wood · yin
Liver LV
足厥阴肝经
Zu Jueyin Gan Jing
Sometimes written LR
From the big toe it climbs the top of the foot and the inner leg, circles the genitals in classical drawings, enters the lower abdomen, and spreads in the ribs toward the eye.
Yin wood channel. Some modern charts use LR instead of LV. The numbers are the same.
- Smooth flow of qi, a core teaching phrase
- Eyes and sinews
- Menstrual discomfort in traditional language
- The inner leg and the ribs
- Organ system
- Liver
- Teaching clock
- 1–3 a.m.
Paired with Gallbladder.
Points in this atlas
6 of 14 classical numbers. Add the missing ones in order beside their neighbors.
Moving Between
Web between the first and second toes, the fire point of Liver.
Great Surge
Top-of-foot source point for stuck qi, stress, and headache.
Use caution
Woodworm Canal
Inner shin, the Liver luo point.
Spring at the Crook
Inner knee crease, the sea point of the Liver.
Completion Gate
Below the free rib tip. Influential point of the zang.
Use caution
Cycle Gate
Front-mu of the Liver, in the rib space. Gentle or not at all.
Use caution
Herbs that enter Liver
White peony root
Softens the liver, nourishes blood, and eases cramping.
Field mint
Cool and aromatic. A light herb for wind-heat and a tight head.
Bupleurum root
Soothes liver qi and is the shaoyang herb.
Szechuan lovage
Moves qi and blood and is the head herb in many pain formulas.
Salvia root
Moves blood and cools, with a special relationship to the heart in texts.
Chinese angelica root
Nourishes and gently moves blood. The women’s-health herb everyone has heard of.
Eucommia bark
Warms and supports the low back and the kidneys in textbook language.
Saposhnikovia root
A milder wind herb, used when the surface is not extremely closed.
Goji berry
A food-like fruit for liver and kidney yin, especially the eyes in texts.
Uncaria vine
Cools the liver and extinguishes wind. Hooks are the medicinal part.
Safflower
A strong blood mover. Small amounts in formulas, not a casual tea.
Coptis rhizome
Very bitter, very cold. Clears heat in the heart and stomach in textbooks.
Chrysanthemum flower
Cools the head and is the flower students learn for the eyes.
Forsythia fruit
Clears heat-toxin and is usually written with honeysuckle.
Dragon bone
A heavy mineral substance used to settle the spirit.
Cinnamon bark
Hot bark that returns fire to the source, in the classical phrase.
Cornus fruit
Astringes and supports liver and kidney yin.
Prepared rehmannia
The heavy blood and yin tonic. Prepared root, not the raw one.
Spiny jujube seed
The seed students learn first for sleep.
Peach kernel
Breaks blood stasis and also moistens the intestines in textbooks.
Gastrodia tuber
Extinguishes internal wind. The dizziness and headache herb in school.
Cyperus rhizome
The qi herb most often aimed at the liver and the menstrual cycle.
Corydalis rhizome
The pain herb. Moves qi and blood. Not a home analgesic.
Epimedium
The kidney-yang herb students meet when textbooks discuss erectile difficulty.
Gardenia fruit
Drains heat and irritability through the three burners, in the usual phrase.