頭維 Touwei
“Head's Corner-Rope” · ST8
Foot Yangming · 8 of 45 · crossing-point
Where. At the corner of the forehead hairline, then half a finger-width up into the hair.
For. Headache, dizziness, sore eyes.
Press. Small fingertip circles, both sides together, about a minute.
頭維，在額角髮際俠本神兩傍各一寸五分按 · Press with me
Six slow breaths
About a minute. Press as you breathe out, ease as you breathe in.
鄰 · Neighbouring leaves
Where Touwei Sits on the Side of the Head
Run a fingertip along the front hairline and watch where it travels: forward across the middle of the forehead, then up and around at the outer edges, turning downward toward the temples. Those two turns are the temple corners of the hairline, and the dataset places Touwei directly above one of them — on the side of the head, half a cun above the hairline at the temple corner, and four and a half cun lateral to the midline. A cun, as always in this tradition, is not a ruler unit but a proportional one: lengths taken from the body being examined, so the same written measurement lands slightly differently on different foreheads. Half a cun is conventionally about half a thumb-width; four and a half cun from the midline carries the point well out toward the edge of the forehead, where face becomes temple.
What lies beneath the fingertip explains the site’s sensitivity. Scalp is the thinnest covering on the body for what it protects: a few millimeters of skin and connective tissue stretch over the tough cap-like sheet that binds the skull, with the upper frontier of the temple’s fan-shaped chewing muscle reaching into this neighborhood. Blood vessels and nerves run close to the surface here, which is why even featherweight touch registers vividly, and why some people notice a faint pulse in the region when everything is still. That closeness is part of the point’s character — the tradition put a point where the circulation of the head runs shallow — and it is also the whole argument for gentleness. Nothing about locating or pressing Touwei ever requires force.
Geometry offers two confirmations before any searching begins. First, symmetry: there is a Touwei on each side, and since each stands four and a half cun from the midline, the pair together spans nearly the entire width across the top of the forehead — find one honestly and the other waits at its mirror position. Second, a shared horizontal line: classical location places the midline point Shenting (GV24) half a cun above the centre of the front hairline, exactly the height Touwei keeps at its corner. Run a fingertip horizontally back from one point toward the middle of the forehead and it arrives level with Shenting. If a candidate spot fails that level test, it has drifted up the side of the head and should be re-measured from the corner.
A Self-Palpation Walkthrough
Stand or sit before a mirror in good light and begin at the obvious landmark: the centre of the front hairline, where the forehead meets hair above the nose. Walk the index finger of one hand outward along the hairline itself — staying on its lower edge — until the line turns a corner and starts descending toward the ear. That turn is the temple corner. Rest the pad of your finger just above it and slide upward no more than half a thumb-width into the hair, keeping strictly vertical. The spot you settle on, in the hair at the top of that corner, is the address the dataset describes. Repeat the whole search on the other side, unhurried, so both points receive equal attention.
Three quiet checks turn a guess into a find. Touch lightly and compare sides: most people notice a faint dull awareness or mild tenderness at the true point and much less a finger-width away. Check the height: slide horizontally inward from the spot toward the midline of the forehead — if the path stays level with a point half a thumb-width above the centre of the front hairline, the height is right. Check the territory: clench the back teeth very gently and release; many people feel the fan of the temple muscle tighten and soften under the fingertip just below, confirming the neighborhood without requiring any precision. None of these tests involves pressure beyond a feather’s weight.
Two slips account for most misses. The first is wandering backward into the temple proper, into the soft hollow between hairline and ear — a famous region in its own right, but not this address; Touwei belongs at the front corner, above the hairline’s turn. The second is stopping at the hair’s edge itself rather than rising the half-thumb into the hair, easy to do when a fringe or windblown strands confuse the border. Hairlines vary enormously — high, low, receding at the corners — so when the corner is hard to see, fall back on proportions: measure out from the midline about half the apparent width of the forehead at that height, rise half a thumb-width, and search there. Whenever doubt creeps in, return to the mirror, find the corner once more, and measure up a single time, slowly.
Reading the Name: The Head’s Corner-Rope
Two characters carry the whole picture. Tou 頭 means the head itself, plain and unsurprising for a point this high. Wei 維 is the more interesting half: in its oldest uses it names the corner-ropes of a hunting net or fishing seine — the cords fastened at the four corners that hold the web taut and give it shape — and by extension it comes to mean a corner, and further still, to hold fast, to maintain, to keep something steady. Read together, Touwei suggests the head’s corner-rope: the place where the covering of the head is gathered and tied at its foremost angle. The name fits the geography with almost literal neatness, since the point sits precisely at the corner where the hairline turns, like a knot set where the fabric folds.
Pinyin renders the name Tóuwéi, and both syllables rise evenly on the second tone — tou and wei climb together, a small upward lilt that suits a point standing at the summit of its channel. The hanzi 頭維 are compact enough to memorise at a glance, and they join the great family of landscape and craft names that run the whole length of the channels: gates, valleys, wells, courtyards, and here a rope-end. The metaphor does real work. Calling a point a corner-rope says the tradition treats it as a place that gathers tension and holds the region steady — an anchoring image worth carrying into the hands, because anchors argue for patience, not force.
There is a pleasing thread connecting the name to the point’s recorded category. The catalogue lists Touwei as a crossing-point, and classical summaries count several pathways meeting around the temple corner: the stomach channel itself arrives here along the hairline, and the gallbladder channel, whose course zigzags across the side of the head, passes through the same territory; later compilations often add the yang-linking vessel to the tally. It is hard to miss that the very character wei appears again in that vessel’s Chinese name — the tradition, whether by design or by accident of language, hung a corner-rope at the corner where paths cross. Later commentary sometimes draws the moral explicitly; readers can decide how much weight to give it, but the convergence of imagery and geography is at minimum elegant.
Traditional Indications, Explained
The recorded indications read: headache, dizziness, eye pain, conjunctivitis, failing vision, and hypertension. The first two belong squarely to head-country logic. Classical practice understood much headache as qi and blood moving badly in the channels that cover the head, and points along those courses were gathered to encourage smoother movement; the temple corner, standing where several pathways meet, sat naturally in such discussions. Dizziness in the old records covers a family of experiences — light-headed sway, a tilting or spinning sense, foggy instability on standing — grouped together long before modern medicine sorted their many causes. Reading the list traditionally means reading how the era organised experience, not receiving a promise of results.
The eye cluster — eye pain, conjunctivitis, failing vision — follows from the channel map. Classical descriptions trace the stomach channel beginning beside the nose, flanking the region of the inner eye before sweeping up and outward across the face, so the tradition counted the eyes within the territory this channel overlooks. Conjunctivitis in these records means what the word still means: red, gritty, watering eyes, the ordinary inflammation everyone has met. Failing vision is the older, softer idea of sight dimming with exhaustion or years rather than any specific diagnosis. Modern boundaries deserve stating plainly: a persistently red, painful, or light-sensitive eye, any injury, or a sudden change in sight belongs with an eye-care professional promptly, and sudden vision loss is an emergency. Self-care at a temple point was never the right tool for those, and this page does not offer it as one.
The last indication, hypertension, demands the most careful translation of all. High blood pressure is a medically diagnosed condition managed through ongoing clinical care, and nothing here substitutes for that care or adjusts it. What the traditional record reflects is an older observational habit: dizziness, throbbing fullness in the head, and heat sensations were grouped and addressed at head points within a framework that predates blood-pressure measurement entirely. Presenting that grouping as history is honest; presenting it as therapy would not be. The same honesty applies across the whole list — where modern research touches self-applied acupressure at all, reviews suggest effects are modest and heavily context-dependent, and study specific to any single point remains thin. Hold the tradition as heritage, hold medical care as medicine, and let neither pretend to be the other.
Self-Care Acupressure at Home
With both points located, settle in: seated, spine tall but unforced, jaw deliberately loosened so the chewing muscles quiet down — a clenched jaw keeps the whole temple territory tense under the fingertips. Curl the index and middle fingers together and rest the pads, never the tips or nails, on the two spots. Begin with simple contact for a few slow breaths, letting the scalp accustom itself, then move in small, slow circles so the skin glides with the finger rather than dragging across it. Sensation should stay in the register of pleasant dullness or faint warmth. A common home rhythm is one to three minutes per side, once or twice daily, matched where possible to long exhales; finish by giving the other side identical treatment, keeping the session symmetrical.
Small preparations repay themselves here more than at most points. Hands should be freshly washed — this is the hairline, where oils, products, and the day’s dust collect — and dry and warm besides, since cold fingers make scalps flinch. Loose or pinned-back hair keeps stray strands from confusing the location mid-practice. Quality still outranks duration everywhere in this tradition of self-care: light, patient, regularly repeated contact is the entire method, while hard rubbing buys soreness and teaches nothing. Skip the points entirely whenever the scalp at either site is broken, irritated, flaring, or recently treated, and leave a clear day between sessions if any tenderness lingers afterward. People who keep the habit usually anchor it to something existing — morning washing, an afternoon pause — because regularity, not intensity, is what the practice actually asks.
Treat the minutes as a small ceremony of attention rather than a treatment appointment. Across weeks you might notice the area feels less guarded under your fingers, that a paused moment at the temple interrupts a screen-bound afternoon pleasantly, or simply that you spent ninety seconds caring for the head that carried the whole day. Every one of those outcomes fits the honest scope of self-acupressure. What does not fit is escalation — pressing harder, longer, or deeper to force a result the practice never promised. When curiosity pulls that way, return to the light touch or close the session for the day; the corner-rope holds best when the hand holding it is kind.
Cautions and Safe Practice
The licensed record carries exactly one caution for this point, and it concerns heat rather than pressure: do not apply moxibustion, as clearly recorded in classical literature. The old texts state the prohibition plainly and move on, without itemizing reasons; the head’s abundance of yang activity and the thin, vessel-rich scalp are sometimes suggested as parts of the traditional thinking, though that remains interpretation rather than anything on record. For home practice the rule costs nothing, because fingertip work involves no burning herbs at all — keep Touwei a pressure-only point and the ancient instruction is honoured completely. Out of simple conservatism, this page extends the same spirit to modern conveniences: heating pads, heat lamps, and similar devices have no business at this site either, a choice of prudence rather than a second recorded rule.
The everyday rules gather quickly. Contact stays strictly superficial — skin and the surface of the scalp, never force directed down or worked vigorously side to side. Use finger pads only: no knuckles, elbows, brushes, or tools anywhere near the temple corners. Stop at once on sharp, electric, or radiating sensation, and do not try again that day. Set the points aside whenever the scalp is broken or inflamed, during feverish illness, and for a week or so after any procedure involving the head or hair until ordinary comfort returns. Pregnant readers, and anyone living with migraine or other neurological conditions, heart or blood-pressure conditions, or a history of head injury, should ask a qualified practitioner before adding any new point practice — not because gentle surface touch is dangerous, but because their situations deserve individual guidance first.
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 sudden headache unlike any before or described as the worst ever; headache with fever and a stiff neck; symptoms beginning after a blow to the head; dizziness with slurred speech, facial drooping, limb weakness, or unsteadiness; or any abrupt change in vision. Persistent headaches, recurring dizziness, or lingering eye complaints belong with a licensed practitioner, medical or East Asian medical as suits the complaint. The corner-rope imagery is charming, but the safest gift Touwei offers most people is a calmer acquaintance with their own head, held lightly and laid down promptly when real medicine is called for.
Touwei, the Head’s Corner, crowns the stomach channel at the very top of the forehead, half a thumb-width above the hairline at each temple corner. Classical practice reached for it when headache, dizziness, or troubled eyes clouded a day. This guide shows how to find it by touch and press it gently.
Cautions from the classical sources
- No moxibustion — the classical texts are explicit on this.
Self-care limits
Frequently asked
- How do I find Touwei without knowing anything about cun?
- Use the hairline as the whole map. Start at the centre of the front hairline above the nose, trace outward along its lower edge until the line turns a corner toward the temple, then rise half a thumb-width straight up into the hair. That corner-level spot is the location the dataset describes. The cun measurements encode exactly the same sequence proportionally — half a cun up from the corner, four and a half cun out from the midline.
- Is pressing my own temple corner actually safe?
- Gentle fingertip contact held on the surface is generally reasonable self-care for healthy adults — it engages skin and the scalp’s surface far short of anything delicate. The area is simply more sensitive than most, with vessels and nerves running shallow, so lighten accordingly and expect vivid feedback from very little pressure. Respect the stop signals: sharp, electric, or radiating sensation, or discomfort that worsens, all mean finish immediately. Never rub hard, and never use tools.
- What did classical practice use Touwei for?
- The traditional record lists headache, dizziness, eye pain, conjunctivitis, failing vision, and hypertension. Classical theory placed the point where several head pathways meet — the catalogue calls it a crossing-point — which is why head and eye complaints dominate its historic portfolio, with the last entry reflecting an older era’s way of grouping dizzy, throbbing sensations. These are traditional frameworks documented for cultural understanding, not evidence-backed treatment claims.
- Why does the record forbid moxibustion at this point?
- The licensed dataset preserves a prohibition the classical literature states plainly, without recording detailed reasons; the head’s lively yang character and its thin, vessel-rich covering are often suggested as part of the traditional picture, though that remains interpretation. Practically, honouring it asks nothing unusual: keep this a pressure-only point, and leave heating devices out of the routine too as a matter of simple prudence. Home acupressure involves no burning herbs in the first place.
- Can pressing Touwei lower my blood pressure or fix my headaches?
- No — and the boundary matters most where health is concerned. Blood pressure deserves management by a clinician, continued exactly as prescribed; recurring or severe headaches deserve proper assessment, since their causes are many and some are urgent. Daily self-acupressure can live comfortably alongside that care as a moment of calm attention, but it cannot replace the consulting room, and any sudden severe headache, neurological sign, or vision change is a reason to seek medical help immediately, not to press harder.
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 lore, and channel context.
- 03aijiu-mpvue (MIT License) licensed dataset, entry for ST8 Touwei — location, 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/st8/leaf.json
- GET /zh-hant/points/st8/leaf.json
- GET /zh-cn/points/st8/leaf.json
- /llms.txt — the index of every leaf
- JSON-LD in the page: MedicalWebPage, MedicalEntity and FAQPage
{
"id": "ST8",
"name": {
"en": "Touwei",
"gloss": "Head's Corner-Rope",
"zh-Hant": "頭維",
"zh-Hans": "头维"
},
"channel": {
"id": "ST",
"order": 8,
"of": 45
},
"location": {
"text": "At the corner of the forehead hairline, then half a finger-width up into the hair."
},
"for": [
"headache",
"dizziness",
"sore eyes"
],
"press": {
"text": "Small fingertip circles, both sides together, about a minute.",
"seconds": 60,
"sides": "both"
},
"cautions": [],
"source": "Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing, book 3",
"url": "https://acupoints.com/en/points/st8",
"lastReviewed": "2026-08-24"
}