ST-22 (Guan Men) Pass Gate

What does ST-22 Guan Men do?

ST-22 regulates qi and alleviates pain, and it regulates the intestines and benefits urination — and it is where the Stomach abdominal run first turns from the stomach to the intestines and the fluids.

• Regulates qi and alleviates pain
• Regulates the intestines and benefits urination — the first appearance of a urinary and bowel action on the descending line

ST-22 is the hinge of the run, and that is worth stating. Above it, our ST-19, ST-20 and ST-23 records are about the stomach — gastric pain, vomiting, the middle jiao. Below it and here, the emphasis shifts to the intestines, the fluids and the lower burner: ST-22 names urination and the intestines, adds edema to its indications, and points the way to the urogenital points below the navel our ST-27 record describes. It sits three cun above the umbilicus, at roughly the middle of the abdominal line — and its content sits at the middle of the transition too.

Its name marks a passage. “Guan Men” means Pass Gate or Gate of the Pass — guan a gate or barrier, men a door. The reading usually offered relates it to the gateway between the upper and lower abdomen, which is a fair description of where it sits and what its actions do: the point where the run passes from stomach to intestine. Guan is shared with DU-03 Yao Yang Guan and P-06 Nei Guan.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the ST-19, ST-20, ST-23 and ST-27 records queried and the run’s stomach-to-intestine shift traced, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is ST-22 Guan Men used for?

ST-22 is used for abdominal distension and pain, loss of appetite, abdominal rumbling, diarrhoea and edema. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Abdominal distension and pain
• Anorexia (loss of appetite)
• Borborygmus (abdominal rumbling)
• Diarrhoea
• Edema

Two of these mark the transition, and are not found on the run above. Diarrhoea and edema appear here and not on ST-19, ST-20 or ST-23, whose lists are gastric pain, distension, vomiting and loss of appetite. Diarrhoea is an intestinal complaint and edema a fluid one — both belonging to the intestines-and-urination action this point introduces. The rumbling is the intestines too. ST-22 is where the run’s indication list changes character, and the two new entries are exactly the change.

An honest note. EDEMA — swelling of the legs, body or face — REQUIRES MEDICAL ASSESSMENT. Its causes include cardiac, renal, hepatic and venous disease, and generalised swelling of new onset is a reason to seek care promptly. Our ST-43 and SP-09 records carry the same warning. Persistent diarrhoea, or diarrhoea with blood, weight loss, fever or night waking, requires assessment, and prolonged diarrhoea causes dehydration. Abdominal pain that is severe, sudden or persistent requires assessment; its causes include surgical emergencies. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With ST-21 Liang Men above and ST-23 Tai Yi below on the same line. With REN-11 Jian Li and REN-12 Zhong Wan on the midline. With ST-36 Zu San Li and SP-09 Yin Ling Quan distally for the fluids, and ST-25 Tian Shu, the Front-Mu point of the Large Intestine, for the intestines. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication record, compared against the run above; the REN-11, REN-12, SP-09, ST-21, ST-23, ST-25, ST-36 and ST-43 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is ST-22 Guan Men located?

ST-22 is on the abdomen, two cun out from the midline and three cun above the navel, level with REN-11 Jian Li.

• 2 cun lateral to the midline, 3 cun above the umbilicus
• Level with REN-11 Jian Li on the midline
• ST-21 Liang Men lies one cun above at 4 cun; ST-23 Tai Yi one cun below at 2 cun

The Stomach abdominal line pairs one-to-one with the Conception Vessel, ST-22 with REN-11 — part of the run 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 and the mammillary line at 4 cun. Three parallel abdominal lines, 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. “Guan Men” — Pass Gate, the gateway between the upper and lower abdomen, as set out above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the REN-11, 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. 146): On the abdomen, 2 cun lateral to the midline and 3 cun superior to the umbilicus, level with Jianli REN-11.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 150): 3 cun above the umbilicus, 2 cun lateral to Jianli (REN-11).

How is ST-22 Guan Men needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.8–1.0 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, 0.8–1.0 inch — deeper than the 0.5–0.8 inch at ST-19 high on the run, and close to the 0.7–1.0 inch at ST-23 and ST-24 below. The recorded depths lengthen down the run as the line 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 small intestine and transverse colon lie deep; there is no bone anywhere beneath the abdominal wall to stop a needle.

Hazard, stated proportionately. The abdominal wall is thin, no bone lies beneath it, and the peritoneal cavity is directly under — the reason the depth is bounded. ST-22 sits below the liver and stomach that the upper points overlie, and no organ-injury caution attaches here; only four points in the library carry one, 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-22 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the abdomen. No case report naming ST-22 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged, and the recorded depths across ST-19 to ST-24 compared; 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-22, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates ST-22. 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-22 is the hinge of the Stomach abdominal run — the point where its emphasis turns from the stomach to the intestines and the fluids. Its action is the first on the descending line to name the intestines and urination, and its indications add diarrhoea and edema, neither of which appears on the gastric points above it. It sits three cun above the navel, level with REN-11, in a run that pairs one-to-one with the Conception Vessel and turns fully urogenital below the umbilicus at ST-27.

The edema warning is the operative content. New generalised swelling needs medical assessment, because its causes reach the heart, kidneys and liver.

A note on searching for it. “ST 22”, “S 22” and “Guanmen” searches return protocol trials and a large volume of unrelated material — “Guanmen” matches ordinary vocabulary and place 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 run’s stomach-to-intestine transition traced across ST-19 to ST-27 and the depths compared, against our own data).