KI-23 (Shen Feng) Spirit Seal

What does KI-23 Shen Feng do?

KI-23 unbinds the chest, lowers rebellious Lung and Stomach qi, and benefits the breasts. It sits in the fourth intercostal space, two cun from the midline.

• Unbinds the chest — relieving a tight, oppressed sensation
• Lowers rebellious Lung and Stomach qi
• Benefits the breasts — the action behind its mastitis indication

KI-23 and KI-24 are completely identical in our records, and that is worth stating outright. Comparing the two directly: the same three actions in the same order in the same words, and the same four indications in the same order in the same words. Not similar — identical, in both fields. This library has documented one comparable case, BL-31 and BL-34 on the sacrum, whose action records match word for word but whose indication lists differ in three entries. KI-23 and KI-24 differ in nothing our data records except the intercostal space they occupy. That is a real feature of the source material, and disguising it by writing two differently-flavoured pages would misrepresent what we hold.

The spirit run on the chest, verified from our own records. Three consecutive points here are named for the spirit — and they are on the Kidney channel, not the Heart:

• KI-23 Shen Feng — Spirit Seal, fourth space (this point)
• KI-24 Ling Xu — Spirit Ruins, third space
• KI-25 Shen Cang — Spirit Storehouse, second space

Two different words are at work: shen in KI-23 and KI-25, ling in KI-24 — both rendered “spirit” in our translations. The run sits directly over the heart, which is the classical reasoning; but note that none of the three records carries a mental-emotional indication. The same finding this library recorded at BL-44, BL-47 and BL-49, where outer-line points named for organ spirits carry entirely physical indication lists.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; KI-23 and KI-24 compared field by field and confirmed identical, and the KI-25, BL-31, BL-34, BL-44, BL-47 and BL-49 records queried, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is KI-23 Shen Feng used for?

KI-23 is used for cough, asthma, fullness in the chest and flank, and mastitis. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full — and it is word for word identical to KI-24’s.

• Cough
• Asthma
• Fullness in the chest and hypochondriac region
• Mastitis

Mastitis is the entry that distinguishes this pair from the rest of the run. Comparing all six chest points: KI-23 and KI-24 record mastitis; KI-26 Yu Zhong carries a breast action without a breast indication; KI-22 and KI-25 carry neither. The breast entries cluster in the middle of the ladder, which is where the points lie nearest the breast tissue.

An honest note, and the chest and breast entries both need one. CHEST PAIN OR TIGHTNESS IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY until proven otherwise — especially with breathlessness, sweating, or pain spreading to the arm or jaw. These points sit directly over the heart. MASTITIS REQUIRES MEDICAL ASSESSMENT AND OFTEN NEEDS ANTIBIOTICS; untreated it can form an abscess, and a breast infection with fever and feeling unwell needs prompt care. Any new breast lump, skin change or nipple change requires medical assessment without delay, and must never be attributed to mastitis without examination — some breast cancers present with inflammation that resembles it. Asthma can be fatal and requires prescribed management. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With KI-22 below and KI-24 above on the same 2-cun line. With REN-17 Shan Zhong on the midline in the same fourth intercostal space — the Hui-Meeting point of qi, and a principal point for the chest and breasts. With ST-18 Ru Gen beneath the breast — one space lower, in the fifth — and SI-01 Shao Ze distally, the classical point for breast conditions. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication record, compared entry by entry against KI-24's; the KI-22, KI-25, KI-26, REN-17, SI-01 and ST-18 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is KI-23 Shen Feng located?

KI-23 is on the chest, two cun out from the midline, in the fourth space between the ribs.

• In the fourth intercostal space, 2 cun lateral to the midline
• KI-22 Bu Lang lies one space below in the fifth; KI-24 Ling Xu one space above in the third
• REN-17 Shan Zhong sits on the midline at this level; ST-17 Ru Zhong — the centre of the nipple — lies in the same fourth space at 4 cun

The fourth space is the one with a conventional reference. The nipple line in men sits at the fourth intercostal space, which is how this level is traditionally found — though it is not reliable in women, nor in older men, where the position varies considerably. Where a landmark works only for some bodies this library says so rather than presenting it as general. Counting up or down from a felt rib remains the dependable method.

Three channels across one space. At the fourth intercostal space our records place REN-17 on the midline, KI-23 at 2 cun and ST-17 at 4 cun — the Conception Vessel, the Kidney channel and the Stomach channel side by side. ST-17 is the nipple itself, which is worth knowing precisely because it is used as a landmark for this level and is not needled. The lateral distance is what separates the three, and at these small intervals it has to be measured rather than estimated. Note also that ST-18 Ru Gen sits one space lower, in the fifth, level with KI-22 rather than with this point — verified against our own location records.

On the name. “Shen Feng” means Spirit Seal — feng being a seal or an enfeoffment, a granted domain. The reading usually offered places the point at the boundary of the spirit’s territory, the heart lying behind it. Shen here is spirit, shared with KI-25 Shen Cang two spaces up; it is a different character from the shen in KI-23’s own channel-mate BL-23 Shen Shu (kidney) and from DU-12 Shen Zhu (body), a collision our DU-11 and HT-07 records document.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the DU-11, DU-12, HT-07, KI-22, KI-24, KI-25, REN-17 and ST-18 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 360): In the fourth intercostal space, 2 cun lateral to the midline.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 197): In the fourth intercostal space, 2 cun lateral to the anterior midline.

How is KI-23 Shen Feng needled?

Our own record states oblique insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch, with moxibustion applicable — and unlike KI-22 one space below, it carries NO heart caution. 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. On the chest the obliquity is the safety feature and not a stylistic detail: a needle laid along the intercostal space stays in the chest wall, while a perpendicular one is aimed into the thorax.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable. It carries none of these hazards.
• Regional anatomy: pectoralis major overlies the intercostal muscles; the intercostal nerve and vessels run along the lower border of the rib above; the pleura and lung lie deep to the intercostal muscles, and the heart lies behind the sternum and medial chest wall in this region.

A distinction our own data draws, and this page keeps. KI-22, one space below, carries an explicit warning in its needling record — “to avoid injuring the heart, deep insertion is not advisable” — and querying every needling record in this library, KI-22 is the only point in the table that does. KI-23’s record does not carry it. This page does not import it, and neither does it imply that the anatomy stops mattering one space higher: pneumothorax is the documented hazard of the whole chest and rib region, and the recorded oblique angle and shallow depth are what address it here.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at KI-23 could be located, and none is borrowed. The paediatric CT study this library uses measured 23 points on the back and shoulder; our BL-45 and BL-46 records hold the thinnest margins in it, and those figures belong to those points on the back. No case report naming KI-23 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; every needling record queried for a heart caution and KI-22 confirmed the only one, with KI-23's confirmed not to carry it; the BL-45 and BL-46 figures attributed to those points), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on KI-23, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates KI-23. Where the point appears it is one component of a respiratory or breast 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-23 and KI-24 are completely identical in our data — same three actions, same four indications, word for word in both fields — differing only in the intercostal space they occupy. That is a stronger identity than the BL-31 and BL-34 pair this library documented on the sacrum, which at least differed in three indications. It is disclosed here rather than disguised.

The spirit run is real and its limit is real too. KI-23 Spirit Seal, KI-24 Spirit Ruins and KI-25 Spirit Storehouse sit consecutively over the heart on the Kidney channel — and none of the three records a single mental-emotional indication. The naming carries the spirit association; our recorded indications are respiratory, thoracic and mammary. Both are reported, and neither substitutes for the other — the same finding this library recorded at BL-44, BL-47 and BL-49.

A note on searching for it. “KI 23”, “KID 23” and “Shenfeng” searches return protocol trials and a large volume of unrelated material — “Shenfeng” matches place names, company names and personal names, and the syllable shen covers several distinct characters across the point system. Our library codes this channel KI- while some sources use KID-. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication, location and translation records; KI-23 and KI-24 compared field by field, and the KI-25, BL-31, BL-34, BL-44, BL-47 and BL-49 records queried, against our own data).