The Governing Vessel, Du Mai, is one of the eight extraordinary vessels of Chinese medicine, and one of the two, with the Conception Vessel, that have their own points rather than borrowing those of the twelve principal channels. It runs up the midline of the back, from the base of the spine over the crown of the head to the upper lip, and is classed as Yang.
The sea of the yang channels
In the theory of the channels the Governing Vessel is called the sea of the yang channels, gathering and governing the yang qi of the whole body; the six yang principal channels are held to meet it. Together with the Conception Vessel it forms the circuit used in the breathing and energetic practices of Daoist inner cultivation, the so-called microcosmic orbit.
It is described here as a concept of traditional Chinese medicine, with its long documented history, rather than as a structure of Western anatomy.