SP-13 (Fu She) Bowel Abode

What does SP-13 Fu She do?

SP-13 regulates qi and alleviates pain — a single, focused recorded action, on the lower abdomen just above SP-12, where three channels meet.

• Regulates qi and alleviates pain — the whole of the recorded action, aimed at the lower abdomen and groin

A qi-and-pain point of the lower abdomen. SP-13’s action is exactly matched by its two indications — lower abdominal pain and hernia, both qi-stagnation-and-pain patterns of the lower jiao. It sits less than a cun above SP-12 Chong Men at the groin and shares its classification.

A three-channel, extraordinary-vessel meeting point. Like SP-12 below it, SP-13 is a Meeting Point of the Spleen and Liver channels with the Yin Linking (Yin Wei) vessel — two leg yin channels and one extraordinary vessel crossing at the lower abdomen. The Liver channel encircles the genitals in classical thought, which is the usual account of why these Spleen-Liver crossings treat hernia and lower-abdominal pain.

On the name. “Fu She” means Bowel Abode or Abdomen’s Dwelling — fu the abdomen, she a lodging or abode. It is one of a run of Spleen points on the abdomen whose names begin with fu: our data holds SP-14 Fu Jie (Abdominal Bind) and SP-16 Fu Ai (Abdominal Lament) alongside it.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, classification, action and translation records; the SP-12, SP-14 and SP-16 records queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is SP-13 Fu She used for?

SP-13 is used for lower abdominal pain and hernia. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full — a short, tightly local list.

• Lower abdominal pain
• Hernia

Two entries, one region. Both belong to the lower abdomen and groin the point overlies, and both are the qi-stagnation-and-pain pattern its single action addresses. It is among the most focused indication lists in the Spleen abdominal run.

An honest note. A hernia — a lump in the groin or abdominal wall — requires medical assessment; a hernia that becomes hard, painful or irreducible is a surgical emergency (strangulation cuts off the blood supply to trapped bowel and needs same-hour care). Lower abdominal pain that is severe, sudden or persistent requires assessment; its causes include surgical and gynaecological emergencies. This record documents classical use only; it is not a suggestion to treat a hernia with acupuncture.

How it is combined. With SP-12 Chong Men immediately below and SP-14 Fu Jie above on the same abdominal line, and with LIV-01 Da Dun or LIV-05 Li Gou distally for hernia (the Liver channel’s genital reach). All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the LIV-01, LIV-05, SP-12 and SP-14 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is SP-13 Fu She located?

SP-13 is on the lower abdomen, four cun below the navel and four cun out to the side of the midline — just above SP-12 at the groin.

• 4 cun below the centre of the umbilicus (navel)
• 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline — the Spleen channel’s abdominal line
• 0.7 cun above SP-12 Chong Men at the groin crease

The Spleen runs the outermost of the three abdominal lines. Three channels climb the abdomen in parallel vertical lines: the Kidney channel 0.5 cun from the midline, the Stomach channel 2 cun out, and the Spleen channel 4 cun out — the most lateral. SP-13 sits on that outer line, low down, just above the groin point SP-12. Knowing the 4-cun line places the whole Spleen abdominal run.

On the name. “Fu She” — Bowel Abode, one of the Spleen’s fu (abdomen) names, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the SP-12 record and the three abdominal channel lines queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 199): On the lower abdomen, 0.7 cun superior and 0.5 cun lateral to Chongmen SP-12, 4 cun lateral to the midline. This point is also defined as lying 4.3 cun inferior to Daheng SP-15.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 161): 4 cun below the centre of the umbilicus, 0.7 cun superior to Chongmen (SP-12), 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline.

How is SP-13 Fu She 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.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point overlies the lower abdominal wall lateral to the rectus muscle; deep to it lies the bowel, and in pregnancy the enlarging uterus rises into the lower abdomen; the point sits above and lateral to the femoral vessels at the groin.

Hazard, stated plainly. The consideration at a lower-abdominal point is the organs beneath — bowel, and in pregnancy the uterus; deep or careless needling of the lower abdomen in pregnancy is specifically to be avoided. Our record carries no arterial caution at SP-13, and it is not among the nine points that do — but its close neighbour SP-12 Chong Men, less than a cun below beside the femoral pulse, does; that caution belongs to SP-12. Not a point for self-treatment.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at SP-13 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming SP-13 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; the nine arterial cautions and the SP-12 caution queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on SP-13, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates SP-13. Where the point appears it is one component of a protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. SP-13 Fu She (“Bowel Abode”) is a lower-abdominal Spleen point and a Meeting Point of the Spleen and Liver channels with the Yin Linking vessel — the same three-channel classification as SP-12 just below it. Its single action, regulate qi and alleviate pain, is matched by its two indications, lower abdominal pain and hernia. It sits on the Spleen’s abdominal line, 4 cun lateral to the midline and 4 cun below the navel — the outermost of the three parallel abdominal channel lines.

A note on searching for it. “SP 13”, “SP-13” and “Fushe” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and “Fushe” is a common Chinese place and personal name. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (classification, action, indication and location records; the SP-12 record and the three abdominal channel lines queried, against our own data).