HT-02 (Qing Ling) Cyan Spirit

What does HT-02 Qing Ling do?

HT-02 activates the channel and alleviates pain — a single recorded action, the whole of what our data holds for it.

• Activates the channel and alleviates pain — the local action for the arm and the chest wall the channel crosses

One action, and the page will not add to it. HT-02 is a purely local point on the upper arm in our source material — it moves the channel and eases pain along it, and our record claims nothing else. Where a record is this short this library reports its limits plainly, as it does at SI-13, SJ-14 and ST-31. It is one of the plainer points on the Heart channel, between the axilla at HT-01 and the elbow at HT-03.

On the name. “Qing Ling” means Cyan Spirit or Green-Blue Spirit — qing the blue-green colour of the East and the Wood element, ling spirit, shared with HT-04 Ling Dao on the same channel and DU-10 Ling Tai. The reading offered ties the colour to the veins visible on the inner arm; the sense is not settled in our data and this page does not force one.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the DU-10, HT-01, HT-03 and HT-04 records queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is HT-02 Qing Ling used for?

HT-02 is used for pain in the cardiac and flank regions and in the shoulder and arm. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Pain in the cardiac and hypochondriac (flank) regions
• Pain in the shoulder and arm

Two pain entries, one along the channel and one at its top. Shoulder and arm pain is the local indication — the Heart channel runs down the inner arm through this point — and cardiac-and-flank pain is the channel reaching the chest. It is a regional point, and its short list is exactly that.

An honest note. CARDIAC PAIN IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Chest pain — particularly with breathlessness, sweating, or pain spreading to the arm, neck or jaw — requires emergency care immediately, and this channel’s course down the inner arm is where cardiac pain classically radiates. A point recorded for “cardiac region” pain that also treats the arm sits over the very territory of that radiation, which makes the warning more necessary rather than less. This record documents classical use and makes no claim that acupuncture treats cardiac disease. Shoulder or arm pain with weakness or numbness requires assessment.

How it is combined. With HT-01 Ji Quan above and HT-03 Shao Hai at the elbow on the same line. With HT-07 Shen Men at the wrist for the cardiac indications. With P-06 Nei Guan distally. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication record; the HT-01, HT-03, HT-07 and P-06 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is HT-02 Qing Ling located?

HT-02 is on the inner upper arm, three cun above the inner end of the elbow crease, on the line from the armpit to the elbow.

• 3 cun proximal to the medial end of the transverse cubital crease — the inner end of the elbow crease
• On the line connecting HT-01 Ji Quan (the axilla) and HT-03 Shao Hai (the inner elbow)

Located on a line between two findable points. The inner end of the elbow crease and the centre of the armpit are both palpable, and HT-02 sits on the line between them, three cun up from the elbow end. The Heart channel’s upper-arm course is this straight line down the inner arm, with HT-02 the single point on it between the axilla and the elbow.

On the name. “Qing Ling” — Cyan Spirit, the blue-green of the inner arm’s veins.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the HT-01 and HT-03 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 213): 3 cun proximal to the medial end of the transverse cubital crease, on the line connecting Jiquan HE-1 and Shaohai HE-3.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 164): When the elbow is flexed, the point is 3 cun above the medial end of the transverse cubital crease Shaohai (HT-3), in the groove medial to m. biceps brachii.

How is HT-02 Qing Ling needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.3–0.5 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, 0.3–0.5 inch.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable. Worth a note: some classical sources traditionally treated this point with moxibustion or pressure rather than needling, and a reader comparing texts may meet that older position. Our own record gives a needle depth and states moxibustion as applicable, and this page reports our data as it stands rather than overriding it — the divergence is noted, not adjudicated.
• Regional anatomy: the medial intermuscular septum runs down the inner arm between biceps and triceps; the brachial artery and the median and ulnar nerves run in that plane on the inner arm; the basilic vein is superficial; the humerus lies deep.

Hazard, stated proportionately. There is no body cavity here and no organ. The structures worth knowing are the brachial artery and the median and ulnar nerves running down the inner arm; the point sits over that plane, which is one reason the recorded depth is modest and some older texts preferred not to needle it. Our record carries no arterial caution — nine points in the library do, counted by query, and HT-02 is not among them, though the anatomy of the inner upper arm is worth respecting.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at HT-02 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the arm. No case report naming HT-02 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; 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 HT-02, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates HT-02. Where the point appears it is one component of an arm or cardiac protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point. It is one of the less-used points on the channel.

What this page can state with confidence, including its limits. HT-02 holds one recorded action and two recorded indications, both pain, and the page reports that rather than expanding it. It sits on the line from the axilla to the inner elbow, the Heart channel’s upper-arm course. And there is a genuine historical note worth having: some classical sources treated it with moxa or pressure rather than the needle — our record gives a needle depth, and this page reports our data while flagging the older divergence rather than silently choosing between them.

The cardiac warning is the operative content. Cardiac pain is an emergency, and it radiates down this arm.

A note on searching for it. “HT 2”, “HE 2”, “H 2” and “Qingling” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — “Qingling” matches personal and place names, and this channel is coded HT, HE and H across the literature. Our library uses HT-. 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 HT-01 and HT-03 records queried from our own data).