Spleen 8 – Diji – Earth Motivator

Spleen 8 Diji

Xi-cleft point of the Spleen. As the Spleen is responsible for fluids like Blood and problems like Damp and Phlegm, Diji motivates the Spleen to work more effectively.

Location of Earth Motivator

On the medial surface of the leg, either 9 or 10 cun proximal to the medial malleolus (MM), posterior to the edge of the tibia.

(OK! – Nerdy people! How tiresome that the point could be in two positions, 9 or 10 cun proximal to the MM!!

Well, this is because authorities differ. If you look at illustrations in texts like the Shi si Jing Fa Hui (1341AD), Zhen Jiu Ju Ying (1529AD) and the Zhen Jiu Da Cheng (1601AD), you’ll see that the channels were not drawn terribly accurately.

Then you have centuries of acupuncture experience on top, plus slightly variable results meshing into the description of the actions of the point.

In any case, the correct point is the one that works and is to be found in that general area. I looked up the position suggested in ‘A Manual of Acupuncture’ and they put it 3 cun distal from Spleen 9. Also, they put Spleen 6  at 3 cun proximal to the MM, or a ‘handbreadth’. So presumably they would put Spleen 8 a handbreadth below Spleen 9. [Whose handbreadth? The patient’s, of course! Approximately.]

Advice? For exams, learn who is setting and marking you and where they put the point. If they still say you’re wrong and you’re feeling cocky, learn the names of the three texts mentioned above and give it to them with a straight eye and a firm jaw.)

Or, instead of messing about, divide the distance between the Liver 8 and the MM by three, and the point is approximately at the junction between the proximal and middle thirds, just behind the bone.

Alternative Name = Earth Pivot

Diji, Spleen 8, is also translated as Earth Pivot, but I’m less fond of this as it expresses less dynamism than Earth Motivator.

Needling

Usually vertically, not too deep, shallow if possible. Rarely, up to 1.5 cun.

Moxa

I don’t think I’ve ever used moxibustion on this point. Up to 5 cones, I suppose.

Actions

• Strongly moves fluids, mainly in lower abdomen
• Regulates the uterus by adjusting Blood, which makes Diji useful for dispersing abdominal masses
• Hence useful for uterine haemorrhage,  menorrhagia and dysmenorrhoea
• Analgesic point, especially for pain along the Spleen channel
• In male sterility, used to ‘firm up’ the sperm
• Nocturnal emissions
• Oedema, distension of abdomen and flanks
• Difficult urination
• In almost all inflammatory conditions, this point is painful to palpation
• Acute gastro-intestinal problems and pain

Dysmenorrhoea: with Ren 4 and/or Large Intestine 4.

Irregular menstruation: with Spleen 6, 10 and/or Kidney 13

Comments on Spleen 8

In at least one text Spleen 8 is regarded as being in charge of the lower jiao, just as Spleen 21 manages the upper region of the abdomen and Stomach 25 the middle part. Old texts looked on the lower part as being related to Earth, hence the point’s name: Earth Motivator.

On the farm where I grew up, we had a rotovator, a monstrous device that tore up the ground to nearly a foot deep, then thoroughly messed it up before hurling it backwards: total destruction of all the fungi strands making symbiotic relationships with plants. When my father moved towards what is now ‘organic’ farming, we used it much less. But it was highly dynamic, very effective and hence a kind of Earth Motivator.

For more on Earth, read 5 Element theory.

Click for other Spleen channel points.