LU-03 (Tian Fu) Celestial Storehouse

What does LU-03 Tian Fu do?

LU-03 clears Lung heat and descends Lung qi, cools blood and stops bleeding, and calms the corporeal soul (the po) — and it is one of the ten Window of Heaven points.

• Clears Lung heat and descends Lung qi — the respiratory action
• Cools blood and stops bleeding — the action behind its coughing-of-blood and nosebleed indications
• Calms the corporeal soul (po) — unusual on an arm point, explained below

It is a Window of Heaven point, and one of only two on the arm. The ten are BL-10, DU-16, LI-18, LU-03, P-01, REN-22, SI-16, SI-17, SJ-16 and ST-09 — and all but two sit on the neck or head. LU-03 and P-01 are the exceptions, on the upper arm and the chest respectively. The classical account describes the Window of Heaven points as governing the passage of qi between the body and the head, and LU-03’s indications — which classically include mental restlessness and disorientation alongside the respiratory entries — reflect that. Our ST-09 and SJ-16 records set out the group.

“Calms the po” is the finding of this page, and it is checkable. The po is the corporeal soul — the bodily, instinctual spirit that the classical texts house in the Lung. Querying our own action records, only five points name calming the po: LU-03 here, and BL-41, BL-42, BL-43 and BL-44 on the outer Bladder line of the back. Four of the five are on the back, over the Lung’s region — and BL-42 Po Hu is literally Po Door, the outer-line spirit point of the Lung. LU-03 is the one that carries the po action on the arm, on the Lung’s own channel. Our BL-42 record documents the po from the back.

On the name. “Tian Fu” means Celestial Storehouse or Palace of Heaven — tian heaven, fu a storehouse or mansion. The tian here genuinely marks the Window of Heaven classification, unlike the several tian points this project has found that are not in the group (BL-07, SJ-15, GB-09).

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, category, action and translation records; all ten Window of Heaven points and every po-calming action queried and counted, and the BL-42, ST-09 and SJ-16 records checked, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is LU-03 Tian Fu used for?

LU-03 is used for asthma, wheezing and cough, for coughing of blood, nosebleed and thirst, and for pain on the inner side of the upper arm. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Asthma, wheezing and cough
• Haemoptysis (coughing of blood)
• Epistaxis (nosebleed)
• Thirst
• Pain in the medial aspect of the upper arm

The bleeding entries are the “cools blood, stops bleeding” action. Coughing of blood and nosebleed both belong to that recorded action — heat pressing on the blood in the Lung and the nose, which the Lung channel serves. Thirst is a Lung-heat sign; the arm pain is local, the channel running down the inner arm through this point.

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. ASTHMA CAN BE FATAL and requires prescribed management; an attack not responding to reliever medication is a medical emergency. A nosebleed that will not stop, or is heavy or recurrent, needs care, and new persistent thirst requires assessment — it can be an early sign of diabetes. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With LU-04 Xia Bai just below on the upper arm and LU-05 Chi Ze, the He-Sea point, at the elbow. With LU-01 Zhong Fu, the Lung’s Front-Mu point, on the chest, and BL-13 Fei Shu, its Back-Shu point. With LU-06 Kong Zui, the Xi-Cleft point, for coughing of blood. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the BL-13, LU-01, LU-04, LU-05 and LU-06 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is LU-03 Tian Fu located?

LU-03 is on the front-outer side of the upper arm, three cun below the front of the armpit, on the outer edge of the biceps muscle.

• 3 cun below the anterior axillary fold — the front crease of the armpit
• 6 cun above LU-05 Chi Ze at the elbow, on the lateral border of biceps
• LU-04 Xia Bai lies one cun below, at 4 cun below the fold

A classical locating trick belongs to this point. The old texts describe finding LU-03 by having the patient turn the head and touch the point with the tip of the nose — with the arm raised, the nose reaches the spot on the upper arm. It is one of the more memorable location methods in the system, a mnemonic as much as a measurement, and it reflects the Window of Heaven connection between the arm point and the head.

The lateral border of biceps is the everyday landmark. Biceps stands out when the elbow is flexed, and LU-03 sits on its outer edge, three cun down from the armpit fold. Between the two firm points — the axillary fold above and LU-05 at the elbow crease — the position can be measured either way.

On the name. “Tian Fu” — Celestial Storehouse, the tian marking its Window of Heaven role.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the LU-04 and LU-05 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 78): On the antero-lateral aspect of the upper arm, 3 cun inferior to the axillary fold and 6 cun superior to Chize LU-5, in the depression between the lateral border of the biceps brachii muscle and the shaft of the humerus.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 136): On the medial aspect of the upper arm, 3 cun below the end of axillary fold, on the radial side of m. biceps brachii.

How is LU-03 Tian Fu needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.5–1 inch. 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 inch.
• Moxibustion: our record does not state it here, and none is asserted.
• Regional anatomy: the lateral border of biceps brachii lies at the point, with brachialis deep; the cephalic vein runs in the groove lateral to biceps nearby; the musculocutaneous nerve lies deeper between the muscles; the humerus lies deep.

Hazard, stated proportionately. There is no body cavity here and no pleura — this is the upper arm, not the chest, and the lung-injury caution our LU-01 and LU-02 records carry (those points being on the chest over the lung apex) does not extend to it. The structures worth knowing are the cephalic vein superficially and the muscular nerves deeper; the recorded depth stays in muscle. Our record carries no arterial caution — nine points in the library do, counted by query, and LU-03 is not among them.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at LU-03 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the upper arm. No case report naming LU-03 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; the LU-01, LU-02 lung cautions and the nine arterial cautions queried from our own data and attributed to those points), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on LU-03, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates LU-03. Where the point appears it is one component of a respiratory or arm protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. LU-03 is a Window of Heaven point — and one of only two on the arm, with P-01. It is one of only five points whose action names calming the po, the corporeal soul housed in the Lung, and the only one of the five on the arm rather than the back — verified by query. Its bleeding indications are its cool-blood action, and its arm pain is the channel’s course. And its tian genuinely marks the Window of Heaven classification, unlike the tian traps this project has documented.

The coughing-blood warning is the operative content. It always needs assessment.

A note on searching for it. “LU 3”, “L 3” and “Tianfu” searches return protocol trials and a very large volume of unrelated material — “Tianfu” is a common place name (including a major airport and district) and business name, which dominates results. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (category, action, indication and location records; the ten Window of Heaven points and the five po-calming points queried and counted, against our own data).