Translating "素髎", acupuncture point DU-25

The reasoning for translating "素髎" as "White Bone Notch" from Chinese into English. This is the original name of acupuncture point DU-25 (Du 25).

素髎
White Bone Notch  (DU-25)
素: White / plain / origin
髎: Bone notch

Explanation of the point name

Usually the character 白 is used in point names for 'white' or 'pure.' The character 素 here can mean these same things, and can additionally mean 'origin' (and a few other things).

Translating with 'white' makes sense, since the tip of the nose is the whitest part of it. But with the location of this point being where yin changes to yang, 'origin' might be considered as well.

1st character

White / plain / origin
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No other point names with this character.



2nd character

Bone notch
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Meaning

The points with this in their name are all located in a depression in the underlying bone. Hence translating it as 'bone notch.'

Point names with

For consistency in the translations, it is necessary to be aware of how the character is translated elsewhere. These are the point names it is in.

LI-12 肘髎 Elbow Bone Notch
LI-19 口禾髎 Taste's Grain-like Bone Notch
ST-3 巨髎 Large Bone Notch
SI-18 顴髎 Cheekbone Notch
BL-31 上髎 Upper Bone Notch
BL-32 次髎 Second Bone Notch
BL-33 中髎 Middle Bone Notch
BL-34 下髎 Lower Bone Notch
TB-14 肩髎 Shoulder Bones Notch
TB-15 天髎 Heavenly Bone Notch
TB-22 耳和髎 Attuned Listening Bone Notch
GB-1 瞳子髎 Pupil Bone Notch
GB-29 居髎 Squatting Bone Notch
DU-25 素髎 White Bone Notch


Nearby points

Sometimes the names of consecutive points on a meridian are related. Being aware of nearby points can help to translate consistently in such a situation.

DU-22 囟會 Fontanelle Junction
DU-23 上星 Stars Above
DU-24 神庭 Courtyard of the Mind
DU-25 素髎 White Bone Notch
DU-26 水溝 Water Trough
DU-27 兌端 Passing Over the Tip
DU-28 齦交 Gum Junction