[Positioning Dazhui (GV14) from the implication of "twenty-one sections of spinal bone" and "three sections of neck...

"Discussion on the location of Dazhui (GV14) and Yaoyangguan (GV3)" published in Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion, No. 10, 2023, put forward that Dazhui (GV14) should be localized under the spinous process of the 1st thoracic vertebra, which is supported by "twenty-one sections of spinal bone" and "three sections of neck bone", explained as "the site between the 2nd thoracic vertebra and the 5th sacral vertebra" and "the site between the 6th cervical vertebra and the 1st thoracic vertebra", respectively. However, by sorting out the sources from the ancient literature, and conducting the comparative analysis of spinal orthopedic anatomy between the ancient and the modern, we found that the ancients counted the sacrum as 4 sections (vertebrae) by palpating the sacral spinal processes on the surface of the body. Therefore, "twenty-one sections of spinal bone" should correspond to the 1st thoracic vertebra to the 4th sacral vertebra in modern anatomy. Some scholars in the Ming Dynasty proposed to locate Dazhui (GV14) based on "three sections of neck bone", which is different from the location of "twenty-one sections of spinal bone" since the era of Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (The Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion). As a result, there is the discrepancy on positioning the point using these two different methods. The concept of "three sections of neck bone" is primarily based on the theoretical deduction, which is lack of rationality when positioning Dazhui (GV14). Hence, it is believed that this point should be positioned below the spinous process of the 7th cervical vertebra, following the concept, "in the depression of the 1st vertebra", described in Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing. The current national standard of acupoint localization is correct for positioning Dazhui (GV14).