Woodcut illustration, howing the path of chongmai (Penetrating Vessel), from Jingmai tu kao (Illustrated Study of the Channels), published in 1878 (4th year of the Guangxu period of the Qing dynasty).
Chongmai is one of the Eight Extraordinary Channels (qi jing ba mai). This channel starts within the lower abdomen, emerging below at the perineum, and ascends within the spinal column. Its external course traverses the qijie (Path of Qi) area in the groin, where it comes into confluence with the kidney channel of foot shaoyin. Thence it runs upwards along both sides of the torso to the throat, and encircles the lips. Pathological changes in this channel are thought to provoke retrograde Qi in the chest and abdomen (xiongfu qini), dyspnoea (qichuan), shanjia (thoracic/abdominal swelling/hernia), dryness-heat (zaore), atrophy-flaccidity syndrome (weizheng), etc.