• The Ming-dynasty Yixue Rumen (1575) gives the elbow-bent, hands-at-the-chest way of locating it.
• An alternative name is Guichen (鬼臣). Sun Simiao's Qianjin Yaofang lists it as the twelfth of the classical "13 ghost points".

From traditional texts — not a claim of effect.

6Classical text

Donguibogam (Heo Jun, 1613), Acupuncture and Moxibustion, "Quchi"

在肘外輔骨屈肘曲骨之中《銅人》
在肘外輔屈肘兩骨中文頭盡處以手拱胸取之《入門》
手陽明脈之所入爲合 …《靈樞》

1. ①By the "assisting bone" on the outer elbow; with the elbow bent, in the middle of the bend of the bones. Tongren Shuxue Zhenjiu Tujing
2. ②On the outer elbow, where the crease between the two bones runs out when the elbow is bent; take it with the hands joined at the chest. Yixue Rumen
3. ③Where the Hand Yangming channel enters, which makes it the He-sea point. Lingshu

• Source tags as given in the Donguibogam: Tongren = Tongren Shuxue Zhenjiu Tujing (1026), Rumen = Yixue Rumen (1575), Lingshu = the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic: Spiritual Pivot (the wording of line ③ is found in the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing, vol.
• 3, while Lingshu ch.
• 2 reads 'enters at Quchi … the He-sea point').
• The garbled glyph 狪 in the Wikisource text has been corrected to 肘 (elbow).
• "Assisting bone" (fugu) is an old name for the bone beside a joint.
• "…" marks the needling depth and moxa count, left out because they are for licensed practitioners.

Original text as written · translation is ours.

?FAQ

Positions computed from the WHO standard locations (2008) on Z-Anatomy (CC BY-SA 4.0) · BodyParts3D © DBCLS. For reference only — not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment. See a clinician if you are unwell.