The flank transport points · qu shu

At a glance

Pinyin

qū shù

Simplified

胠俞

Literal

胠俞 qū shù — 胠 is the flank, the hollow below the armpit and along the ribs; 俞 is the transport point, read shù, the place where the qi of a channel comes close enough to the surface to be reached. So the name is the transport points of the flank. The chapter names them twice, once as 傍伍胠俞 — five of them, one needle each — and once as 五胠俞. Between the two lines the base text writes the number differently, 伍 and 五, and this site keeps both rather than choosing.

Shuowen

《說文解字》：胠，亦下也；俞，空中木為舟也——**胠為脅下之處，俞則借為穴名，讀 shù**。「胠」讀 qū，本篇2見；「俞」讀 shù，本篇6見，**皆在「背俞」「胠俞」二詞**——**不作「兪」（「兪」）、不作「腧」（「腧」）**。**本篇「伍」「五」二形并存**：「傍「伍」讀 wǔ胠俞各一」作伍，「用「五」讀 wǔ胠俞、背俞各一」作五，**同詞而字形各異，各從底本**。「傍」讀 bàng，通「旁」（「旁」）；「各」讀 gè；「一」讀 yī。**本站已立「俞」條（id 557）與「背俞」條（id 766）**，**此「胠俞」為俞之一種，與「背俞」相對**：**背俞在背，胠俞在脅**，**本篇「用五胠俞、背俞各一」即二組并取**。