The great point for speech and voice. Yamen (GV-15) opens the gateway to the tongue, clears Wind from the deepest channels, and drains excess Yang heat — when words are lost, or Wind has struck the mind and body, this is where Chinese medicine looks.
Name & story
The name 哑门 Yamen means "Gate of Muteness" — 哑 (yǎ) means mute or dumb, and 门 (mén) means gate or door. The image is quietly powerful: this point sits at the back of the neck, right where the spine meets the skull, guarding the passage through which speech emerges. When that gate is closed — by Wind, by excess Yang, by sudden illness — the voice is lost. The point's whole purpose is to re-open that door, to let words flow again. Even its location feels like a threshold: the very nape of the neck, where the inner and outer worlds meet.
Point family & character
Yamen (GV-15) belongs to the Governing Vessel (GV), the great Yang channel that runs up the spine and over the crown of the head. It is the meeting point of the Governing Vessel with the Yang Linking Vessel (Yangwei Mai), which gives it a broader reach into the Yang channels of the whole body. It sits at a critical anatomical crossroads — at the base of the skull — making it one of the most powerful and most carefully handled points on the entire channel.
Five-element dynamics
The Governing Vessel is the "Sea of Yang Channels" — it governs, collects and regulates all the Yang Qi of the body. Yamen sits near the very top of the spine, close to the brain, where Yang rises most powerfully. When Yang heat and Qi exuberance surge upward — as the classical text the Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion describes — they can block the tongue, disturb the mind and stir interior Wind. Yamen addresses this directly: it drains excess Yang and heat downward, calms the uprising, and restores the quiet order that allows speech, consciousness and clarity to return.
Location
Find it at the nape of the neck, on the midline. It sits 0.5 Cun below Fengfu GV-16 (which is itself just below the base of the skull), and 0.5 Cun above the posterior hairline. The point rests in a small depression, just below the first cervical vertebra — a gentle hollow that is usually easy to feel.
Anatomy & fascia
The point lies on the posterior midline of the neck, below the spinous process of the first cervical vertebra (C1), in a depression at the posterior hairline. The spinal canal lies approximately 1.5 to 2 Cun deep beneath the skin surface at this location, varying with body build.
The golden tip
Because of its location near the brainstem, Yamen (GV-15) is not suitable for self-needling or strong home pressure. Gentle warmth at the nape of the neck — a warm towel or a heat pack — can ease stiffness and tension in the area. For any concern about voice loss, speech difficulty, or neurological symptoms, please seek qualified professional care.
For education only — not medical advice. Consult a qualified practitioner.