REN-18 (Yu Tang) Jade Hall

What does REN-18 Yu Tang do?

REN-18 unbinds the chest and regulates and descends qi — a sternal Conception-vessel point on the breastbone, used for the chest and the breath.

• Unbinds the chest — opening a constrained, oppressed chest
• Regulates and descends qi — settling rebellious, upward-driven qi, behind its use for cough, asthma and vomiting

A chest-and-breath point, mid-sternum. REN-18 sits on the breastbone level with the 3rd rib space, between REN-17 Shan Zhong (the influential point of qi) below and REN-20 Hua Gai above. It shares their chest-unbinding, qi-descending action; its vomiting indication shows the descending action reaching the stomach as well as the lung. The sternal Ren points work together as a vertical run for chest oppression and breathlessness.

On the name. “Yu Tang” means Jade Hall — yu jade (a mark of preciousness and of the interior), tang a hall or chamber. The reading casts the chest as a precious inner hall; several sternal points carry palatial names (Centre Palace, Jade Hall, Purple Palace), the chest imagined as the residence of the heart-spirit.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the REN-17 and REN-20 records queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is REN-18 Yu Tang used for?

REN-18 is used for chest pain, cough, asthma, and vomiting. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Pain in the chest
• Cough
• Asthma (wheezing, laboured breathing)
• Vomiting

Chest, breath, and the descending action. Chest pain is the chest-unbinding action; cough and asthma are the descend-qi action reaching the lung; vomiting is the same descending action reaching the stomach — rebellious qi settled, whichever organ it disturbs. It is a focused chest-and-descending list.

An honest and important note. Chest pain must never be assumed muscular — it requires medical assessment to exclude cardiac and other serious causes. Asthma is a serious condition needing medical management; a severe attack is life-threatening. Persistent vomiting requires assessment and causes dehydration. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With REN-17 Shan Zhong below and the sternal Ren points for the chest, and with LU-01 Zhong Fu and P-06 Nei Guan for the breath and for vomiting. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the LU-01, P-06 and REN-17 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is REN-18 Yu Tang located?

REN-18 is on the midline of the breastbone, level with the third rib space.

• On the anterior midline, on the body of the sternum
• Level with the 3rd intercostal space
• Between REN-17 Shan Zhong (level with the 4th space, at nipple level) below and REN-19 Zi Gong above

Counted by rib spaces up the breastbone. The sternal Ren points are placed by which rib space they sit level with: REN-17 at the 4th (nipple level), REN-18 at the 3rd, REN-19 at the 2nd, REN-20 at the 1st. REN-18 is one space above REN-17. The rib spaces beside the breastbone are the landmark.

On the name. “Yu Tang” — Jade Hall, the precious inner chamber of the chest, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the REN-17 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 519): On the midline of the sternum, level with the junction of the third intercostal space and the sternum.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 240): On the anterior midline, at the level with the third intercostal space.

How is REN-18 Yu Tang needled?

Our own record states subcutaneous insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch, with moxibustion applicable — the flat technique the breastbone calls for. 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: subcutaneous, 0.3–0.5 inch, threaded flat along the breastbone.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Why flat, not perpendicular: the sternum lies immediately beneath; and because some people have a sternal foramen (a congenital hole in the breastbone), a deep perpendicular needle could pass through it toward the structures behind. The subcutaneous, flat technique avoids both.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies over the body of the sternum; the internal thoracic vessels run behind the sternum to each side; the heart and great vessels lie behind the breastbone.

Hazard, stated proportionately. With subcutaneous needling over bone this is a low-hazard point — the breastbone shields the organs behind, so there is no pneumothorax route here, unlike the intercostal chest points. The sternal foramen is why the needling is kept flat. Our record carries no arterial caution at REN-18, and it is not among the nine points that do.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at REN-18 could be located, and none is needed at a subcutaneous depth over bone. No case report naming REN-18 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; the nine arterial cautions queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy, including the sternal foramen note, from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on REN-18, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates REN-18. Where the point appears it is one component of a chest or respiratory protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. REN-18 Yu Tang (“Jade Hall”) is a sternal Conception-vessel point that unbinds the chest and regulates and descends qi — its indications being chest pain, cough, asthma and vomiting. It sits on the breastbone level with the 3rd rib space, one of a vertical run of sternal points, and is needled subcutaneously over the breastbone, with no pneumothorax risk.

A safety note. Chest pain and asthma are matters for medical care; this page records classical use and says so.

A note on searching for it. “REN 18”, “CV 18” and “Yutang” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and “Yutang” is a common Chinese given and place name. 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 REN-17 and REN-20 records queried, against our own data).