Conception Vessel 6 Ren-6 Qihai: ‘Sea of Qi’

Conception Vessel 6 (Ren 6, CV 6, Qi Hai) is one of the most important acupuncture points in the body.

It’s the sixth point along the Conception Vessel acupuncture channel, and can harness the dormant energy of your body, so greatly enhancing its capability. 

By ‘Sea of Qi’ is meant Sea of Energy. (But Qi is a rather bigger concept than our word ‘energy’. Click this link for Qi to find out more.)

Locating Ren-6

1.5 cun inferior to the centre of the umbilicus.

Given that the distance between the superior part of the pubic bone and the umbilicus is a distance of 5 cun, working out the distance of 1.5cun can be a problem, because 1.5 cun is less than one-third of 5 cun!

There are various ways to do it.

Method 1 for Qi Hai

Because 1.5 is half 3, and 5 is half 10, you could just as easily say the point is 3 tenths of the way down from the umbilicus to the pubic bone. In that case, measure the distance off in lots of 2 tenths and then divide the distance between the second and fourth tenths by two and there’s the point. However, this is really the same, because you have to divide the distance by 10 instead of 5. Some people like this however as they have the minds of accountants and it makes it more precise for them. I used to be an accountant but I don’t do it that way.

Method 2 for Qi Hai

There is fairly general agreement that the width of the middle and index fingers (of the patient) when held together is 1.5 cun. The distance is measured at the level of what is called the proximal inter-phalangeal joint. This is the first joint as you proceed from the knuckle towards the finger-tip.

Most people can bend this joint through at least 90 degrees – a right angle, unlike the second inter-phalangeal joint which lacks such flexibility. So you get the patient to place his index and middle fingers together on his abdomen inferior to the umbilicus. If the medial side of the index finger is level with the centre of the umbilicus, the lateral side of the middle finger should mark the location of Qihai. I say ‘should’! But bodies don’t necessarily conform with specifications! 

Method 3 for Qi Hai

Method 2 is fine if the patient doesn’t mind doing it and has fingers. Not all patients have fingers, though most start with them – but not all. So if methods one and two don’t suit you, you need a back-up. My system depends on rough approximation, like an engineer – I studied engineering at university and approximations suit me. (Don’t scoff at approximations: even when they send rockets to Mars, engineers still use approximations, although admittedly their tolerances are finer than you’ll be using with this, method 3.)

So what is method 3?

Divide the distance between umbilicus and pubic bone by 2. Now divide the upper half (which is 2.5 cun) by 2, and you arrive at 1.25cun down the distance from umbilicus to pubis. There really isn’t much difference between 1.25 and 1.5, so go a smidgeon further down. Then be brave, feel for the point and insert the needle.

Method 4 for Qi Hai

There is another way! One third of 5 is just under 1.7 cun. So you could just divide the distance by 3 and then go up a smidgeon, instead of down a smidgeon.

Method 5 for Qi Hai

Of course you can get clever measuring devices or you can use an elastic band marked off into 5 divisions, and lots of people do this. For me, method 3 usually finds the point.

Needling CV 6 acupuncture point

Needle sensation of Ren 6

Up to the umbilicus, down to the urethra, and across to wherever Qi is stagnant or deficient in the abdomen.

NB! Some people have low energy and even if your point location has been precise and your depth and direction of insertion exact, it may take a while to ‘awake’ the point.

Also, it helps it they have food in their belly!

Acupuncture needs qi to work, and if there’s no food, qi runs low. If that’s the case you could add yang qi with moxa first, probably best done at Stomach 42 and/or Kidney 7. But if the patient is fasting or starving, this still won’t work as well as you’d like.

Sometimes using other points brings it to the surface, like Tsusanli, Stomach 36 or Taiyuan, Lung 9 – but in someone who is very weak you may be rightly cautious of using too many points at the same time. If one of the reasons you are using this point is Yang deficiency, then moxa (see below) may awaken it; once it is awake you can rouse it further with your acupuncture needle.

In young and/or healthy people with abundant Qi, the point can respond very quickly and you may find that the needle really does not need to penetrate far to get a reaction. Compare that with older or weaker patients for whom you may initially feel as if the tip of the needle is inside an empty cave!

Regarding those young healthy people, if their energy responds so fast, you probably don’t need to use this point! It could be that you should get other energies in balance, and ease out any Qi stagnation first. When everything else is flowing smoothly, they’ll have plenty of energy.

Moxa on CV 6

When you need to strengthen Yang, Conception Vessel 6 is an excellent place to moxa. In case of collapse of Yang, use on a slice of ginger for added effect.