Acupoint nomenclature as a semantic body map: a quantitative linguistic analysis of landscape metaphor in standardized acupoint names

Medical knowledge is shaped not only by clinical practice but also by linguistic systems that organize and communicate bodily experience. In traditional East Asian medicine, acupoints are key therapeutic sites, yet the semantic structure of their names, which are rooted in classical Chinese medical terminology, has rarely been examined systematically. In modern research, acupoints are typically identified by standardized alphanumeric codes, which facilitate communication but often obscure the meanings embedded in traditional nomenclature. We conducted a descriptive linguistic analysis of the semantic structure of all 361 standardized acupoint names in the fourteen-meridian system, using character frequency analysis and a rule-guided semantic classification. Landscape metaphors accounted for 40.7% of acupoint names (n = 147), exceeding anatomical references (25.2%, n = 91), whereas the remaining 34.1% (n = 123) were classified as abstract or symbolic terms. Many metaphorical expressions referred to geographical features such as valleys, springs, seas, and ponds. These findings indicate that acupoint nomenclature functions not only as a naming system but also as a culturally structured semantic body map for organizing therapeutic space in contemporary standardized terminology. By showing how landscape metaphors are systematically embedded in acupoint terminology, this study provides a linguistic basis for understanding how traditional East Asian medicine represents the body as a therapeutic landscape. It also generates testable hypotheses about embodied cognition and body representation.