KI-14 (Si Man) Fourfold Fullness

What does KI-14 Si Man do?

KI-14 benefits the lower jiao and alleviates pain, regulates qi and moves blood stasis, and regulates the water passages to promote urination — a lower-abdominal Kidney point with a distinct blood-moving action.

• Benefits the lower jiao and alleviates pain — the general lower-abdominal action
• Regulates qi and moves blood stasis — the action that sets KI-14 apart, behind its use for period pain and postpartum pain
• Regulates the water passages and promotes urination — the fluid action

The blood-moving action is the one to note. Most of the Kidney abdominal points “benefit the lower jiao” in general terms; KI-14 is recorded specifically to move blood stasis — and blood stasis in the lower abdomen is the classical pattern behind painful periods with clots, and behind postpartum abdominal pain, both of which are among its indications. It gives KI-14 a sharper gynaecological character than its plainer neighbours.

A Penetrating-vessel meeting point. Like the whole Kidney abdominal run (KI-11 to KI-21), KI-14 is a Meeting Point with the Penetrating (Chong) vessel — the “sea of blood”, central to menstruation. A point on the Chong that moves blood stasis and treats menstrual and postpartum pain sits squarely in that vessel’s domain.

On the name. “Si Man” means Fourfold Fullness — si four, man fullness or distension. The reading usually offered ties it to fullness or distension of the lower abdomen (fluid, blood, qi and food, or simply marked fullness) that the point relieves.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, classification, action and translation records; the Kidney–Penetrating-vessel meeting points queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is KI-14 Si Man used for?

KI-14 is used for abdominal pain and distension, diarrhoea, nocturnal emission, irregular or painful menstruation, and postpartum abdominal pain. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Abdominal pain and distension
• Diarrhoea
• Nocturnal emission
• Irregular menstruation
• Dysmenorrhoea (painful periods)
• Postpartum (after-birth) abdominal pain

Weighted to the lower abdomen and to blood. The abdominal pain, distension and diarrhoea are the lower-jiao and intestinal action; the menstrual, painful-period and postpartum entries are the blood-moving action — the cluster that gives KI-14 its gynaecological reputation. Postpartum abdominal pain, in the classical view, is blood stasis in the lower abdomen after birth, and a blood-moving point on the Chong is the fit for it.

An honest note. Postpartum abdominal pain, especially with heavy bleeding, fever, or foul discharge, requires prompt medical assessment — postpartum haemorrhage and infection are serious. Painful or irregular periods that are new, worsening, or severe warrant assessment. Persistent diarrhoea leads to dehydration and can signal disease needing diagnosis. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With SP-06 San Yin Jiao and SP-10 Xue Hai for the blood indications, with REN-05 Shi Men on the midline just medial, and with the neighbouring Kidney abdominal points. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the REN-05, SP-06 and SP-10 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is KI-14 Si Man located?

KI-14 is on the lower abdomen, two cun below the navel, half a cun to the side of the midline.

• 2 cun below the umbilicus (navel)
• 0.5 cun lateral to REN-5 Shi Men, the midline point at that level
• Part of the Kidney abdominal run, each point 0.5 cun out from a midline Ren-channel point

Found from the navel and the midline point. The reliable route is to fix the level below the navel — 2 cun down, where REN-5 Shi Men sits on the midline — then step half a cun to the side. The whole Kidney abdominal run is built this way, half a cun lateral to a Ren-channel point, so each Kidney point has a midline partner at its own level: KI-14 pairs with REN-5.

On the name. “Si Man” — Fourfold Fullness, for the lower-abdominal fullness it relieves, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the REN-05 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 354): On the lower abdomen, 2 cun below the umbilicus, 3 cun superior to the superior border of the symphysis pubis, 0.5 cun lateral to the midline (Shimen REN-5).
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 195): 2 cun below the umbilicus, 0.5 cun lateral to Shimen (REN-5).

How is KI-14 Si Man needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.5–1.0 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, 0.5–1.0 inch.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point overlies the lower abdominal wall (rectus abdominis and its sheath); deep to it lies the small intestine, and in pregnancy the enlarging uterus rises into this region; the inferior epigastric vessels run in the abdominal wall.

Hazard, stated plainly. The consideration at a lower-abdominal point is the organs beneath — bowel, and in pregnancy the uterus. Deep or careless needling of the lower abdomen in pregnancy is specifically to be avoided, and points here are treated cautiously in anyone. Our record carries no arterial caution at KI-14, and it is not among the nine points that do — but this is not a point for self-treatment, and the moderate recorded depth reflects the organs below.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at KI-14 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming KI-14 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 KI-14, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates KI-14. Where the point appears it is one component of a gynaecological protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. KI-14 Si Man is a lower-abdominal Kidney point and a Meeting Point with the Penetrating (Chong) vessel, distinguished from its neighbours by an explicit action to move blood stasis — the basis for its use in painful periods and postpartum abdominal pain. It sits 2 cun below the navel, paired with the midline point REN-5. Its blood-moving character places it firmly in the domain of the Chong, the “sea of blood”.

A note on searching for it. “KI 14”, “K 14”, “KID 14” and “Siman” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and “Siman” is a common personal name. 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 Kidney–Penetrating-vessel meeting points queried, against our own data).