KI-02 (Ran Gu) Blazing Valley

What does KI-02 Ran Gu do?

KI-02 clears DEFICIENCY heat, regulates the Kidneys, and regulates the lower jiao — and it is the Ying-Spring and Fire point of the Kidney channel, whose name, Blazing Valley, matches that Fire element exactly.

• Clears deficiency heat — the specific action, and a telling one: see below
• Regulates the Kidneys
• Regulates the lower jiao

“Deficiency heat” is the Fire-point role on a Water channel, stated plainly. The Kidney stores the body’s yin, and when that yin is depleted an empty or deficiency heat arises — flushing, night sweats, a dry throat, restlessness. A Fire point on the Water channel is the classical place to clear exactly that kind of heat, because it addresses fire arising from a failure of water. So the element (Fire), the name (Blazing Valley), and the recorded action (clears deficiency heat) all say the same thing. That coherence is uncommon, and it is worth pointing to.

Its five-shu role: the controlling element, and therefore no named role. The Kidney is a yin Water channel, and KI-02 is its Fire point — and Water controls Fire, rather than generating or being generated by it. So KI-02 is none of tonification, sedation or horary. From our own element data, the full Kidney series is: KI-01 Yong Quan Wood (sedation, Water’s child), KI-02 Fire (controlling element, this point), KI-03 Tai Xi Earth (and the Yuan-Source point), KI-07 Fu Liu Metal (tonification, Metal generates Water), KI-10 Yin Gu Water (horary). Our ST-43 record sets out the same “controlling element, no named role” logic on another channel.

On the name. “Ran Gu” means Blazing Valley or Burning Valley — ran to burn or blaze, gu a valley or hollow. The valley is the depression the point sits in; the blazing is the Fire element. A name that carries the point’s five-shu element is rare, and here it is exact.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, element, action and translation records; the full Kidney five-shu series queried and KI-02 confirmed the Fire/controlling-element point, and the ST-43 record checked, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is KI-02 Ran Gu used for?

KI-02 is used for genital itching and uterine prolapse, irregular menstruation, nocturnal emission, coughing of blood, thirst, diarrhoea, swelling of the foot, and infantile umbilical infection. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Pruritus vulvae (itching of the genitals)
• Prolapse of the uterus
• Irregular menstruation
• Nocturnal emission
• Haemoptysis (coughing of blood)
• Thirst
• Diarrhoea
• Swelling and pain of the top of the foot
• Acute infantile omphalitis (infection of the navel)

Several of these are the deficiency-heat picture. Thirst, nocturnal emission and coughing of blood all belong to the empty-heat pattern the recorded action names — heat from depleted yin drying the fluids, disturbing the essence, and pressing on the blood. The gynaecological and foot entries are the channel’s and the local region’s.

An honest note, and two entries are urgent. COUGHING BLOOD REQUIRES PROMPT MEDICAL ASSESSMENT, ALWAYS — it is a sign of lung, airway or cardiac disease, some causes serious and treatable when found early. ACUTE OMPHALITIS — a red, swollen, discharging navel in a newborn — IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY: infection there can spread rapidly and dangerously in an infant and needs urgent care. This record documents classical use and must not delay either. New thirst that is persistent requires assessment — it can be an early sign of diabetes. Uterine prolapse, genital itching and any change in menstrual pattern require assessment.

How it is combined. With KI-01 Yong Quan at the sole and KI-03 Tai Xi at the inner ankle — the Kidney’s Yuan-Source point. With KI-06 Zhao Hai for yin deficiency and throat dryness, and SP-06 San Yin Jiao for the gynaecological indications. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the KI-01, KI-03, KI-06 and SP-06 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is KI-02 Ran Gu located?

KI-02 is on the inner side of the foot, below and in front of the inner ankle bone, in the hollow just below the bony bump of the navicular bone.

• On the medial side of the foot, distal and inferior to the inner ankle bone (medial malleolus)
• In the depression below the navicular tuberosity — a distinct bony prominence you can feel on the inner arch of the foot
• KI-01 lies on the sole; KI-03 Tai Xi behind the inner ankle bone

The navicular tuberosity is one of the best landmarks on the inner foot. It is a definite bony bump on the inner arch, easily found by running a finger forward from the inner ankle bone, and KI-02 sits in the hollow just below it. A palpable bony landmark makes this point more reliably located than a measurement would, the same advantage this library notes wherever one exists.

On the name. “Ran Gu” — Blazing Valley, the valley being the hollow below the navicular bump and the blazing its Fire element.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the KI-01 and KI-03 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 338): On the medial side of the foot, distal and inferior to the medial malleolus, in the depression distal and inferior to the navicular tuberosity.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 191): Anterior and inferior to the medial malleolus, in the depression on the lower border of the tuberosity of the navicular bone.

How is KI-02 Ran Gu needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch, with moxibustion applicable. 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.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable — though a point whose action is to clear heat is one where moxa is used more selectively; warming a deficiency-heat pattern is not always wanted, and the choice depends on the presentation.
• Regional anatomy: abductor hallucis runs along the inner border of the foot; the medial plantar nerve and artery pass into the sole nearby; the navicular bone and the medial cuneiform lie beneath.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a low-hazard point: no cavity, no organ, no major vessel at the surface, and bone close beneath. The inner border of the foot is thinly covered.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at KI-02 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the foot. No case report naming KI-02 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on KI-02, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates KI-02. Where the point appears it is one component of a Kidney or yin-deficiency protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. KI-02 is the Ying-Spring and Fire point of the Kidney channel, and because the Kidney is a yin Water channel and Water controls Fire, KI-02 is the controlling-element point — none of tonification, sedation or horary, which are KI-07, KI-01 and KI-10. Its element, its name and its action agree: a Fire point, called Blazing Valley, that clears deficiency heat — the empty heat of depleted Kidney yin. Several of its indications are that pattern. It sits below the navicular tuberosity, a firm bony landmark.

The urgent warnings are the operative content. Coughing blood always needs assessment, and a red, discharging navel in a newborn is an emergency.

A note on searching for it. “KI 2”, “KID 2” and “Rangu” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — “Rangu” matches personal and place names. Our library codes this channel KI- while some sources use KID-. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (element, action, indication and location records; the Kidney five-shu series queried and KI-02 confirmed the Fire/controlling-element point, against our own data).