C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart: Hegu

Acu-moxa point chart, showing the hegu (Joining the Valley) point, from Chuanwu lingji lu (Record of Sovereign Teachings), by Zhang Youheng, a treatise on acu-moxa in two volumes. This work survives only in a manuscript draft, completed in 1869 (8th year of the Tongzhi reign period of the Qing dynasty). It is illustrated with 84 charts, finely executed in colour. The text states: The hegu point is located on the back of the hand, in the depression between between the first and second metacarpal bones. It can be needled to a depth of 3 fen (1 fen [0.1 cun/Chinese proportional inch] = c. 0.3 cm), and moxibusted with three moxa cones. It is indicated for one-sided headache, facial oedema (fuzhong), malarial chills and fever (hanre), fever with uncontrollable sweating, nebula (yizhang) obscuring the vision, toothache, toothache, nosebleeds, lockjaw, etc.

Caption: Hegu (Joining the Valley)