GB-23 (Zhe Jin) Sinew Seat

What does GB-23 Zhe Jin do?

GB-23 unbinds the chest and lowers rebellion, and regulates qi in the three jiao — a point on the side of the chest, just forward of GB-22.

• Unbinds the chest and lowers rebellion — opening a constrained chest and settling upward-rebelling qi, behind its use for asthma
• Regulates qi in the three jiao — a broad qi-regulating action spanning the body’s upper, middle and lower burners

A Gall Bladder–Bladder meeting point. Our record classifies GB-23 as a Meeting Point of the Gall Bladder and Bladder channels — the two channels crossing on the side of the chest. The Bladder channel’s main course runs down the back, so a meeting with it on the lateral chest links the side to the back, and is the usual account of the point’s broad three-jiao qi action.

Paired with GB-22 on the side of the chest. GB-23 sits one cun forward of GB-22 Yuan Ye in the same 4th rib space, at nipple level. The two are the Gall Bladder’s lateral-chest pair, sharing the chest-unbinding role; GB-23 adds the “lowers rebellion” and three-jiao actions.

On the name. “Zhe Jin” is rendered in our data as Sinew Seat (also read Flank Sinews) — jin the sinews. The reading ties the name to the sinews of the side of the chest, or to the Gall Bladder’s classical governance of the sinews (the Gall Bladder’s Hui-Meeting relationship with the sinews runs through its channel).

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, classification, action and translation records; the GB-22 record and the GB–Bladder meeting classification queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is GB-23 Zhe Jin used for?

GB-23 is used for fullness of the chest, pain in the side (hypochondriac region), and asthma. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Fullness of the chest
• Pain in the hypochondriac (side) region
• Asthma (wheezing, laboured breathing)

Chest, side, and breath. Chest fullness and side pain are the chest-unbinding action; asthma is the “lowers rebellion” action reaching the lung. It is a focused chest-and-breathing list, fitting a point on the side of the chest.

An honest and important note. Asthma is a serious condition requiring medical management; a severe attack is life-threatening. Acupuncture is not a substitute for inhalers or medical asthma care. Chest pain or fullness requires assessment to exclude cardiac and other serious causes. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With GB-22 Yuan Ye alongside for the side of the chest, and with REN-17 Shan Zhong and LU-01 Zhong Fu for the chest and breath. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the GB-22, LU-01 and REN-17 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is GB-23 Zhe Jin located?

GB-23 is on the side of the chest at nipple level, one cun in front of GB-22, in the fourth rib space.

• 1 cun anterior to (forward of) GB-22 Yuan Ye
• At the level of the nipple
• In the 4th intercostal space, on the side of the chest

Found from GB-22, one cun forward. Locate GB-22 first — on the mid-axillary line, 3 cun below the armpit, in the 4th space — then move one cun toward the front of the chest, staying in the same rib space, to reach GB-23 at nipple level. The two sit side by side on the lateral chest.

On the name. “Zhe Jin” — Sinew Seat, the sinews of the flank, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the GB-22 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 440): Below the axilla in the fifth intercostal space, 1 cun anterior to Yuanye GB-22, approximately at the level of the nipple.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 215): 1 cun anterior to Yuanye (GB 22), at the level of the nipple, in the 4th intercostal space.

How is GB-23 Zhe Jin 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.

• Angle and depth as recorded: oblique, 0.3–0.5 inch, skimming along the chest wall.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies in the 4th intercostal space on the side of the chest; the intercostal nerve and vessels run under the rib above; immediately deep to the chest wall lie the pleura and the lung.

Hazard, stated plainly. The serious risk at any point over the ribs is pneumothorax — puncturing the lung. A perpendicular or deep needle here can reach the pleura; the recorded oblique, shallow technique exists to prevent it. Our record carries no arterial caution at GB-23, and it is not among the nine points that do — the governing hazard is the lung. A practitioner’s point, not one for self-treatment.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at GB-23 could be located, and none is borrowed; the oblique-and-shallow rule stands in its place. No case report naming GB-23 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 GB-23, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates GB-23. Where the point appears it is one component of a protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. GB-23 Zhe Jin (“Sinew Seat”) is a lateral-chest point at nipple level, one cun forward of GB-22, and a Meeting Point of the Gall Bladder and Bladder channels. It unbinds the chest, lowers rebellion and regulates qi in the three jiao — its indications being chest fullness, side pain and asthma. Like all points over the ribs 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 pleura; both make GB-23 a practitioner’s point.

A note on searching for it. “GB 23”, “G 23” and “Zhejin” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (classification, action, indication and location records; the GB-22 record and the GB–Bladder meeting classification queried, against our own data).