C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart: Tongli

Acu-moxa point chart, showing the point, from Chuanwu lingji lu (Record of Sovereign Teachings), by Zhang Youheng, a treatise on acu-moxa in two volumes. This work survives only in a manuscript draft, completed in 1869 (8th year of the Tongzhi reign period of the Qing dynasty). It is illustrated with 84 charts, finely executed in colour.

The text states: The tongli (Penetrating the Interior) point is located on the palmar side of the forearm, 1 cun posterior to the crease of the wrist (1 cun [Chinese/proportional inch] = c. 3 cm), in the depression between the two tendons. It can be needled to a depth of 3 fen (1 fen [0.1 cun/Chinese proportional inch] = c. 0.3 cm), and moxibusted with three moxa cones. It is indicated for loss of voice; sore throat; feeling of suffocation and distress in the heart and chest; fright palpitation and fearful throbbing (jingji zhengzhong); heavy limbs; red, swollen face; yawning and somnolence; langour and reluctance to speak; suffocating feeling in the chest and shortness of breath; insufficiency detriment and lack of appetite, etc.

Caption: Tongli (Penetrating the Interior)