The great heat-clearing point of the Pericardium channel. Quze (PC-3) cools the Blood, calms the Heart and clears fevers — when heat has entered deep into the body and the Heart is disturbed, this is where you turn.
Contraindications
The brachial artery and median nerve lie close to this point — careful needling technique and accurate location are important. The bleeding technique (pricking to bleed) should only be performed by a trained practitioner.
Name & story
The name 曲泽 Quze means "Crooked Marsh" or "Curved Marsh". The character 曲 (qu) means curved or bent — a perfect description of the elbow crease where the point lives. And 泽 (ze) means a marsh or pool — a place where water gathers and cools. Together they paint a lovely picture: a quiet, cool pool nestled in the bend of the arm, where excess heat and agitation can sink down and be stilled. A marsh is also a place of abundance — and indeed the Pericardium's jueyin channel is described in the Spiritual Pivot as "abundant in blood" — which is precisely why this point is so powerful at cooling and moving the Blood (Xue).
Point family & character
PC-3 belongs to the Pericardium channel (PC). In classical character it is the He-Sea point of the channel, and its elemental nature is Water — making it the Water point on a Fire channel. This Water-within-Fire quality gives it a special ability to cool and descend. Because the jueyin channel (which includes both the Pericardium and Liver channels) is described in the Spiritual Pivot as "abundant in Blood and limited in Qi", PC-3 has a long tradition of being bled — pricked to release a few drops of blood — to clear Heat from the Blood level.
Five-element dynamics
The Pericardium is the Fire channel of the jueyin, yet PC-3 is its Water point — Water within Fire. This inner tension is the secret of the point's power. Water cools Fire's excess; it descends what has risen; it stills what has become turbulent. When pathogenic Heat rushes inward and stirs up the Blood, or when Summer-Heat attacks and throws the body into fever, sweating and vomiting, this Water point on the Fire channel steps in — drawing the heat downward and cooling the blood like a marsh cools the summer air. The ancient Spiritual Pivot noted that the jueyin channel "is abundant in Blood" and that it is therefore appropriate to prick it to bleed and drain Blood — a teaching that practitioners have followed at PC-3 for centuries.
Location
Find it at the elbow crease when the arm is slightly bent. Feel for the large tendon in the middle of the crease (biceps brachii) — PC-3 sits just to its inner (ulnar) side, in the depression there.
Anatomy & fascia
The point lies in the cubital crease of the elbow, on the ulnar side of the tendon of the biceps brachii muscle. The brachial artery and the median nerve pass nearby.
The golden tip
For everyday home use, firm acupressure on PC-3 at the inner elbow crease can help ease mild palpitations, agitation and nausea. Bend the elbow slightly, feel for the tendon in the middle of the crease, and press just to its inner side for 1–2 minutes. In hot weather or after over-exertion in heat, cooling this point with a cold compress is also a reasonable home comfort measure.
For education only — not medical advice. Consult a qualified practitioner.