LIV-10 (Zu Wu Li) Foot Five Li

What does LIV-10 Zu Wu Li do?

LIV-10 clears damp-heat and benefits the lower jiao — a short action, directed at the genito-urinary region the inner thigh and groin overlie.

• Clears damp-heat and benefits the lower jiao — the action behind its urinary-retention and abdominal-fullness indications

A zu/shou name pair, distinguished in the name itself. “Wu Li” names two points: LIV-10 Zu Wu Li (Foot Five Li) here, and LI-13 Shou Wu Li (Arm Five Li) on the upper arm. Verified by query. As with the Gallbladder’s Tou/Zu pairs that our GB-11 record documents, the disambiguator — zu (foot/leg) versus shou (hand/arm) — is built into the name, so no confusion arises where the qualifier is kept. It is the convention that the eight bare collisions in this library lack.

The “Five Li” points carry a classical caution worth knowing. Both Wu Li points belong to the traditional lists of forbidden or restricted points — points the old texts warned against needling, or against needling repeatedly. LI-13’s own record makes the reason explicit: it carries an “avoid injuring the artery” caution, the brachial artery lying at that point. LIV-10 sits near the femoral vessels of the inner thigh, and the same tradition of caution attaches to it. This is stated as the classical position, and the anatomy below explains it.

On the name. “Zu Wu Li” — Foot Five Li. Wu li is “five li”, a unit of distance; the readings offered relate it to a measurement along the channel, and the sense is not fully settled. Our record holds Foot Five Li and does not force one.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; every pinyin value queried for duplicates and the LIV-10 / LI-13 zu/shou pair confirmed, and the GB-11 and LI-13 records checked, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is LIV-10 Zu Wu Li used for?

LIV-10 is used for lower abdominal distension and fullness, and for retention of urine. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full — two entries.

• Lower abdominal distension and fullness
• Retention of urine

Both are lower-burner, matching the damp-heat action. Retention of urine and lower abdominal fullness are the bladder’s and the lower jiao’s, and the point sits on the inner thigh near the groin, over that region’s territory. It is a short, coherent list.

An honest note, and the urinary entry is urgent. RETENTION OF URINE — BEING UNABLE TO PASS URINE — IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. A distended, painful bladder that cannot empty needs urgent medical care, and delay can damage the kidneys and cause lasting harm. There is no circumstance in which acute urinary retention should be managed by a classical indication rather than treated. New or persistent lower abdominal distension requires assessment. This record documents classical use only, and nothing here should delay care.

A necessary practical note. This point is high on the inner thigh, near the groin — a private region. Treatment here calls for the same standards of consent, draping and professional conduct that apply anywhere in that area.

How it is combined. With LIV-11 Yin Lian above at 2 cun below ST-30, and LIV-12 Ji Mai in the groin crease. With REN-03 Zhong Ji, the Front-Mu point of the Bladder, and SP-06 San Yin Jiao for urinary retention. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the LIV-11, LIV-12, REN-03 and SP-06 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is LIV-10 Zu Wu Li located?

LIV-10 is on the inner thigh, three cun below ST-30, on the front edge of the long adductor muscle.

• 3 cun below ST-30 Qi Chong, which sits at the groin beside the pubic bone
• On the anterior border of adductor longus — the prominent muscle on the inner thigh, whose tendon stands out at the groin when the thigh is drawn inward
• LIV-11 Yin Lian lies one cun above, at 2 cun below ST-30, on the same muscle border

Adductor longus is the landmark, and its tendon is easily found. When the thigh is pulled inward against resistance, the tendon of adductor longus stands out sharply at the top of the inner thigh, and LIV-10 and LIV-11 sit on its front edge at set distances below ST-30. The muscle is its own guide, which is more reliable than a bare measurement on the soft inner thigh.

The femoral vessels are nearby, which is the reason for the classical caution. The femoral artery and vein run down the inner thigh a short way lateral to this point, and our LIV-12 record — lower in the groin crease — is given medial to the femoral vein, while our SP-12 record carries an explicit arterial caution in the same crease. LIV-10 is higher on the thigh and further from the pulse, but the region’s vessels are why the “Five Li” points were treated with care.

On the name. “Zu Wu Li” — Foot Five Li, the zu distinguishing it from the arm’s LI-13.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the LIV-11, LIV-12, SP-12 and ST-30 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 487): 3 cun inferior to Qichong ST-30 on the anterior border of m. adductor longus.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 224): 3 cun directly below Qichong (ST 30), at the proximal end of the thigh, below the pubic tubercle and on the lateral border of m. abductor longus.

How is LIV-10 Zu Wu Li needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.5–1.0 inch, with moxibustion applicable — but the “Five Li” points carry a classical caution, and the femoral vessels lie in the region. 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.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: adductor longus and pectineus lie at the inner thigh; the femoral artery and vein run in the femoral triangle a short way lateral, becoming the deeper vessels of the thigh; the obturator nerve supplies the adductors; the femur lies deep.

The classical caution, and the anatomy behind it. The Wu Li points belong to the traditional forbidden-or-restricted lists, and its arm counterpart LI-13 carries an explicit “avoid injuring the artery” in its own record. LIV-10 sits high on the inner thigh where the femoral vessels are in the region, and the same tradition of caution applies — our own record does not carry the arterial caution in its text, but the vessels are the reason the recorded depth is bounded and the reason the classical texts singled these points out. This page states the classical caution and the anatomy without asserting more than our record holds.

On the arterial-caution set, corrected here. LI-13’s caution names the artery using the word injuring rather than puncturing — and querying every needling record with that in view, the library holds nine points with an explicit arterial caution, not eight: ST-05, ST-09, ST-42, SP-12, SJ-22, HT-01, LU-08, LU-09 and LI-13. Our reference notes record the full set; LI-13’s wording is why it was missed before.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at LIV-10 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the thigh. No case report naming LIV-10 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; every needling record re-queried for arterial cautions including the “injuring” form and the nine counted; the LI-13 and SP-12 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on LIV-10, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates LIV-10. Where the point appears it is one component of a urinary or lower-abdominal protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. LIV-10 is Zu Wu Li, one half of a zu/shou name pair with LI-13 Shou Wu Li — the disambiguator built into the name, unlike the eight bare collisions this library has documented. Both belong to the classical forbidden-or-restricted point tradition, and LI-13’s own record carries an explicit arterial caution — which, on the way to writing this page, corrected the arterial-caution count in the library to nine, LI-13 having been missed because its caution says injuring rather than puncturing. Its own indications are lower-burner, and its urinary-retention entry got the emergency framing it needs.

A note on searching for it. “LIV 10”, “LR 10” and “Wuli” searches return protocol trials, the Large Intestine point of the same name on the arm, and unrelated material. Search on Zu Wu Li or the code. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against which Wu Li a study used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication, location and needling records; every pinyin value audited for duplicates and every needling record re-queried for arterial cautions, against our own data).