BL-16 (Du Shu) Governing Shu

What does BL-16 Du Shu do?

BL-16 regulates qi in the chest and abdomen — a point on the upper back’s inner Bladder line, related by name to the Governing vessel.

• Regulates qi in the chest and abdomen — the whole of the recorded action, easing qi stagnation and rebellion in the trunk (heart pain, epigastric pain, distension)

Its name and its line. BL-16 sits on the inner Bladder line (1.5 cun from the midline), the line that carries the organ Back-Shu points — the points where each organ’s qi is transported to the back. Most points on this line are an organ’s Back-Shu (BL-15 Xin Shu is the Heart’s, BL-18 Gan Shu the Liver’s, and so on). BL-16 is named Du Shu, the “Governing Shu” — the transport point relating to the Governing (Du) vessel rather than to one of the five organs; it lies beside DU-10 Ling Tai on the midline (the Governing vessel), which is the reference for its name and level.

A note on our data. Our records store the standard organ Back-Shu identities only implicitly (by position and text), not as a category field — a gap we have flagged. BL-16’s “Governing Shu” role is carried in its name and confirmed by its position beside DU-10; we present it as the name and position support, without over-claiming a formal classification our data does not hold.

On the name. “Du Shu” means Governing Shu — du the Governing (Du) vessel, shu a transport/shu point. The transport point of the Governing vessel on the back.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the DU-10 and the inner Bladder-line Back-Shu points queried against our own data; the absent Back-Shu category flagged), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is BL-16 Du Shu used for?

BL-16 is used for heart pain, epigastric (upper abdominal) pain, abdominal distension and rumbling, chills and fever, breast abscess, and skin conditions including itching, psoriasis and hair loss. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Heart pain
• Epigastric pain, abdominal distension and borborygmus (rumbling)
• Chills and fever
• Breast abscess
• Itching, psoriasis, and alopecia (hair loss)

Chest-and-abdomen qi, plus some skin. The heart pain, epigastric pain, distension and rumbling are the chest-and-abdomen qi action reaching the trunk from the back; the chills and fever are an exterior-releasing use of an upper-back point; and the skin entries (itching, psoriasis, hair loss) are a broader empirical use.

An honest and important note. “Heart pain” must be taken seriously — chest pain requires medical assessment to exclude cardiac causes, and pain with breathlessness, sweating, or spread to the arm or jaw is a medical emergency. A breast abscess needs medical care (drainage and antibiotics). New or changing skin conditions warrant assessment. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With the neighbouring Back-Shu points — BL-15 Xin Shu (Heart) and BL-17 Ge Shu (the diaphragm, influential point of blood) — and with BL-13 Fei Shu for the upper back. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the BL-13, BL-15 and BL-17 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is BL-16 Du Shu located?

BL-16 is on the upper back, a cun and a half out from the midline, level with the space below the sixth thoracic vertebra.

• 1.5 cun lateral to the midline — on the inner Bladder line
• Level with the lower border of the T6 spinous process, beside DU-10 Ling Tai on the midline

Counted down the spine, out to the inner line. The inner Bladder line runs 1.5 cun to each side of the spine; BL-16 sits on it at the T6 level, beside DU-10. The spinous processes are counted down from a fixed landmark (the T7 level is roughly the lower tip of the shoulder blade with the arms down), and the point is found 1.5 cun lateral there.

On the name. “Du Shu” — Governing Shu, beside the Governing vessel’s DU-10, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the DU-10 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 272): 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of the sixth thoracic vertebra (T6).
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 177): 1.5 cun lateral to Lingtai (DU-10), at the level of the lower border of the spinous process of the sixth thoracic vertebra.

How is BL-16 Du Shu needled, and why only obliquely?

Our own record states oblique insertion of 0.5–0.7 inch, with moxibustion applicable — the angled technique the upper back requires. What follows is a neutral record of what the reference literature documents. It is not instruction, and this page does not teach technique.

• Angle and depth as recorded: oblique, 0.5–0.7 inch — angled toward the spine, not driven straight down.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies over the muscles of the upper back beside the T6 spine; the pleura and the lung lie deep to the ribs here.

Hazard, stated plainly — the reason for the oblique needling. The serious risk at any point on the upper back over the ribs is pneumothorax — a deep or perpendicular needle passing between the ribs into the lung. The recorded oblique technique, angled toward the spine and the transverse process, exists to keep the needle away from the pleura. Our record carries no arterial caution at BL-16, and it is not among the nine points that do — the governing hazard is the lung. A practitioner’s point, not one for self-treatment.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at BL-16 could be located, and none is borrowed; the oblique-needling rule stands in its place. No case report naming BL-16 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged including the oblique angle; the nine arterial cautions queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on BL-16, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates BL-16. Where the point appears it is one component of a back-shu protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. BL-16 Du Shu (“Governing Shu”) is a point on the inner Bladder (Back-Shu) line at the T6 level, named for its relation to the Governing (Du) vessel (it lies beside DU-10). Its recorded action is to regulate qi in the chest and abdomen, with indications spanning heart and epigastric pain, distension, and some skin conditions. Because the pleura lies beneath the upper back, it is needled obliquely to avoid pneumothorax.

A safety note. “Heart pain” and a breast abscess are matters for medical care, and this point sits over the lung; both make BL-16 a practitioner’s point.

A note on searching for it. “BL 16”, “UB 16”, “B 16” and “Dushu” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — this channel is coded BL, UB (Urinary Bladder) and V (vessie) across the literature. Our library uses BL-. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication and location records; the DU-10 and the inner Bladder-line points queried, against our own data).