巨骨 Jugu
“Great Bone” · LI16
Hand Yangming · 16 of 20 · crossing-point
Where. On top of the shoulder, in the hollow where the collarbone meets the ridge of the shoulder blade.
For. Shoulder pain, an arm that will not lift.
Press. Moderate fingertip pressure into the hollow, about a minute each side.
巨骨，在肩端上行兩叉骨間陷者中按 · Press with me
Six slow breaths
About a minute. Press as you breathe out, ease as you breathe in.
鄰 · Neighbouring leaves
Where Jugu Sits: the Shoulder’s Great Bone Junction
The dataset locates Jugu in the depression between the acromial end of the clavicle and the spine of the scapula — a description worth unpacking slowly, because every word is a landmark you can touch. The clavicle, or collarbone, runs from the breastbone outward across the top of the chest; follow it toward the shoulder and it turns backward to meet the bony cap of the shoulder. That cap belongs to the scapula, the shoulder blade, whose spine — a firm ridge running across the back of the blade — climbs toward the shoulder and ends in the same prominent shelf called the acromion. Between the outer end of the collarbone and the ridge behind it lies a soft hollow, right on the very top of the shoulder. That hollow is the site the record describes.
What rests beneath the fingertips deserves a moment of respect. The hollow sits above the shoulder joint itself, draped by fibers of the trapezius muscle, close to the junction where collarbone and acromion meet. Deeper still, the geometry turns consequential: the dome of the lung rises above the level of the collarbone, which is why the licensed record carries an explicit warning against deep insertion at this site. None of this makes gentle fingertip contact risky — skin and superficial muscle sit far above anything delicate — but it does mean the point rewards patience and punishes force. Everything in this guide keeps contact on the surface, and nothing here invites pressure downward or inward.
The position also explains the point’s job in the channel map. Classical texts draw the large intestine channel climbing from the hand up the outer arm, crossing the shoulder, and continuing up the side of the neck toward the face. Jugu stands at the summit of that shoulder crossing — the last wide landing before the pathway narrows toward the neck. A point placed at a junction of major bones, on a route the tradition treats as a thoroughfare, naturally became a place practitioners considered when the whole shoulder region felt locked or heavy. Keep that picture in mind; it returns when the recorded indications are read.
A Self-Palpation Walkthrough
Sit upright on a firm chair with both feet down and both shoulders released, so the muscles around the neck and shoulder soften. Work on one side at a time. Examining the left shoulder with the right hand, walk your index finger outward along the top edge of the left collarbone until the bone simply ends — that end, where it turns to meet the shoulder cap, is the acromial extremity the location names. Next find the ridge of the shoulder blade: reach the free hand across and press the back of the shoulder until you feel the firm horizontal ledge of the scapula’s spine, then trace it up and outward until it too arrives at the bony shelf. The soft depression sitting between these two bone ends, at the crown of the shoulder, is Jugu.
Confirm before pressing. Touch feather-light and compare sides; many people notice a faint, dull awareness at the true hollow and little sensation half a thumb-width away. Shrug slowly and let the shoulders drop twice — feel the hollow shift subtly under your fingertip as the bones glide, then settle back. Check the geography: the spot should sit unmistakably on the very top of the shoulder, neither sliding down the front slope toward the chest nor wandering back onto the flat of the blade. If your finger finds only hard edges, it is resting on one of the bones themselves; ease off the rim into the groove between the two ends rather than pressing harder against either.
Common slips have simple fixes. The first is dropping down onto the shoulder joint itself, which sits lower and further forward — return to the crown of the shoulder. Another is drifting toward the neck, where the tissues soften into the slope of the trapezius; the true hollow keeps bone on both sides of it. And some searchers probe with a digging fingertip, which tenses everything it touches. Slow the search instead: find the end of the collarbone once, find the end of the ridge once, and let the hollow announce itself in the space between. Losing track simply means starting again from the breastbone end of the collarbone.
Reading the Name: Great Bone
The Chinese name states its geography without decoration. Ju 巨 means great, huge, mighty. Gu 骨 means bone, the character picturing flesh over a skeletal frame. Together they read as the Great Bone: the largest, most conspicuous meeting of bone visible at the surface in this region, where the outer collarbone, the acromion, and the spine of the shoulder blade converge into one bony stronghold. Many channel points wear architectural or landscape names — gates, valleys, courtyards, storehouses — and this one does the same work with plainer materials: it tells you the terrain before you arrive.
The category records add a second layer. The dataset files Jugu as a crossing-point, a classical designation for places where two or more channels or vessels meet and interweave, their qi mingling at the junction. Classical descriptions associate this shoulder-top crossing with the yang qiao vessel joining the large intestine channel. Crossing-points were read as hubs rather than way-stations: travelers arriving from two directions could be attended at one address. Whether or not one adopts the traditional map literally, the label records how the tradition thought about the spot — a place of convergence, where the limb’s pathway hands its concerns upward toward the neck and head.
Pinyin renders the name Jùgǔ: ju carries a falling fourth tone, gu a dipping third tone. The hanzi pair 巨骨 is short enough to memorise at a glance, and like most point names it repays the effort, because the name doubles as a locating instruction: find the great bones, and the point waits in the gap between them. Where storehouse names speak of gathering, and gate names of access, Great Bone speaks of structure — fitting for a point the classics consulted when the shoulder’s architecture of movement seized up.
Traditional Indications, Explained
The recorded indications read: contracture and pain of the shoulder and arm, inability to raise the shoulder, cervical scrofula, and goitre. Take the first pair together, as tradition did: a shoulder and arm grown tight, cramped, and painful, and a shoulder that will not lift. The old frame understood such complaints as qi and blood failing to move freely through the region — stagnation gathered after strain, cold, or long stillness, locking the joint’s ease of motion. Classical practice therefore reached for points along the channel that crossed the shoulder, and few stand closer to the summit of that crossing than this one. Framed as heritage rather than promise: this is what the tradition treated the point for.
The last two indications ask for historical patience. Cervical scrofula is the old term for bead-like chains of nodules appearing along the sides of the neck; goitre described visible swelling at the front of the throat. Why would a shoulder point appear in such company? The channel answers: the large intestine pathway climbs onward from this shoulder-top up the neck toward the face, and classical reasoning extended a channel’s reach to the territory it traversed. Both terms, whatever their history, describe findings that belong squarely in modern clinical care today — lumps and swellings of the neck are reasons to see a physician promptly, never targets for self-treatment of any kind. They appear here as part of the honest record, flagged as history rather than invitation.
It bears repeating plainly: these are the traditional uses recorded in a licensed dataset and classical literature, offered for cultural and historical understanding. They are not claims that pressing this point treats any condition, and nothing in this guide replaces assessment by a qualified clinician. Where modern research touches self-applied pressure at all, reviews suggest effects are modest and context-dependent, and evidence specific to any single point remains thin. Hold the tradition lightly, hold the safety rules firmly, and treat any persistent shoulder complaint — especially one following injury, or accompanied by night pain, fever, or swelling — as a reason to seek professional eyes.
Self-Care Acupressure at Home
With the point found by the walkthrough above, settle in: seated, spine tall but unforced, shoulders heavy and level. Curl your index and middle fingers together and rest the pads — not the tips — on the hollow. Begin with contact alone for a few slow breaths, then add small circles, letting the skin glide over the tissue beneath rather than grinding against bone. Pressure should register as pleasant dullness or mild warmth, never sharpness. A common home rhythm is one to three minutes per side, once or twice daily, matched where possible to long exhales so each circle rides the breath out. Swap hands and give the other shoulder the same unhurried attention.
Quality matters more than duration. Light, patient, regularly repeated contact fits the wellness register this page practises; hard digging teaches the tissue nothing and bruises easily, this close to bone. Warm cold hands first, because chilled muscle guards. Choose a quiet corner over a screen and let the practice double as a posture pause: as you circle, notice how much of the day’s tension pools around the tops of the shoulders. People who keep routines often anchor them to existing habits — after morning washing, before the commute, at the afternoon stretch — because consistency, not intensity, is what self-care traditions actually ask for.
Treat the exercise as a short ceremony of attention rather than a treatment session. Across weeks, notice what honestly changes: perhaps the shoulder feels less guarded while you press, perhaps the breath settles, perhaps nothing shifts except that you spent two minutes caring for a joint that carries a keyboard, a bag, and a working day. All of those outcomes fit the honest scope of self-acupressure. What does not fit is escalation — heavier thumbs, longer sessions, pressure driven down toward the joint to force a result. When curiosity pulls that way, return to gentleness or stop for the day; the hollow between the great bones asks for courtesy, not conquest.
Cautions and Safe Practice
This point earns more respect than most, and the reason is written in the licensed record. The dataset cautions practitioners not to needle Jugu deeply, because deep insertion here could let a needle enter the chest cavity and cause pneumothorax — a collapsed lung, which is a medical emergency. The warning follows from plain anatomy: the dome of the lung rises above the collarbone, so the space beneath this shoulder-top hollow lies closer to the upper reaches of the chest than any surface impression suggests. Professional training manages that risk with exact technique; home self-care manages it differently and far more simply — by never leaving the surface at all.
For fingertip acupressure the rules follow from the picture. Keep contact light and strictly superficial — the intention lives in skin and superficial muscle, never driving downward toward the joint or inward toward the chest. Use finger pads, never elbows, knuckles, or tools, and never press through pain or while holding the breath. Skip the point entirely during feverish illness, over broken or irritated skin, and over any lump, swelling, or enlarged gland wherever it appears; be cautious after recent shoulder, neck, or chest injury or surgery until a clinician clears ordinary activity. Sharp, electric, or radiating sensation means stop at once and do not try again that day. Pregnant readers, and anyone living with lung or heart conditions, should consult a qualified practitioner before adding any new point practice.
And the wider rule stands over everything: this page is educational, and acupressure is self-care, not diagnosis or therapy. Seek prompt medical care — not a pressure routine — for a shoulder that will not move after an injury, pain that worsens at night, swelling with fever, any new lump in the neck or throat region, numbness or weakness traveling down the arm, or any symptom that frightens you. Persistent complaints belong with a licensed practitioner, medical or East Asian medical as suits the problem. The Great Bone imagery is sturdy, but the safest gift this point offers most people is a finer acquaintance with the landscape of their own shoulder, treated kindly.
Jugu, the Great Bone, crowns the large intestine channel at the very top of the shoulder, in the hollow between the outer end of the collarbone and the ridge of the shoulder blade. Classical practice reached for it when stiff, painful shoulders would not lift. This guide walks through finding it by touch and pressing it safely.
Cautions from the classical sources
- Keep insertion shallow so the needle cannot enter the chest cavity and cause pneumothorax.
Self-care limits
Frequently asked
- How do I find Jugu without knowing anything about cun?
- You barely need measuring units at all — this location is built from landmarks rather than distances. Trace the collarbone outward until it ends; trace the ridge of the shoulder blade up until it ends in the bony shelf; then feel for the soft hollow sitting between those two endings at the crown of the shoulder. If both fingertips land on bone, slide off the edge into the groove between them. Two definite bones and one honest hollow are the entire method.
- Is pressing Jugu myself actually safe?
- Gentle fingertip pressure held on the surface is generally reasonable self-care for healthy adults, because it engages skin and superficial muscle far above anything delicate. The recorded danger concerns deep professional techniques aimed toward the chest cavity — a category home acupressure never approaches. Respect the stop signals all the same: sharp pain, electric or radiating sensation, or discomfort that worsens means finish immediately and try nothing more that day.
- What did classical practice use Jugu for?
- The traditional record lists painful cramping of the shoulder and arm, inability to raise the shoulder, cervical scrofula, and goitre. Classical texts describe the point as a crossing-place on the shoulder where vessels meet, which is why complaints of shoulder movement dominate its historic portfolio and neck-region conditions appear alongside them. Those are traditional frameworks for understanding the body, documented for context — not evidence-backed treatment claims.
- Why is Jugu called a crossing-point?
- Crossing-point is a classical category for locations where two or more channels or vessels intersect and share their flow. Classical descriptions associate this shoulder-top junction with the yang qiao vessel meeting the large intestine channel. The label captures how the tradition read the terrain: a hub where the arm’s pathway exchanges with routes bound for the neck and head, letting one spot serve several conversations at once.
- Can acupressure at Jugu replace seeing a doctor about my shoulder?
- No. Self-acupressure is a comfort practice, not a diagnostic tool, and a stiff or painful shoulder carrying red flags — trauma, night pain, fever, swelling, a new neck lump, or weakness spreading down the arm — needs professional assessment promptly. Think of the two as different floors of the same building: daily self-care lives downstairs, and clinical medicine keeps the consulting room upstairs that you visit when symptoms persist or escalate. Neither substitutes for the other.
Sources
- 01WHO Standard Acupuncture Point Locations in the Western Pacific Region (2008), World Health Organization — nomenclature conventions.
- 02A Manual of Acupuncture, Peter Deadman, Mazin Al-Khafaji and Kevin Baker — point-name tradition, crossing-point theory, and channel context.
- 03aijiu-mpvue (MIT License) licensed dataset, entry for LI16 Jugu — location, point class, actions, and caution record.
Last reviewed
牌記This leaf, for machines
Old books ended with a colophon saying who printed them. Every leaf here carries the same facts as structured data for agents and search, with no layout in the way.
- GET /en/points/li16/leaf.json
- GET /zh-hant/points/li16/leaf.json
- GET /zh-cn/points/li16/leaf.json
- /llms.txt — the index of every leaf
- JSON-LD in the page: MedicalWebPage, MedicalEntity and FAQPage
{
"id": "LI16",
"name": {
"en": "Jugu",
"gloss": "Great Bone",
"zh-Hant": "巨骨",
"zh-Hans": "巨骨"
},
"channel": {
"id": "LI",
"order": 16,
"of": 20
},
"location": {
"text": "On top of the shoulder, in the hollow where the collarbone meets the ridge of the shoulder blade."
},
"for": [
"shoulder pain",
"an arm that will not lift"
],
"press": {
"text": "Moderate fingertip pressure into the hollow, about a minute each side.",
"seconds": 60,
"sides": "both"
},
"cautions": [],
"source": "Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing, book 3",
"url": "https://acupoints.com/en/points/li16",
"lastReviewed": "2026-08-24"
}