SP-4 Gongsun - Prince's Grandson

Gong Sun represents a grandfather's and grandson's surname, and it was the name of the Yellow Emperor. In Chinese tradition the grandson is revered because he carries the tradition, and the prince brings honor and glory. There is a lot of spirit in this point: a certainty of the future, a harvest of the future with children, and the assurance that there will be continuity in the lineage. It lends the Official something of the Heavenly connection and gives someone a good sense of themselves and of their place on Earth. Because the kingdom's future belongs to the son and grandson, this point lets you bring the patient the idea that a future is coming. The grandson in the name, the Emperor's favorite and heir to the prince, actually saved the realm, a healer of the land, and it is the only point with such an influential royal name, carrying wealth, riches and plenty. It is like handing the future on to one's grandchildren and leaving a legacy: an investment in the patient's future, a promise of something to come, with great youthful richness. It is said to be among the loveliest points on the body, and much joy can come from it; it gives communication with a higher, wiser being, as between grandfather and grandson, like a favored child of the court given the very best by Mother Earth, and brings a feeling of royalty and richness. "How was the harvest?" means "Was it rich?", and the first four Spleen points all deal with that richness; this one gives the certainty of a harvest to come. Like a Window of the Sky, it offers a vision of a future king, heir to the kingdom, and the knowledge that the people will be cared for in prosperity. Points with royal links establish our bond with Heaven and empower the nobility in all of us.

• Worsley singles out Prince's Grandson as an especially beautiful point. The royal line was linked with Heaven, and its descendants were always cherished and groomed to become landholders and rulers. To the Chinese, a prince's grandson would have meant continuity and wealth: the promise of moving into the future and a secure succession. Above all the title speaks of the riches of the land and of the inheritance it offers everyone who lives from it. In this point, and in Abundant Splendour, its partner junction point on the Stomach, he sees all the nourishment, resources, harvest and security that the Earth Element provides through its two Officials, keeping every other Official grounded and in touch with the spirit of the Mother.

Location: On the inner edge of the foot, a little distal to the proximal end (base) of the 1st metatarsal.
Needle depth: 3 fen
Moxa: 3 cones

• When someone feels they have no future, for example a suicidal person who can't see the future
• When the person doesn't feel connected to or nourished by things in their life, even when nourishment is offered: the curmudgeon Earth
• For serious Earth imbalance and depression: self-pity and whining, 'poor me', a lost perspective, sympathy pointed the wrong way, martyrdom, cynicism
• When the person needs a sense that carrying on has a purpose
• When an Earth Causative Factor (CF) is extremely agitated or has lost touch with themselves
• When someone is feeling sorry for themselves, oppressed and overwhelmed and needs strength and trust
• When someone is sleeping too much and needs help to start moving
• When dampness and humidity have created stagnation, like not wanting to move in late summer; out of that stillness it helps us move forward
• When a person has lost their 'for the sake of'
• When a person puts out a great deal and gets nothing back, feeling no harvest from their efforts
• When everything has become too much to cope with and the person is sorry for themselves; it helps them look to the future with a new perspective
• When the person feels hopeless, "What's the use?", feeling it will only be more of the same
• For an exhausted martyr

• ST-40 Abundant Splendor with SP-4: gives food and nourishment to Earth when it is in a miserable state

• Junction point of the Spleen and Stomach
• Opening point of the Penetrating Vessel (Chong Mai), which has to do with conception, Blood and fertility
• Calms the spirit, bringing calm and a more objective view
• Gives the power of the ancestors and eases communication with a higher being