"Shen" (神), spirit or vital energy; "que" (闕), gate tower and archway. Shenque refers to "gateway of spirit," where the vital energy passes through. Lizheng Anmo Yaoshu: "Umbilicus connects to five zang-organs and is the gateway for the true qi to circulate, hence it is called Shenque." Located in the center of umbilicus, it is also known as "Qizhong" (臍中), "Mingdi" (命蒂), and "Shengmen" (生門).

bubble_chart Location

Shenque (CV8) acupoint
(adapted from "Meridians and Acupoints")

• Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing: "The center of umbilicus is Shenque point".

bubble_chart Anatomy

• Muscle: dense scar tissue, no subcutaneous fat; skin, fascia, and peritoneum are directly connected, making it a weak point in the anterior abdominal wall. The deep layer is small intestine.
• Nerve: medial branch of anterior cutaneous branch of 10th intercostal nerve.
• Vessels: inferior epigastric artery and vein.

bubble_chart Manipulation

Generally, this point is not needled. Instead, moxibustion (5~10 cones of salt-partitioned moxibustion, or 15~20 minutes of moxa stick warming), topical applications, or acupoint irradiation are used. For example:

• To restore yang and rescue from collapse, use salt-partitioned moxibustion.
• For cold abdominal pain, use hot compress or moxa stick warming.
• For chronic diarrhea or urticaria, use cupping.
• For night sweats or neurogenic vomiting, apply powdered gallnut mixed with water.
• To prevent motion sickness, apply aromatic herbal patches.
• For "umbilical steaming therapy" (熏臍法), place medicinal powder in umbilicus and perform moxibustion on top. The choice of medicine varies according to the disease.
• If needling is required, clean umbilicus thoroughly, disinfect rigorously, and insert perpendicularly 1~1.5 cun.
• Needling is contraindicated in cases of umbilical fistula or umbilical hernia.
• Alternatively, needle from Tianshu (ST25), Shuifen (CV9), or Qihai (CV6) toward Shenque (CV8).

bubble_chart Efficacy

Warm middle, stop diarrhea, restore yang to save from collapse.

• Classical: collapse, cold limbs, unconsciousness due to stroke, epilepsy, spontaneous sweating, edema, tympanites, abdominal pain, borborygmus, diarrhea, rectal prolapse, infertility.
• Modern: shock, night sweating, urticaria, motion sickness, neurogenic vomiting, acute gastroenteritis, chronic colitis, intestinal adhesions, intestinal tuberculosis, rectal prolapse, ascites, urinary retention, seminal emission , impotence, dysmenorrheal, uterine prolapse.

bubble_chart Combinations

• Collapse: Baihui (GV20), Shenque (CV8), Guanyuan (CV4).
• Borborygmus with diarrhea: Shuifen (CV9), Shenque (CV8), Sanjian (LI3).
• Acute gastroenteritis: Shangwan (CV13), Shenque (CV8), Tianshu (ST25), Neiguan (PC6 ), Zusanli (ST36).
• Rectal prolapse: Baihui (GV20), Shenque (CV8), Pangguangshu (BL28).