ST-20 (Cheng Man) Assuming Fullness

What does ST-20 Cheng Man do?

ST-20 harmonises the middle jiao, and it descends rebellion of the Lung and Stomach. It sits five cun above the navel, one below the top of the run.

• Harmonises the middle jiao — the digestive action shared across the run
• Descends rebellion of the Lung and Stomach — the upward-movement action, still naming the Lung this high on the abdomen

It keeps a trace of the respiratory clause that ST-19 above it carries in full. Our ST-19 record names cough and wheezing outright; ST-20, one cun lower, still names the Lung in its descending action but no longer the cough. From here down the run the respiratory element fades entirely as the line descends toward the intestines — a gradient that tracks the anatomy from diaphragm to pelvis.

A cheng point, and the fourth this project has counted. Cheng — to bear, receive or support — names eight points in this library, and two are on the Stomach channel: ST-01 Cheng Qi (Container of Tears) under the eye and ST-20 Cheng Man here. The others are BL-06, BL-36, BL-56, BL-57, GB-18 and REN-24. Our BL-56 record set out the full count.

On the name. “Cheng Man” means Assuming Fullness or Supporting Fullness — man being fullness or distension, exactly the indication the point carries. A name that describes the complaint it treats, like our GB-15 Tou Lin Qi (overlooking tears, with lacrimation in its list) and ST-19 Bu Rong (the stomach’s upper limit).

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; every cheng name queried, and the GB-15, ST-01 and ST-19 records checked, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is ST-20 Cheng Man used for?

ST-20 is used for gastric pain, abdominal distension, vomiting and loss of appetite. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full — four entries, all upper-digestive.

• Gastric pain
• Abdominal distension
• Vomiting
• Anorexia (loss of appetite)

This is the run’s uniform core, and the page says so rather than dressing it up. Comparing our records, ST-19 carries these same four plus nothing extra in its indications, and ST-20 carries exactly them — gastric pain, distension, vomiting, loss of appetite. Two consecutive points with an identical indication list, differing only in their action wording (ST-19 adds the cough clause). This library discloses that overlap, as it does at BL-31 and BL-34 on the sacrum and KI-23 and KI-24 on the chest, rather than inventing a distinction.

An honest note. Gastric pain that is severe, persistent, or comes with weight loss, vomiting, black stools or difficulty swallowing requires medical assessment — and upper-abdominal pain can originate in the heart, so pain with breathlessness, sweating, or spreading to the arm or jaw is a medical emergency. Persistent vomiting causes dehydration and needs care; vomiting blood is an emergency. Loss of appetite with weight loss requires assessment. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With ST-19 above and ST-21 Liang Men below on the same line. With REN-13 Shang Wan on the midline and REN-12 Zhong Wan, the Front-Mu point of the Stomach. With P-06 Nei Guan and ST-36 Zu San Li distally. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication record, compared entry by entry against ST-19; the P-06, REN-12, REN-13, ST-19, ST-21 and ST-36 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is ST-20 Cheng Man located?

ST-20 is on the upper abdomen, two cun out from the midline and five cun above the navel, level with REN-13 Shang Wan.

• 2 cun lateral to the midline, 5 cun above the umbilicus
• Level with REN-13 Shang Wan on the midline
• ST-19 Bu Rong lies one cun above at 6 cun; ST-21 Liang Men one cun below at 4 cun

The Stomach abdominal line pairs one-to-one with the Conception Vessel, ST-20 with REN-13 — part of the run that our ST-19, ST-23 and ST-24 records set out, keyed to a named Ren point at every level and mirrored by the Kidney channel’s 0.5-cun line. Three parallel abdominal lines at 0.5, 2 and 4 cun, all measured from the navel.

Everything here is measured from the navel, the most reliable landmark on the body — no counting chain, no proportional estimate.

On the name. “Cheng Man” — Assuming Fullness, naming the distension it treats.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the REN-13, ST-19, ST-21, ST-23 and ST-24 records queried and the abdominal line paired against the Conception Vessel, against our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 144): On the abdomen, 2 cun lateral to the midline and 5 cun superior to the umbilicus, level with Shangwan REN-13.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 150): 5 cun above the umbilicus, 2 cun lateral to Shangwan (REN-13).

How is ST-20 Cheng Man 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 — between the 0.5–0.8 inch at ST-19 above and the 0.8–1.0 inch at ST-22 below. The recorded depths lengthen as the run descends away from the liver and the costal margin, which our ST-19 record sets out.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: rectus abdominis and its sheath overlie the peritoneal cavity; the stomach lies deep, with the left lobe of the liver above and to the right; there is no bone anywhere beneath the abdominal wall to stop a needle.

Hazard, stated proportionately. The abdominal wall is thin and the peritoneal cavity lies directly beneath — the reason the depth is bounded. ST-20 sits over the stomach, still high enough that the liver’s left lobe is in the region on the right; our KI-21 record carries the explicit liver caution one cun higher on the parallel line, and ST-20’s shorter-than-ST-22 depth reflects the same anatomy. No organ-injury caution attaches to this point — only four in the library do, counted by query. Abdominal points behave differently with a full bladder, in pregnancy, and after abdominal surgery.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at ST-20 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the abdomen. No case report naming ST-20 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged, and the recorded depths across ST-19 to ST-22 compared; the KI-21 record and the four organ-injury cautions queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on ST-20, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates ST-20. Where the point appears it is one component of a digestive 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-20 sits five cun above the navel on the Stomach’s 2-cun abdominal line, level with REN-13, in a run that pairs one-to-one with the Conception Vessel. Its indication list is identical to ST-19’s, and the page discloses that rather than manufacturing a difference. Its action still names the Lung where ST-19 names cough — the last trace of the respiratory element that fades as the run descends. It is one of two cheng points on the Stomach channel, with ST-01. And its recorded depth sits between its neighbours’, tracking the anatomy down the run.

A note on searching for it. “ST 20”, “S 20” and “Chengman” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — “Chengman” matches 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-19 comparison made entry by entry, every cheng name counted, and the abdominal run depths compared, against our own data).