Just my point: DU 16

Peter Firebrace

BAcC Fellow: Denmark

A detail from the Map of Cultivating Authenticity, where the red circle at the back of the head represents the Jade Pillow Pass, the area of the occiput

From refreshing breeze to violent storm, from the spearhead of disease to spirit’s formless form, wind, feng 風, is full of power, dangerous and destructive as a typhoon (tai feng 太 風) or full of healing to blow away the old, the stuck and the stale to restore harmony, order and health. We see all of these in DU 16 Storehouse of the Wind, feng fu 風 付.

In its unique location in between the attachments of the trapezius muscles at the nape of the neck, like a sheltered cave on Skull Mountain, here is a place to catch the wind, a place of defence against the turbulence of sudden, violent disorder and a place of entry into the head to calm, to clear and to nourish the brain.

This area at the back of the head is known in the Daoist internal alchemy tradition as Jade Pillow Pass, yu zhen guan 玉 枕 關, the upper pass of three, the lower being at the sacrum and the middle pass on the spine at the level of the heart. Though not so well-known as the three dan tian 丹 田, cinnabar fields, on the front of the body – in the lower abdomen, the middle of the chest and between the eyes – they are of equivalent importance in the energetics of the body and are all stages in the regenerative circling of the Microcosmic Orbit up the du mai and down the ren mai. Having risen up the spine from its base at the sacrum the powerful yang reaches the area of the Jade Pillow Pass, where it must deeply penetrate and regenerate the brain, the Sea of Marrow.

The illustration shows a detail from the Xiuzhentu 修 真 圖Map of Cultivating Authenticity, where the red circle at the back of the head represents the Jade Pillow Pass, the area of the occiput. Within it an ox pulls a cart, the so-called river cart he che 河 車, drawing up water from below to irrigate the brain. The text describes the nature of the Jade Pillow Pass, calling it the Palace of Yang and emphasising that this area is often blocked and hard to cross, like an impregnable fortress tie bi 鐵 壁, hence the need for the strength, endurance and concentrated power of the ox to make the transition.

In total there are six feng 風wind points on the body and all are on yang meridians. SI 12 Grasping the Wind, bing feng 秉 風 is primarily for the pains of localised wind bi 痺in the area of the shoulders. Bl 12 Wind Gate, feng men 風 門defends against external wind attacking the lungs in the upper back area. TH 17 Wind Screen, yi feng 翳 風 disperses wind heat and protects the ears and sides of the face. GB 31 Wind Market, feng shi 風 市on the thighs disperses internal wind and cold to restore feeling and movement to the legs in paralysis. GB 20 Wind Pool, feng chi 風 池flanks DU 16 at the occiput, dispersing both interior and exterior wind and is particularly useful for headaches and eye disorders.

DU 16 Storehouse of the Wind, feng fu 風 付is in the yang area of the head on the Sea of Yang that is the du mai, where it meets with the yang wei mai that connects all the yang, and according to some texts also meets with the yang qiao mai that links the top and bottom of the body. This makes its effect deeper and more global than the other wind points. Of all the wind points, it is in many ways the deepest acting, encompassing not only the pathology of both external and internal wind, but also the most extreme aspects of internal liver wind with its sudden onset, unpredictability and extreme turmoil – from the immobility of stroke on the one hand to the wild psychosis of visual and auditory hallucinations and states of mind that are both terrifying and profoundly debilitating, from uncontrollable rage to depression, fearfulness and suicidal thoughts. Hence its place as one of Sun Simiao’s thirteen gui 鬼ghost or demon points, under the name gui zhen 鬼 枕, Demons in the Pillow. No wonder they’re afraid to go to sleep!

I have used this point to good effect in disturbed individuals who don’t feel themselves. The classics say it brings one back to oneself and clears the brain. In such cases I will combine it with BL 62 Extended Meridian, shen mai, another ghost/demon point, particularly if they have sleeping problems, and restore the heart/kidney link with such points as HT 5 Free Connection to the Inner, tong li and KID 6 Shining Sea, zhao hai. Du 16 seems to induce a state of calm in those