KI-20 (Tong Gu) Open Valley

What does KI-20 Tong Gu do?

KI-20 harmonises the middle jiao, and it unbinds the chest and transforms phlegm. It sits five cun above the navel, level with REN-13 Shang Wan.

• Harmonises the middle jiao — the digestive action of the upper abdomen
• Unbinds the chest and transforms phlegm — and this is where it looks upward

“Unbinds the chest” is the phrase that ties this point to the run above it. Our records give that exact action to KI-22, KI-23, KI-24 and KI-25 — the chest points — and among the abdominal points it appears only here, at the highest but one. KI-20 sits closest to the diaphragm, and its action reaches across it. The transforms phlegm element is shared with KI-26 higher up.

An outright name collision, and it is the second this library has documented. KI-20 and BL-66 are both called Tong Gu — verified by querying every point name. One is here on the abdomen; the other is on the outer edge of the little toe. They are distinguished in the literature as Fu Tong Gu (abdomen) and Zu Tong Gu (foot), but the bare pinyin is identical, and a reader working from a name alone can land on the wrong one — a point on the abdomen or a point on the foot. Our BL-66 record documents the same collision from its own side.

The translations differ, which is the only clue in English. Our data gives KI-20 as Open Valley and BL-66 as Valley Passage. Both readings turn on gu, a valley; tong carries the sense of passing through or opening out. Where two points share a name outright, this library states it on both pages rather than leaving a reader to discover it by accident.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, category, action, location and translation records; every point name queried for duplicates and the KI-20 / BL-66 collision confirmed, and the KI-22 to KI-26 action records compared, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is KI-20 Tong Gu used for?

KI-20 is used for abdominal pain and distension, vomiting, and indigestion. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full — three entries, all digestive.

• Abdominal pain and distension
• Vomiting
• Indigestion

Note that the chest action has no matching indication. Our record gives “unbinds the chest and transforms phlegm” as an action, and the indication list is entirely digestive — no chest, no cough, no phlegm entry. That is the fifth such field mismatch this library has documented, after BL-11 (bones), BL-51 (breasts), BL-55 (uterine bleeding) and KI-19 (cough and wheezing). The pattern is consistent enough to be worth naming: on this material, action fields reach further than indication fields do, and a reader who uses only one will get a narrower or a broader picture depending which.

An honest note. Abdominal pain that is severe, sudden or persistent requires medical assessment; its causes include surgical emergencies. Persistent vomiting causes dehydration and needs care, and vomiting blood or material like coffee grounds is an emergency. Indigestion that is new, persistent, or comes with weight loss, difficulty swallowing or black stools requires assessment rather than repeated self-treatment. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With REN-13 Shang Wan at the same level, and REN-12 Zhong Wan one cun below — the Front-Mu point of the Stomach and Hui-Meeting point of the fu organs. With KI-19 below and KI-21 above on the same 0.5-cun line. With P-06 Nei Guan and ST-36 Zu San Li distally. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records, compared field against field; the BL-11, BL-51, BL-55, KI-19, KI-21, P-06, REN-12, REN-13 and ST-36 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is KI-20 Tong Gu located, and which Tong Gu is it?

KI-20 is on the upper abdomen, five cun above the navel and half a cun out from the midline — beside REN-13 Shang Wan. The other Tong Gu is on the foot.

• 5 cun above the umbilicus, 0.5 cun lateral to the midline
• Level with REN-13 Shang Wan, which our own record names as the reference
• KI-19 lies one cun below beside REN-12; KI-21 one cun above beside REN-14

The name collision matters most here, because the two points could hardly be further apart. BL-66 Tong Gu sits on the lateral border of the foot, in front of the joint at the base of the little toe. KI-20 is on the upper abdomen. Same pinyin, opposite ends of the body. The classical qualifiers are Fu (abdomen) for this point and Zu (foot) for BL-66 — and where a source omits them, the channel code is the only thing that disambiguates.

The whole run is measured from the navel and paired with the Conception Vessel. Our records place each Kidney abdominal point beside a named Ren point at its own level — KI-17/REN-10, KI-18/REN-11, KI-19/REN-12, KI-20/REN-13, KI-21/REN-14, with KI-16 beside REN-08. Six to six, half a cun apart, verified by query; our KI-19 record sets out the full ladder and the single break at REN-09.

Half a cun is a finger’s breadth, so KI-20 and REN-13 are separated by less than a fingertip’s width. The measurement has to be made rather than estimated.

On the name. “Tong Gu” — our data renders it Open Valley here and Valley Passage at BL-66. Gu is a valley; tong is to pass through or open out.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the BL-66, KI-16 to KI-21 and REN-08 to REN-14 records queried and paired against our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 358): On the upper abdomen, 5 cun above the umbilicus, 0.5 cun lateral to the midline (Shangwan REN-13).
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 196): 5 cun above the umbilicus, 0.5 cun lateral to Shangwan (REN-13).

How is KI-20 Tong Gu needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.5–1.0 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, 0.5–1.0 inch — the same range recorded at KI-16 through KI-20, and deeper than the 0.3–0.7 inch at KI-21 one cun above.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: rectus abdominis and its sheath overlie the peritoneal cavity; the stomach lies deep here, with the left lobe of the liver above and the diaphragm above that; there is no bone anywhere beneath the abdominal wall to stop a needle.

KI-20 is the last point of the run before the depth shortens, and that is checkable. Our records give 0.5–1.0 inch at every abdominal point up to and including this one, then 0.3–0.7 inch at KI-21 — which also carries an explicit liver-injury caution. The recorded depth shortens exactly where the liver comes squarely beneath the line, one cun above this point. KI-20’s own record carries no organ caution and this page does not import one; only four points in the library carry one at all — KI-21 (liver), KI-22 (heart), LU-01 and LU-02 (lung), counted by query.

Hazard, stated proportionately. The abdominal wall is thin, no bone lies beneath it, and the peritoneal cavity is directly under — which is why every abdominal record here carries a bounded depth. Abdominal points also behave differently with a full bladder, in pregnancy, and after abdominal surgery where scarring changes what lies beneath.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at KI-20 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the abdomen. No case report naming KI-20 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged, and the recorded depths across KI-16 to KI-22 compared; every needling record queried and the four organ-injury cautions counted), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on KI-20, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates KI-20. Where the point appears it is one component of a digestive protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence, and the first item is the practical one. KI-20 and BL-66 are both named Tong Gu — verified by querying every point name in our data. One is on the upper abdomen, the other on the little toe, and only the channel code reliably tells them apart. This is one of two outright name collisions this library has found; our BL-66 record documents it from the other side.

The rest is structure. KI-20 sits five cun above the navel beside REN-13, in a run that pairs one to one with the Conception Vessel from KI-16 up to KI-21. It is the last point before the recorded depth shortens at KI-21, where the liver comes beneath the line. And its action names the chest and phlegm while its indications are entirely digestive — the fifth field mismatch documented in this project, after BL-11, BL-51, BL-55 and KI-19. Five instances is enough to state the pattern rather than the individual oddities: in this material the action fields consistently reach further than the indication fields do.

A note on searching for it. “KI 20”, “KID 20” and “Tonggu” searches return protocol trials, the Bladder-channel point of the same name, and a large volume of unrelated material — Tonggu also matches place names and a musical-instrument term. 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, and against which Tong Gu it used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication, location and translation records; every point name queried for duplicates, the KI-16 to KI-21 run paired against the Conception Vessel, and the BL-11, BL-51, BL-55, BL-66 and KI-19 records checked, against our own data).