ST-13 (Qi Hu) Qi Door

What does ST-13 Qi Hu do?

ST-13 descends rebellious qi and unbinds the chest — the uppermost Stomach chest point, sitting just below the collarbone.

• Descends rebellious qi — settling qi that is moving upward when it should descend, the pattern behind cough, asthma and hiccup
• Unbinds the chest — opening a tight, oppressed, constrained chest

A breathing-and-chest point, at the top of the run. ST-13 is the highest of the Stomach chest points, sitting below the middle of the collarbone; the Stomach channel then descends through the chest (ST-14 to ST-18) to the abdomen. Its action — descend rebellious qi, unbind the chest — is shared with ST-14 Ku Fang immediately below it, the two upper points working together for the breath.

A note on the channel’s two lines. The Stomach channel runs its chest points on a line 4 cun lateral to the midline (the nipple line), but its abdominal points on a line only 2 cun lateral — the channel steps inward as it crosses from chest to belly. ST-13 sits on the 4-cun chest line, at its very top. Our ST-25 Tian Shu record anchors the 2-cun abdominal line for comparison.

On the name. “Qi Hu” means Qi Door — qi the qi (and, by extension, the breath), hu a single-leaf door. The reading ties the name to the point as a door for the qi of respiration, high on the chest where breathing is felt.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the ST-14 and ST-25 records queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is ST-13 Qi Hu used for?

ST-13 is used for fullness in the chest, asthma, cough, hiccup, and pain in the chest and side. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Fullness in the chest
• Asthma (wheezing, laboured breathing)
• Cough
• Hiccup
• Pain in the chest and hypochondrium (side)

Breathing and chest, top to bottom. Asthma, cough and hiccup are the descending-qi action reaching the lung and diaphragm; chest fullness and chest-and-side pain are the chest-unbinding action. It is a respiratory-and-chest list, fitting a point below the collarbone.

An honest and important note. Asthma is a serious condition that requires medical management; a severe asthma attack is a life-threatening emergency. Acupuncture is not a substitute for inhalers or medical asthma care. Chest pain requires assessment to exclude cardiac causes, and a cough lasting more than three weeks, or with blood or breathlessness, requires assessment. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With ST-14 Ku Fang below, and with LU-01 Zhong Fu and REN-17 Shan Zhong for the chest and breath, and LU-07 Lie Que for cough. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the LU-01, LU-07, REN-17 and ST-14 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is ST-13 Qi Hu located?

ST-13 is just below the middle of the collarbone, four cun out from the midline.

• At the lower border of the middle of the clavicle (collarbone)
• 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline — the Stomach chest line, which is the nipple line
• Directly above ST-14 Ku Fang in the first rib space; the two are one step apart down the chest

The collarbone is the landmark. ST-13 sits in the hollow just under the midpoint of the clavicle, on the 4-cun line. Below it the Stomach chest points descend rib space by rib space: ST-14 (1st space), ST-15 (2nd), ST-16 (3rd), ST-17 (on the nipple), ST-18 (5th). ST-13 is the one above the first rib, under the bone.

On the name. “Qi Hu” — Qi Door, the door of the breath below the collarbone, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the ST-14 and ST-17 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 140): At the top of the chest, directly below Quepen ST-12, on the inferior border of the clavicle, 4 cun lateral to the midline, on the mamillary line.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 148): At the lower border of the middle of the clavicle, 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline.

How is ST-13 Qi Hu needled, and why only shallowly and obliquely?

Our own record states OBLIQUE insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch — deliberately shallow and angled — 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 — and just below the collarbone that caution is at its most serious.

• Angle and depth as recorded: oblique, 0.3–0.5 inch, skimming along the chest wall below the bone.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies below the clavicle over the first rib and the space beneath it; and the apex (top) of the lung rises high into the chest here, close beneath the clavicle — along with the pleura covering it.

Hazard, stated plainly — the reason for the oblique needling. The serious risk at any chest point is pneumothorax — puncturing the lung. Below the collarbone the lung’s apex sits high and close, so the risk is especially real here; the recorded oblique, shallow technique exists precisely to keep the needle off the pleura. Our record carries no arterial caution at ST-13, and it is not among the nine points that do — the governing hazard is the lung. This is emphatically a practitioner’s point, not one for self-treatment.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at ST-13 could be located, and none is borrowed; the oblique-and-shallow rule stands in its place. No case report naming ST-13 was located.

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

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

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

What this page can state with confidence. ST-13 Qi Hu (“Qi Door”) is the uppermost Stomach chest point, below the middle of the collarbone on the 4-cun chest line. It descends rebellious qi and unbinds the chest — a breathing-and-chest action shared with ST-14 — and its indications are respiratory. Because the apex of the lung sits close beneath the collarbone, it is needled obliquely and shallowly to avoid pneumothorax.

A safety note. Asthma and chest pain are matters for medical care, and this point sits over the lung apex; both make ST-13 a practitioner’s point.

A note on searching for it. “ST 13”, “S 13” and “Qihu” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and “Qihu” matches Chinese place and personal names. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication, location and needling records; the ST-14 and ST-25 records and the nine arterial cautions queried, against our own data).