LIV-01 (Da Dun) Large Pile

What does LIV-01 Da Dun do?

LIV-01 regulates qi in the lower jiao, treats shan disorder and alleviates pain, benefits the genitals and adjusts urination, and it is the Jing-Well and Wood point of the Liver channel — which on a yin WOOD channel makes it the HORARY point.

• Regulates qi in the lower jiao, treats shan disorder and alleviates pain — the genital and hernia action
• Benefits the genitals and adjusts urination
• Regulates menstruation and stops bleeding — the gynaecological action

Its five-shu role, derived from our own element records. The Liver is a yin Wood channel, and LIV-01 is its Wood point — the element matching its own channel, which makes it the horary point. On a yin channel the tonification and sedation points are the mother and child elements: LIV-08 Qu Quan Water (tonification, Water generates Wood) and LIV-02 Xing Jian Fire (sedation, Fire is Wood’s child). The full series, from our data: LIV-01 Wood (horary, Jing-Well), LIV-02 Fire, LIV-03 Earth (Shu-Stream and Yuan-Source), LIV-04 Metal, LIV-08 Water. Our P-08 record flags the trap of mistaking a horary point for a sedation point.

Why a point on the big toe governs the genitals. The Liver channel is described in the classical anatomy as encircling the external genitals on its way up the body — so genital and lower-abdominal disorders are Liver-channel territory, and LIV-01, at the channel’s start on the big toe, is a principal distal point for them. Its shan, hernia and genital indications are the channel’s own pathway, not incidental.

What “shan disorder” means, stated precisely. Shan is a broad classical category covering hernia, acute genital and lower-abdominal pain, and swelling or retraction of the genitals — a group of conditions, not a single modern diagnosis. Rendering it “hernia” alone is too narrow. This record keeps the classical term and explains it rather than forcing a modern label.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, element, action and translation records; the full Liver five-shu series queried and LIV-01 confirmed the Wood/horary point, and the P-08 record checked, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is LIV-01 Da Dun used for?

LIV-01 is used for hernia, bed-wetting, uterine bleeding, uterine prolapse, and epilepsy. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Hernia
• Enuresis (bed-wetting)
• Uterine bleeding
• Prolapse of the uterus
• Epilepsy

Four of the five are the lower jiao and the genitals — the Liver channel’s pathway. Hernia, bed-wetting, uterine bleeding and prolapse all belong to the region the channel encircles. Uterine bleeding is worth noting: LIV-01 is a classical point for it, and its action “stops bleeding” matches — a Jing-Well point of a yin channel treating bleeding, which is the general pattern our SP-08 and BL-63 records discuss. Epilepsy is the Jing-Well emergency-and-spirit character shared across the twelve well points.

An honest note, and several entries need one. UTERINE BLEEDING THAT IS HEAVY, PROLONGED, OR OUTSIDE THE NORMAL PERIOD REQUIRES MEDICAL ASSESSMENT, and bleeding in pregnancy or after the menopause needs urgent assessment. A HERNIA THAT BECOMES PAINFUL, TENSE OR IRREDUCIBLE IS A SURGICAL EMERGENCY. EPILEPSY REQUIRES DIAGNOSIS AND PRESCRIBED MANAGEMENT, and a first or prolonged seizure is an emergency. Uterine prolapse requires assessment, and bed-wetting that is new or returns after a dry period warrants review. This record documents classical use and should not delay any of that.

How it is combined. With LIV-03 Tai Chong, the Yuan-Source point, up the foot, and LIV-08 Qu Quan at the knee for the genital indications. With REN-04 Guan Yuan and SP-06 San Yin Jiao for the lower jiao. With DU-20 Bai Hui for prolapse. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the BL-63, DU-20, LIV-03, LIV-08, REN-04, SP-06 and SP-08 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is LIV-01 Da Dun located?

LIV-01 is at the corner of the big toenail on the outer (second-toe) side — the first point of the Liver channel.

• On the big toe, at the junction of the lateral (outer) nail border and the base of the nail
• Located by the standard two-line method, about 0.1 cun from the nail corner
• SP-01 Yin Bai sits at the other corner of the same nail, on the inner side — the Spleen channel’s Jing-Well point

Two channels start at one toenail, one corner each. The big toe carries two Jing-Well points: LIV-01 at the lateral corner (toward the second toe) and SP-01 at the medial corner (toward the other foot). Both are Wood-element Jing-Well points — LIV-01 the Liver’s horary point, SP-01 the Spleen’s controlling-element point. Getting the correct corner is the whole of locating either, and confusing them substitutes a channel and an organ.

Eleven of the twelve Jing-Well points sit at a nail corner; our LU-11 record notes KI-01 on the sole as the exception. The big toe is the one nail that hosts two of them.

On the name. “Da Dun” means Large Pile or Big Mound — da large, dun a mound or heap. The reading usually offered relates it to the fleshy bulk of the big toe. Purely positional.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged including the lateral-corner specification; the LU-11 and SP-01 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 473): On the dorsal aspect of the big toe, at the junction of lines drawn along the lateral border of the nail and the base of the nail, approximately 0.1 cun from the corner of the nail.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 221): On the lateral side of the terminal phalanx of the great toe, 0.1 cun from the corner of the nail.

How is LIV-01 Da Dun needled?

Our own record states SUBCUTANEOUS insertion of 0.1–0.2 inch, with moxibustion applicable — the shallow depth every Jing-Well point carries. 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: subcutaneous, 0.1–0.2 inch — there is almost no soft tissue at a toe-tip.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable, and classically favoured here for the cold and prolapse indications — moxa at LIV-01 is a traditional method for uterine prolapse and for cold shan.
• Bleeding technique: like other Jing-Well points, pricking to bleed is a classical option for the acute and heat presentations; our SJ-18 record sets out the fourteen points in the library that document one, and the same caveat applies — documented practice, not procedure, performed only by a qualified practitioner.
• Regional anatomy: the nail bed and the tip of the distal phalanx of the big toe lie beneath thin skin; dorsal digital nerves and the digital vessels run along the toe’s margins; bone is immediately deep.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a low-hazard point: no cavity, no organ, no major vessel, and bone a fraction of an inch beneath. Toe-tips are densely innervated and needling here is sharply felt.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at LIV-01 could be located, and none is needed at a tenth of an inch. No case report naming LIV-01 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; the SJ-18 bleeding-technique set queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on LIV-01, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates LIV-01. Where the point appears it is one component of a protocol — genital, gynaecological or resuscitation — and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. LIV-01 is the Jing-Well and Wood point of the Liver channel, and because that is a yin Wood channel, the Wood point is the horary point — not tonification (LIV-08) or sedation (LIV-02). Its genital, hernia and uterine indications are the Liver channel’s own pathway, which encircles the external genitals — not incidental to the point. And it shares the big toenail with SP-01: LIV-01 at the outer corner, SP-01 at the inner, two channels and two organs one nail apart.

The classical term is kept and explained. Shan is a category — hernia, acute genital pain, genital swelling or retraction — not the single modern word “hernia”, and this record keeps it rather than flattening it.

A note on searching for it. “LIV 1”, “LR 1”, “Liv 1” and “Dadun” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and this channel is coded several ways: LIV, LR and Liv. Our library uses LIV-. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (element, action, indication and location records; the Liver five-shu series queried and LIV-01 confirmed the Wood/horary point, and the SP-01 shared-nail relationship checked, against our own data).