GB-42 (Di Wu Hui) Earth Fivefold Convergence

What does GB-42 Di Wu Hui do?

GB-42 spreads Liver qi and clears Gall Bladder heat — a foot point whose actions reach the Liver-and-Gall-Bladder sphere, including the breast.

• Spreads Liver qi — moving constrained, stuck Liver qi; the pattern behind distending, pre-menstrual breast pain and irritable tension
• Clears Gall Bladder heat — addressing heat rising along the channel to the ear and the eye

The Liver–Gall-Bladder pairing surfaces on the foot. The Gall Bladder and Liver are an interiorly-exteriorly paired channel, and GB-42’s actions cross into the Liver’s domain — spreading Liver qi is normally a Liver-channel action, and its appearance here reflects that pairing. The distending breast pain among its indications is the classic sign of constrained Liver qi (the Liver channel passing the breast region), which this point moves.

On the name. “Di Wu Hui” means Earth Fivefold Convergence or Earth Fivefold Meeting — di earth, wu five, hui to meet or converge. The earth marks it as a point of the foot (the earth underfoot), and the “fivefold convergence” is variously read as a meeting of five, its sense not fully settled; our record does not fix it.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action and translation records; the neighbouring Gall Bladder foot points queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is GB-42 Di Wu Hui used for?

GB-42 is used for pain at the outer corner of the eye, tinnitus, distending breast pain, and swelling and pain of the top of the foot. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Pain of the canthus (corner of the eye)
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Distending pain of the breast
• Swelling and pain of the dorsum (top) of the foot

The channel’s two ends, plus the Liver sign. The eye-corner and ear entries are the Gall Bladder channel’s head end (it starts at the outer canthus and serves the ear); the foot swelling is local, the point on the top of the foot; and distending breast pain is the spread-Liver-qi action — the one indication that reaches beyond the channel’s own line, and the point’s most distinctive.

An honest note. Any new breast lump, skin change, or nipple change requires medical assessment to exclude cancer; cyclical breast distension is common and usually benign, but a persistent or one-sided change should be seen. New or one-sided tinnitus warrants assessment. Eye pain requires assessment if severe or with vision change. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With LIV-03 Tai Chong, the Liver’s Yuan-Source point, for spreading Liver qi and for breast distension; with GB-41 Zu Lin Qi alongside on the foot; with GB-43 Xia Xi for the ear and eye. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the GB-41, GB-43 and LIV-03 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is GB-42 Di Wu Hui located?

GB-42 is on the top of the foot, in the gap between the fourth and fifth foot bones, just behind the knuckle of the fourth toe.

• Between the 4th and 5th metatarsal bones, in the space between them
• Posterior to (just behind) the 4th metatarsophalangeal joint — the knuckle at the base of the fourth toe
• On the medial (inner) side of the tendon of extensor digiti minimi (the tendon to the little toe)

Placed by the metatarsal gap and the toe tendon. The space between the 4th and 5th foot bones, just behind the fourth toe’s knuckle, holds GB-42, tucked against the inner edge of the little-toe extensor tendon (which stands up when the toes are lifted). Its neighbour GB-41 Zu Lin Qi lies a little further back in the same interbone space, and GB-43 Xia Xi further forward in the web.

On the name. “Di Wu Hui” — Earth Fivefold Convergence, an “earth” point of the foot, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the GB-41 and GB-43 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 462): Between the 4th and 5th metatarsal bones, in the depression proximal to the metatarsal heads, on the medial side of the tendon of m. extensor digitorum longus (branch to little toe).
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 221): Posterior to the fourth metatarsophalangeal joint, between the fourth and fifth metatarsal bones, on the medial side of the tendon of m. extensor digiti minimi of foot.

How is GB-42 Di Wu Hui needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch, and lists no moxibustion. 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: perpendicular, 0.3–0.5 inch, into the interbone space.
• Moxibustion: not listed in our record. This is worth noting: GB-42 is one of the points the classical texts traditionally caution against moxibustion (some old sources warn that moxa here “causes emaciation”), and our record’s omission of moxa is consistent with that tradition. We record the omission as our data holds it.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies between the 4th and 5th metatarsals; the dorsal digital nerves and small dorsal vessels run in the interval; the metatarsal bones form the walls.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a low-hazard point: no body cavity, no major vessel, no organ, bones flanking the needle. Our record carries no arterial caution at GB-42, and it is not among the nine points that do.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at GB-42 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming GB-42 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged including the absence of moxa; the nine arterial cautions queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description; the classical moxa caution from the traditional point literature.

Is there research on GB-42, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates GB-42. Where the point appears it is one component of a protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. GB-42 Di Wu Hui (“Earth Fivefold Convergence”) is a Gall Bladder foot point that spreads Liver qi and clears Gall Bladder heat — the Liver-qi action, reflecting the Liver–Gall-Bladder pairing, giving it the distinctive indication of distending breast pain. It sits between the 4th and 5th foot bones. Notably, our record lists no moxibustion, consistent with the classical caution against moxa at this point.

A note on searching for it. “GB 42”, “G 42” and “Diwuhui” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material. 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 neighbouring Gall Bladder foot points queried, against our own data).