Tibet Journal Medicine

ISSN 0970-5368

THE

Vol. XXX & Vol.XXXI ol.XXXI,, No.4 & No.1, Winter 2005 & Spring 2006

TIBET JOURNAL

a publication for the study of Tibet

l a n r u o J t e b i T e h T

EDITORIAL BOARD Geshe Lhakdor, Lhakdo r, Gyatsho Tshering Tshering,, Tashi Tashi Tsering, Tsering, Nathan Nat han Katz, Bikkhu Pasadika, Pas adika, Anne-Marie Blondeau, Per Kværne, Toni Huber POLICIES

is a quarterly publication of the t he Library of Tibetan Works Works & Archives (LTW (LTWA) A) devoted to the presentation of scholarly and general interest articles on Tibetan culture and civilization by Tibetans and non-Tibetans. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Editorial Board of The Tibet Journal or the LTW LTWA. A. Responsibili Respons ibility ty for views view s expressed and the accuracy of articles rests entirely with the authors. The Tibet Journal

EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE The Tibet Journal welcomes submission of articles and research papers in English, adequately substantiated or otherwise documented, with Wylie romanisation system. Article should be typed and double-spaced. We We request that all contributions sent to the journal have both the print and diskette/CD copy (in MS Word). Word). Contributors will receive a copy of the Journa Journall, and up to 20 offprints of the particular article. Unaccepted articles will be returned upon request. The Journal Jou rnal encourages readers’ comments on articles published in recent issues. Address articles, rejoinders, editorial enquiries, and books for review to: Managing Editor, The Tibet Journal, Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, Gangchen Editor, Kyishong, Dharamsala 176 215, H.P., INDIA Tel: +91-1892-222467, +91-1892-222467 , 226095, Fax: +91-1892-223723, Email: [email protected], visit

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ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTION Following an agreement, we have appointed EBSCO Publishing, USA, our sole distributing and selling agent for electronic publication w.e.f. Vol.XXVII, Vol.XXVII, 2002. For Fo r subscription contact EBSCO Publishing, 10 Estes Street, Ipswich, Massachusetts 01938-0682, USA, Email: [email protected], Website: .epnet.com> COPYRIGHT Except where otherwise declared, the entire contents of The Tibet Journal are under the protection of the Indian Copyright Act of 1957, the Berne Convention of 1956, and the Universal Copyright Copyrigh t of 1952. In case of reprint usage, the Managing Editor should be informed and source credit given to the authors of the individual articles, as well as to The Tibet Journal.

The Tibet Journal A publication for the study of Tibet

Contributions to the study of Tibetan medicine Alessandro Boesi & Francesca Cardi GUEST EDITORS Geshe Lhakdor

Dhondup Tsering

EDITOR -IN-CHIEF

M ANAGING EDITOR

W INTER V OL INTER & SPRING OL .XXX, NO.4 & V OL OL .XXXI, NO . 1 2005 & 2006

ARTICLES sMan and Glud: Standard Tibetan Medicine and Ritual Medicine in a Bon Medical School and Clinic in Nepal Colin Millard Tibetan Medicine in Gyalthang Denise M. Glover Hybrid Methodologies in the Lhasa Mentsikhang: A Summary of Resources R esources for Teaching about Tibetan Medicine Frances Garrett Plant categories and types in Tibetan materia medica Alessandro Boesi Principles and methods of assembling Tibetan medicaments Francesca Cardi trans lation Nyes pa: A brief review of its English translation Yonten Gyatso Gyatso “An excellent measure”: the battle against smallpox in Tibet, 1904-47 Alex McKay

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55 65 91 109

119

Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo (1509-1579) on the Controversy of the Indian Origin of the rGyud bzhi Olaf Czaja A Hitherto Unknown ‘Medical ‘Medi cal History’ of mTsho mTsho smad mkhan chen (b.16th cent.) Olaf Czaja

131

153

BOOK REVIEWS Mahayanasutra lamkara, The Universal Vehicle Mahayanasutralamkara, Discourse Literature edited by Prof. Robert Thurman Prof. Parmananda Sharma Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A select annotated bibliograp bibliography hy of British relations with Tibet and the Himalayan states Marsh all including Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan by Julie G. Marshall Alex Mckay Exile as Challenge: The Tibetan Diaspora, Bernstorff, Dagmar and Hubertus von Welck (eds.) Feminism, Nationalism and Exiled Tibetan Women by Alex Butler Geoff Childs The Autobiography of Jamgön Kongtrul: A Gem of Many Colors translated by Richard Barron Martin A. Mills The Practice of Dzogchen by Longchen Rabjam translated by Tulku Thondup Georgios Halkias The Life of Buddhism, Frank E. Reynolds and Jason A. Carbine (eds.) The Power of Denial Ñ Buddhism, Purity Puri ty and by Bernard Faure Gender by D.R. Chaudhry

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174

174

179

181

182 184

OBITUARIES Heinrich Harrer (1912 - 2006) Henry George Baker (1918 - 2006) Roger Croston

189 193

CONTRIBUTORS

197

sMan

and Glud : Standard Tibetan Medicine and Ritual Medicine in a Bon Medical School and Clinic in Nepal Colin Millard

For anybody who has ever visited a Tibetan doctor, the immediate image that the term ‘Tibetan medicine’ provokes in the mind is that of diagnosis through reading the pulse and therapy in the form of small brown medicinal pills. In September 1996 I set off for the valley of Dhorpatan in the Baglung district of West Nepal with the intention of carrying out research in the Tibetan medical school situated there on how the medical students learned medicine. After almost two years of studying the kinds of medical activities that the students were involved in, I ended up with quite a different conception of Tibetan medicine than that confined to pulse reading and small brown pills. There is now a relatively large body of literature (Aschoff 1996) on Tibetan medicine, much of which gives the impression of Tibetan medicine as a medical system based on humoural theories of health and disease, which has much in common with Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine. This body of knowledge and practice is documented in the main medical text the rGyud bzhi and its numerous commentaries, perhaps the most famous of which is the Blue Beryl of Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho. As we will see the Bonpo have an equivalent text to the rGyud bzhi known as the ’Bum bzhi, where the same medical system is presented. Based on these texts Tibetan medicine is a science 1 that can be practised, and indeed often is, without making any reference to Tibetan religion 2. In what follows I will refer to this aspect of Tibetan medicine as ‘standard Tibetan medicine’; this is what is conveyed by the Tibetan word sman. However it is clear from reading the main medical text that Tibetan medicine in its theories and practices is intimately related to Tibetan religion and this was evident in the medical practices that I observed in Dhorpatan, so much so that there was a clear division of labour between the Tibetan doctor who dealt with all the patients who required standard Tibetan medical therapy and the head lama of Dhorpatan who dealt with all sicknesses that required a ritual intervention. Although the use of ritual in healing clearly takes healing into the domain of Tibetan religion, in Dhorpatan it was still thought to be an aspect of Tibetan medicine. The body of knowledge and practice concerned with disease and healing in Tibetan culture is known in Tibetan as gso ba rig pa. This translates as ‘the art (or science) of healing’. The semantic scope of the Tibetan term is not coterminous with the English word ‘medicine’. Broadly speaking gso ba rig pa is the art of maintaining and restoring balance in the human constitution, community and environment, and many of the activities which relate to it lie within the domain of Tibetan religion. The main ritual techniques that were used in healing in Dhorpatan are known in Tibetan as glud . This paper will discuss the distinction between standard Tibetan medicine and ritual medicine, and then outline the ritual aspect of gso ba rig pa, as I observed it in the Tibetan community in Dhorpatan.

4 TIBET JOURNAL NORDZINLING SETTLEMENT AND TASHI GEGE THARTENLING BONPO MEDICAL SCHOOL The Nordzinling Tibetan settlement consists of five camps situated at various locations along the valley of Dhorpatan. It takes approximately one hour to walk from the first to the last. During the period of my stay in the valley there were around 250 Tibetans in residence. There was a clear distinction between the two camps to the east of the valley where the Tibetans originated from the Tewa region of Tibet and followed the Tibetan Bon religion, and the three camps to the west of the valley where the residents mostly came from the Kham regi on of east Tibet and followed the Karma Kagyu Buddhist sect. The first camp that one comes to as one approaches the valley from the east, because it is the location of the only functioning Tibetan temple, is known as Gompa. This is also the location of the med ical school and clinic. Although only a third of the Tibetans were Bonpo this was the most significant religion in the valley in terms of community religious activity, as the one lama and several monks who stayed in the Gompa compound and served the communities religious needs, were all Bonpo. In the summer months the valley was also host to around 1000 Nepalese from six ethnic groups; fo r this reason most of the patients who came to the clinic during this period were Nepalese. There are a number of reasons why I chose this location to carry out research on Tibetan medical education. I first heard about the school on a visit t o Triten Norbutse Bon monastery in Kathmandu where I was told that the school in Dhorpatan taught Bon medicine and the main text in the school was not the Buddhist rGyud bzhi but an equivalent Bon medical text called the ’Bum bzhi. Intrigued by this I wanted to discover the nature of Bon medicine and how it compared to Tibetan Buddhist medicine. Another point of interest was that there were 10 medical students in the school, all at different stages in the course curriculum. Furthermo re the school had an attached clinic that served the medical needs of both the Tibetan and Nepalese communities, and a pharmacy where locally gathered plants and raw medicinal substances brought from Kathmandu, and occasionally Tibet, were processed into medicinal compounds. The learning occurred in three arenas: in the classroom, by engaging in medical practice in the clinic or in the community, and in pharmaceutical contexts. The medical school is known as Tashi Gyegay Thartenling. It was established in 1990 by Tsultrim Sangye, a Bon monk and Tibetan medical doctor who is commonly referred to as Amchi Gege. He was born in 1938 and comes from a family of medical lineage. All the medical teaching in the school was done by him. Of almost equal importance to Amchi Gege in the arena of health care was the young head lama of Dhorpatan, Geshe Tenzin Dargye. He had studied in the dialectics school at Menri Bon monastery at Dolanji. After successfully completing his final examination and achieving the title of Geshe, he had been sent to serve as the head lama at Dhorpatan by the abbot of Menri, Sangye Tenzin. He was born in 1967 and as such Amchi Gege was considerably senior to him in terms of age, though he always deferred to his superiority in terms of religious knowledge. As we will see, these are the two key figures who administered to the communities health care needs. Amchi Gege would attend to all the sicknesses that could be treated by standard Tibetan medicine. When a sickness required a ri tual intervention, Amchi Gege would pass on this kind of work to Geshe Tenzin Dargye who would then be assisted in carrying out the rituals by the medical students; this then was another area of medical knowledge into which the students were inducted.

SMAN AND GLUD: STANDARD TIBETAN MEDICINE

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Whilst I was in Dhorpatan there were four female and six mal e medical students aged between 16 to 28 years. Three of the male medical student s were monks and the eldest medical student came from a sngags pa3 lineage in Mustang and as such had some considerable experience of Tibetan religion and ritual techniques. Although there was no rule that students at the school should be monks, there was no doubt that this was Amchi Gege’s preference due to the large area of overlap between the Tibetan medical and religious domains . The two other male students, though not ordained as monks, were expected to don the monk’s habit at times of important rituals. Through serving as assistants in the ceremonies in the temple they had also acquired a good practical knowledge of Tibetan ritual. THE BON AND BUDDHIST SOURCES OF TIBETAN MEDICINE I have said that the Tibetan religious activities in Dhorpatan were primarily of the Bon religion, and that Amchi Gege teaches Bon medicine using a text called the ’Bum bzhi. Before proceeding to discuss the types of healing rituals used in Dhorpatan, in this section I will present relevant background information about the Bon and Buddhist religions of Tibet, and a summary of the relationship between the two main medical texts, the Buddhist rGyud bzhi, and the Bon ’Bum bzhi. In addition I will consider where the rituals that I observed in Dhorpatan fit in the Bon canon. We have seen that in Dhorpatan the Tibetans are divided into two religious groups and following common usage I have referred to these two religious groups as followers of Buddhism and Bon. However this contrast is in certain ways misleading. Using the more appropriate Tibetan designations, the distinction is between the Tibetans who are chos pa, followers of the religion of chos, and those who are bon po, followers of the religion of Bon . Both Snellgrove (1967:1) and later Kvaerne (1972:23) have pointed out that there is no word for Buddhism in the Tibetan language. The closest approximation is the word nang pa, which means ‘insider’, but as Kvaerne as indicated this word designates both the chos pa and the bon po. There is a long tradition of chos pa polemical writings on the Bon religion going back to the 13th Century AD (Martin 1991) where the Bon religi on is presented as little more than a plagiarised version of chos. Bonpo scholars have made the same counter claim. Whatever the case in terms of doctrine and practice both religions have much in common: both are based on the doctrine that life is marked by impermanence and suffering, and that through the force of karma, beings are bound into a constant cycle of death and rebirth into one of the six realms of existence until through religious practise and virtuous actions they achieve liberation. Furthermore, both religions use the same word sangs rgyas4 to refer to the one who has accomplished this state of emancipation, and both religions are based on the teachings of such an individual: for the followers of chos it is the Buddha Sakyamuni; and for the followers of bon it is the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab (sTon pa gshen rab). According to the chronology of the Bon lama, Nyi ma bstan ’dzin (b. 1813), Tonpa Shenrab was born in 16016 BC (Kvaerne 1972 ) in a royal family in the land of ’Ol mo lung ring 5. The exact location of this land is not specified in the Bon texts, but it is said to be a part of a land called sTag gzig, which is located somewhere to the west of Tibet 6. Tonpa Shenrab taught the doctrines of Bon primarily in ’Ol mo lung ring. He visited Tibet briefly, in quest of his seven prized horses that had been stolen by the demon Khyap pa lag ring; at this time he taught only the lower

6 TIBET JOURNAL ways of Bon, finding the people not ready for the higher teachings. He entrusted to each of his sons certain aspects of the Bon doctrine 7. The most important in this context is his second son dPyad bu khri shis, to whom Tonpa Shenrab passed on all his medical knowledge. According to Bon history there were six great translators 8 who were responsible for translating and spreading the doctrines of Bon in the surrounding countries. The disciples of Mu cho ldem drug of sTag gzig translated the teachings into the language of Zhang zhung, and it was from here that the teachings were brought to Tibet during the reign of the legendary first King of Tibet, gNya’ khri btsan po 9. Zhang zhung plays the same role for the Bon religion as India does for Tibetan Buddhists. According to Bon sources, Zhang zhung was a large kingdom stretching from Gilgit in the west and encompassing all of western Tibet. Its capital was Khyung lung dngul mkhar in the region of Mt Ti se (Kailash). Tradition maintain s that the second king of Tibet Mu khri btsan po, invited 108 Bon scholars from Zhang zhung to Tibet, and 37 religious centres were established during his reign (Cech 1987). The Bonpo claim that most of their texts were originally written in the language of Zhang zhung. This is why the title has been left in this language on the first page of many of their Tibetan texts akin to the way Tibetan Buddhist texts have retained their original Sanskrit title. Traditionally, the doctrines and practices of Bon have been classifi ed according to two main systems: the four doors and the five treasures ( sgo bzhi mdzod lnga) 10, and the nine ways ( theg pa dgu). There are three versions of the nine ways: the ‘northern treasure’ ( byang gter ), the southern treasure ( lho gter ), and the central treasure ( dbus gter ). The nine ways are explained in the Ziji , ‘The Glorious’, the long biography of Tonpa Shenrab; the relevant sections have been studied by Snellgrove (1967) 11. In brief the nine ways are 12: 1. The ‘Way of the Shen of Cha’ ( phywa gshen theg pa): covers the four activities of divination ( mo), astrological calculation ( rtsis), ritual ( gto ) and medicine ( sman) 2. The ‘Way of the Shen of Phenomenal Universe’ ( snang gshen theg pa): deals with classes of malevolent spirits and local deities, and rituals associated with them, rites of exorcism, and ransom rites. 3. The ‘Way of the Shen of Magic Power ’ ( ’phrul gshen theg pa): explains how to carry out rituals of destruction against harmful beings. 4. The ‘Way of the Shen of Existence’ ( srid gshen theg pa): comprises of funerary rites. 5. The ‘Way of the Virtuous Ones’ ( dge bsnyen theg pa): covers the rules of behaviour for the lay practitioner. 6. The ‘Way of Ascetics’ (drang srong theg pa): deals with the rules of monastic discipline. 7. The ‘Way of White A’ ( a dkar theg pa): covers tantric theory and practice. 8. The ‘Way of Primordial Shen’ ( ye gshen theg pa): gives further details on Tantric practice. 9. The ‘Supreme Way’ ( yang rtse bla med theg pa): the teachings of the great perfection ( rdzogs chen). The nine ways are divided into two groups. The first four are collectively referred to as the ‘Bon of Cause’ (rgyu’i bon) and involve knowledge and practices that are


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of practical benefit for worldly ends. These were the practices that were used in the context of healing in Dhorpatan, although as we will see elements of the higher ways were also used. This group of practices is sometimes further subdiv ided into ‘12 lores of Bon’, which according to Tibetan historical sources were prevalent during the reign of the first king of Tibet, gNya’ khri btsan po, who reigned around 126BC (Norbu 1995:xv). The higher five ways are referred to as the ‘Bon of Fruit’ (’bras bu’i bon); they include the teachings found in the Bon tantras and dzogchen texts, which deal with the methods of liberation from this world. As Snellgrove (1967:12) points out, this classification covers almost the whole range of Tibetan religious culture. The only thing that is missing is the pattern of learning that occurs in Buddhist and Bon dialectic schools; this is because this form of study developed after the compiling of the nine-fold classification. The rNying ma pa sect also classifies its knowledge into nine vehicles, though in a different way from the Bon classification (Samuel 1993:231, Rinbochay 1982). The first three vehicles refer to non-tantric practices, the next five on different aspects of tantric practice, and the ninth classification, like the ninth way of Bon deals with their highest level teachings, the theories and practices of Dzogchen. When I arrived in Dhorpatan I found that Amchi Gege was indeed using the ’Bum bzhi in the medical school, but after some time I came to realise that the ’Bum bzhi was almost identical to the rGyud bzhi. Amchi Gege had no problem explaining this. In his opinion Tibetan medicine was first taught by th e founder of the Bon religion, Tonpa Shenrab, and the rGyud bzhi is a Buddhist reworking of the ’Bum bzhi. For this reason he is quite happy to use both text s in the school. The standard Buddhist history of the rGyud bzhi is that it was first taught by an emanation of the Medicine Buddha, Rig pa’i ye shes in Oddiyana, eventually to be written down in Sanskrit and passed on to the Kashmir pandit Candranandana who transmitted it to Vairocana. Vairocana translated it and passed it on to Padmasambhava, who, so the account goes, thought that the people of Tibet were not ready for it at that time and consequently hid it in a pillar in Samye monastery. It was taken from Samye monastery in 1098 by the gter ston Grwa pa mngon shes. Eventually the text passed into the hands of g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po the younger in the 12th century, from whom the present editio n stems. The Bonpo have a different account of the origi n of the rGyud bzhi. For them it is based on the Bon medical text the ’Bum bzhi, which was first taught by Tonpa Shenrab to his son dPyad bu khri shis. Amchi Gege explained to me that from dPyad bu khri shis the text was passed on through the medical lineage in sTag gzig and Zhang zhung, eventually to be translated into Tibetan by sDon rgyung mthu chen, Gyim tsha rma chung, lCe tsha mkhar ba, and Sha ri dbu chen, at the ti me of the second king of Tibet Mu khri btsan po. Later, when the Bon religion was persecuted, the ’Bum bzhi, along with many other Bon texts was hidden. There are three different accounts of the way the text was di scovered. One account states that the text was found by the Bonpo gter ston Khu tsha zla ’od 13 in Bhutan. A second account holds that it was one of the texts rediscovered at Samye monastery in 913 AD by three Nepalese monks; the gter ston is named as a tsa ra. The third account is given in the history of the Bon religion of Shar rdza bKra shis rgyal mtshan (Karmay 1972:170). He writes that in 1037 AD, Bu mtsho Srid pa’i rgyal po found several medical texts in western Tibet, amongst which was the ’Bum bzhi. In the catalogue ( kar chag) of Bon texts of Nyi ma bstan’dzin, nine medical texts are

8 TIBET JOURNAL listed in the Bon bKa’ ’gyur (Kvaerne 1974:101); these he states were all discovered by Bu mtsho Srid pa’i rgyal po. The first of these texts is the ’Bum bzhi. Nyi ma bstan’dzin adds to his entry that the four parts of the ’Bum bzhi were ‘transformed’ (bsgyur pa) by Vairocana into the four parts of the rGyud bzhi. He gives as evidence of this that the mantras in the text have been left in the language of Zhang zhung, and the Bon word for a fully ordained monk, drang srong14 has also been left unchanged. Other Bon accounts claim that it was g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po the younger who transformed the ’Bum bzhi into the rGyud bzhi. With the exception of a few minor differences in detail, the two texts are essentially the same. Where they diverge substantially is in the material that deals with the history of the medical teachings and the medical lineage. The ’Bum bzhi originates in ’Ol mo lung ring where Tonpa Shenrab first taught it to his son dPyad bu khri shis. The whole of the text is structured as a dialogue between them; each section begins with dPyad bu khri shis requesting the teachings from his father. The rGyud bzhi, on the other hand, was taught by the Medicine Bu ddha, Bhaisajyaguru, in his palace, in the city of Tanaduk ‘beautiful to behold’. Here, from his body he magically emanates two sages. The sage Yid las skyes as the embodiment of his speech requests the teachings, which are given by the emanation of his mind, the sage Rig pa’i ye shes. The rGyud bzhi is structured as a dialogue between these two sages. Both texts consist of four volumes, which deal wi th different aspects of the medical lore. The ’Bum bzhi has one hundred and sixty-six chapters, and the rGyud bzhi has one hundred and fifty-six. This disparity arises from the few occasions when material that is covered in one chapter in the rGyud bzhi is divided into separate chapters in the ’Bum bzhi. In terms of medical theory and practice, the rGyud bzhi and the ’Bum bzhi are identical. There is a parallel here with the considerable overlap in the theory and practice of the Tibetan religions of chos and bon . As Kvaerne has suggested where there is divergence this relates not to metaphysical doctrine or religious practice, but to different notions of history, legitimation and religious authority. Certainly the followers of chos and bon in Dhorpatan, in matters of religious practice, behaved to a large extent as one unified religious community. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TIBETAN COSMOLOGICAL NOTIONS AND TIBETAN MEDICINE The distinction between sickness that can be treated by standard therapies and that which requires a ritual intervention can be understood by looking at the causal mechanism of such disorders according to Tibetan medicine. This will be discussed fully in the next section. First, as the cause of disease in Tibetan medicine is intimately related to Tibetan religious and cosmological notions, a brief discussion will be made of this relationship here. Tibetans have three main overlapping schemes which describe the nature of the natural environment, and the types of beings which inhabit it. For Tibetan Buddhists this information is contained in the Buddhist Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana texts which were brought to Tibet from India. As we saw in the previous section the Bonpo have equivalent texts which they claim were translated from the language of the Central Asian kingdom of Zhang zhung. The first cosmological scheme is found in the fourth century Abhidharmako sa texts of Vasubandhu where the universe is described as one of an infinite number of world systems (Brauen, M. 1997, The Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan


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Buddhism. London: Serindia. Sadakata, A. 1997. Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins. Tokyo: Koosei Publishing) that arose through the karma of early living beings. At the centre of the world system is the four-sided Mount Meru encircled by seven mountain ranges. These mountain ranges are divided by an inner sea. Beyond them is an outer sea in which twelve continents are located: one large continent in each of the cardinal points with one small continent on its either side. Humans live on the southern continent known in Tibetan as ’Dzam bu gling (skt. Jambudvipa). It is said that our sky is blue because ’Dzam bu gling faces the southern side of Mount Meru which is made of lapis lazuli. Beings are distributed through the world system according to a hierarchy of purity. It is said that the top of Mo unt Meru is the Abode of 33 Gods. Above Mount Meru there are 25 heavens ascending in escalating degrees of purity. Below ’Dzam bu gling there are eight hot and eight cold hell realms. Whereas the Mount Meru world system focuses on the spatial distribution of realms and beings, the second main Tibetan cosmological scheme follows the Buddhist and Bon notion of impermanence and emphasises the transmigratory nature of life. This relates directly to Bon and Buddhist conceptions about why beings are caught in the endless cycle of death and rebirth. Beings are born into transmigratory existence through a fundamental ignorance of their own nature. This deep ignorance (ma rig pa) leads to the three mental poisons ( dug gsum) of ignorance ( gti mug), desire (’dod chags) and aggression ( zhe sdang). It is these afflictive emotions which generate the karma which leads beings to be born int o one of the six realms of the ‘wheel of existence’ ( srid pa’i ’khor lo): the three higher realms of humans, gods and asuras; and the three lower realms of animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings. According to Tibetan medical theory the three mental poisons generate the three humours in the body which underlie all psychological and physiological processes: desire generates wind; aggression generates bile; and ignorance generates phlegm. Traditional paintings of the wheel of life include 12 sections equally spaced around the circumference where the twelve symbols of the chain of interdependent origination are depicted. At the centre of the wheel the three mental poisons are represented by a pig for ignorance, a snake for aggression, and a cock for desire. At the centre of the Bon version of the wheel the three mental poisons are represented by a monstrous beast with the body of a cow, the tail of a snake, and having three heads, a pig’s head, a cock’s head, and a serpent’s head (Kvaerne 1995:143). These schemes serve only to provide a summary of the classification of beings in Tibetan religion but in fact Tibetan tradition recognises a h uge variety of divinities and spirits many of them classed under the Tibetan generic term lha. NebeskyWojkowitz (1956) classic study of the Tibetan protective deities gives an idea of the extensive scope of the subject and also demonst rates that the Tibetan pantheon includes Buddhist, Bon and folk elements. In fact as we shall see it is through the action of Tibetan lamas that mountain deities or deities associated with a given territory are bound to serve the Buddhist or Bon traditions. Nebesky-Wojkowitz notes that in the Tibetan tradition there is a clear distinction between protective deities that have passed beyond samsaric existence ( ’jig rten las ’das pa’i srung ma) and those that still reside within it ( ’jig rten pa’i srung ma). These two classes appear in Samuel’s (1993:166) fourfold classification of Tibetan deities and spirits. The four classes that Samuel gives are: deities of the Bon and Buddhist heavens ( ’jig rten las ’das pa’i lha); deities of this world ( ’jig

10 TIBET JOURNAL rten pa’i lha); malevolent spirits (’dre or gdon); and the tantric meditational deities ( yi dam). Deities of the Bon and Buddhist heavens are the enlightened beings that live in the various heaven realms that exist above Mt. Meru. Some of them serve as high religious protectors. The group includes divine Bodhisattvas such as the Buddhist Avalokitesvara, and Mañju sri and the corresponding Kun bzang rgyal ba rgya mtsho and sMra ba’i seng ge of the Bon tradition. The group of divinities that remain within samsaric existence includes a wide range of types of deities and spirits usually associated with locat ions in the natural environment such as: mountains, rivers, caves, trees, rocks, lakes, mountain passes, and so on. Certain powerful deities within this class have a retinue of helpers which in the texts is likened to a court with the main deity at the apex of a hierarchical structure including generals and ministers and host of lesser attendants (NebeskyWojkowitz 1956:21). One classification of these divinities divides them into three groups according to the specific locations where they reside. The deities that reside in the sky are the white lha , those that reside in the intermediate realm are the red btsan and the yellow gnyan, and those that dwell under the earth are the blue klu. (Tucci 1980:167, Stein 1972:204). A well known rNying ma pa classification is the ‘eight classes of gods and demons’ lha srin sde gyed . Cornu (1990) gives ten gods and demons that often appear in various renditions of this grouping: klu , gnyan, sa bdag, btsan, rgyal po, bdud , ma mo, gza’, gnod sbyin, and lha. Another rNying ma text cited by Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1956) lists thi rty classes of gods and demons. The third group of divinities are the yi dam , the tantric meditational deities. Typically, a tantric deity has a cycle of texts associated with it where the attributes of the principal deity, the subsidiary deities connected with it, its mandala and rituals are explained. The principal tantric deity is referred to as the yi dam. The ontological basis of the yi dam relates to the level of consciousness beyond samsaric existence. The yi dam has two aspects, it expresses both the potential within the practitioner to achieve enlightenment, and the enlightened state itself. Trungpa explains that the name yi dam is a shortened form of yid kyi dam tshig, which means ‘the mental committment’ (1982:228). It is the commitment made by the practitioner which aims to transform the dam tshig sems dpa’ (commitment mind) into the ye shes sems dpa’ (wisdom mind). This occurs through two stages: in the generation stage the practitioner generates his or herself as the commitment bei ng; transformation into the wisdom being occurs during the completion stage practices which involves knowledge and experience of the subtle anatomy explained in the tantric texts, particularly the yoga practice of the ‘channels and winds’ ( rtsa rlung). By generating oneself as the yi dam the tantric practitioner is not merely performing an exercise in imagination, he or she is actualising a latent potential to achieve enlightenment. In respect to healing, through the visualisations and mantras used in the tantric ritual, the practitioner acquires the power to heal, empower medicines, and control harmful spirits. This is why the yi dam are often referred to as tutelary deities. It is common for Tibetans to have a special relationship with one particular yi dam. This may be through personal choice, or through the advice of a lama. Some families also have a special relationship with a specific yi dam . Geshe Tenzin Dargye’s family has a special relationship with the Bon yi dam, dBal

SMAN AND GLUD: STANDARD TIBETAN MEDICINE ...

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chen ge khod, and it was this deity that he most often resorted to in healing rituals in Dhorpatan. The fourth general classification is the group of harmful spirits known collectively as ’dre or gdon. This group incorporates a wide range of malevolent spirits which are inherently disposed to cause harm. In certain instances the ’dre relates to human activity (Tucci 1980: 187). If, when a person dies, they remain att ached to a given place through and unfilled task or an existing vendetta, they may linger in this location causing harm as a shi ’dre. There is also the gson ’dre. This is a person, usually a woman, who has the power to cause harm that has been passed on through the family line. Stories about spirits abounded in Dhorpatan. Many of the Tibetans claimed to have seen them or experienced them in one way or another. On numerous occasions I heard people talking about a kind of spirit known as ’dre me, which were frequently encountered in the valley. The name means ‘spirit fire’ and derives from the spirit’s appearance as a ball of light hovering or moving above the ground. Geshe Tenzin Dargye explained that a number of different kinds of spirits can appear in this way. One of Amchi Gege’s medical students encountered such a spi rit on his way home from the medical school. The ball of light moved in front of him and away across a nearby river. Shortly after this he was confined to bed with a fever during wh ich time a boil15 appeared in his neck. He recovered after appropriate rituals were conducted. From this brief description we can see that Tibetans in Dhorpatan share their world with a host of gods and spirits, the presence of whom is felt in the surrounding environment. The tantric deities and protectors are experienced through their images and the rituals associated with them. Local spirits are associated with locations in the natural environment such as specific mountains, mountain passes, rivers, lakes, springs, caves, trees, and so on. When such a location has a known association with local gods or spirits it will be ritually marked in some way, such as setting up prayer flags on the location, or cairns ( lha tho) on mountain tops in honour of the mountain deities. Abundant mantras carved into rocks and mchod rten16 here and there in the valley convey the message of the lib erating power of the Buddhist and Bon teachings. The Tibetans in Dhorpatan take care to live in harmony with the natural environment, an environment which is replete with symboli c meaning. Geshe Tenzin Dhargye explained to me that when the Tibetans first arrived in the 1960s, the region of the valley where they now live was densely forested and there were many harmful spirits present. These unruly spirits were controll ed by a number of lamas but one Bon lama, Tsultrim Nyima is still spoken about today for his achievements in this area. Samuel (1993:167) has noted that the taming of the environment by the power of religion is a common motif in Tibetan history. The role that Tsultrim Nyima played in Dhorpatan parallels that of the tantric adept Padmasambhava in Tibet. In the eighth century whilst establishing the Vajrayana form of Buddhism in Tibet he spent considerable time subduing local spirits and binding them by oath to uphold the Buddhist doctrine. The harmony that exists between the Tibetans and the natural environment in Dhorpatan is something that has to be constantly re-established through ritual. As we will see there are specific rituals that are carried out periodi cally by the monks and the local people for this purpose. Before moving on to discuss the types of rituals that are used in Dhorpatan, in the following section we will consider the

12 TIBET JOURNAL mechanisms by which a spirit can cause sickness. In order to understand this we need to consider the subtle anatomy as it is described in the highest yoga tantras and in the medical teaching. THE SUBTLE ANATOMY IN THE TANTRAS AND TIBETAN MEDICINE In the above discussion on the tantric deities I mentioned that the success of tantric practice is founded on a practical knowledge of the subtle anatomy as it is described in the tantric texts. It is this subtle anatomy which provides a link between the microcosm of the human constitution and the macrocosmic environment. This body of knowledge is associated primarily with the highest yoga (annuttarayayoga) tantri c texts such as the Kalachakra Tantra ( Dus ’khor rgyud ) and the Bon’s Mother Tantra ( Ma rgyud ). As we will see in the following section on aetiology it is by entering the body through specific channels that harmful spirits are able to cause illness by disturbing the flows of ‘winds’ in the channels of the subtle anatomy. Tibetan medical theory about anatomy is covered in chapter four of the second volume of the rGyud bzhi and the ’Bum bzhi, and it is here that the influence of tantric cosmology on Tibetan medicine is most clearly evident. The chapter begins by outlining the parts of the physical body in terms of quantities and proporti ons to the size of the body 17. The main components of the body are listed as the three humours of wind ( rlung), bile ( mkhris pa) and phlegm ( bad kan), the seven bodily constituents18 the excreta, the five solid organs 19 (don lnga) and the six hollow organs20 (snod drug). It then moves on to describe the various channels ( rtsa)21 in the body. According to the anuttarayayoga tantric texts, underlying the physical anatomy there is a subtle anatomy comprised of a huge network of channels through which flows a vital force referred to as ‘wind’. There are three main channels which run down the centre of the body. At various points along the central channel are certain centres (Tib. ’khor lo, Skt. cakra) where many channels converge. These centres are co-ordinating points that relate to various psychological and physiological processes. Traditionally the number of channels in the subtle anatomy is listed as 72,000, but different figures appear in various texts (Wangyal 2002:81). From this vast network of channels, chapter four focuses on four classifications of channels which have particular relevance to the medical teaching. The first group of channels is the channels of formation ( chags pa’i rtsa). These are the three channels that run down the centre of the body that are mentioned above. They are the first to be formed in the human embryo. The power of the afflictive emotions and karma, which carries the consciousness into rebirt h, is carried through into the embryo, and has a causal affect on how the body subsequently develops. As we saw earlier, each one of the three mental poisons has a direct causal relationship with one of the three humours: desire is the cause of wind ( rlung), aggression brings about bile ( mkhris pa), and ignorance generates phlegm ( bad kan). In a similar manner, the three mental poisons are related to the ‘three channels of formation’. The first channel (Tib. rkyang ma, Skt. ida ) has the nature of the water element. It rises from the umbilical region moving up the left side of the body, passing the heart and the throat and finally forming the brain and the white channels 22, and thereby mental confusion and dullness; it is related to phlegm and as such this humour is associated with the upper body. The second channel (Tib. ro ma, Skt. piogala) of formation is related to the fire element and the blood. Between


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the heart and lungs it is known as the ‘life channel’ ( srog rtsa). It passes through the middle of the body carrying the essential nutriment of the digested food to the liver, from there it heads to the 10th vertebra and forms the ‘black life channel’ (srog rtsa nag po); this channel is the source of anger, which is situated in the black life channel and the blood. As we have seen, anger is the cause of the bile humour and consequently this humour is associated with the middle of the body. The third channel (Tib. dbu ma, Skt. su r umna ) of formation is associated with air. It is the intermingling of blood and wind in this channel at the heart that leads to the blood circulation. From the umbilical region it goes downwards and forms the genital organs, which are the seat of desire, and thus the humour of wind is associated with the lower body. The second classification of channels is called the ‘channels of existence’ ( srid pa’i rtsa). These channels are related to our psychological functions, to our emotions, to sensory perception and cognition. There are four principal channels of existence. The first is situated in the brain and is surrounded by 500 small channels; these provide sensory experience. The second channel of existence is situated in the heart centre, and is said to be the width of a hair in a horse’s tail. It is surrounded by 500 small channels; these provide various mental funct ions such as the sense of self, memory and intellectual processes. It is here where the various components that are spoken of in Buddhist psychology interface with the psychophysical continuum of the human constitution. Radiating out from each of the cardinal points around the heart centre are four channels: at the front (east) is the channel which relates to the consciousness of the five senses; behind (west) is the consciousness of the conflicting emotions; at the left is the channel which relates to cognition and intellectual processes; and at the right is the channel which relates to the store consciousness ( alaya vijñana). These series of channels are referred to as ‘the good mind’ ( yid bzang ba ). At the centre of the heart centre is the life channel ( srog rtsa) which is the location of one of the five main types of wind, the ‘life holding wind’ (srog ’dzin rlung). This wind is of particular importance to the harmonious functioning of psychological processes. A subtle element of this wind in the life channel supports the subtle consciousness which transmigrates from life to life. As we will see in what follows, ritual intervention is required when disease arises as a result of disturbances in this wind through the action of harmful spirits. The third channel of existence is situated at the navel. It is surrounded by 500 small channels; it functions to develop and maintain the body. The fourth channel of existence, which is also surrounded by 500 small channels is situated at the genitals and is responsible for procreation. The third classification of channels are the ‘connecting channels’ ( ’brel ba’i rtsa). These refer to the blood vessels and the nervous system. We have seen that there are three channels that run down the centre of the body. The right channel gives rise to the ‘black channels’ of the blood vessels, and the left channel gives rise to ‘white channels’ of the nervous system. The fourth classification of channels is the ‘lifespan channels’ ( tshe yi rtsa). The text describes three lifespan ‘channels’, though what is being described is not so much a ‘channel’, rather it is the movement of the ‘life force’, or what is sometimes translated as ‘soul’, through the body. The first life force ( bla ) is described as the ‘one which penetrates the whole of the body’ 23. This circulates around the body according to the lunar cycle. The Tibetan doctor must verify t he position of the life

14 TIBET JOURNAL force (bla gnas) before carrying out moxibustion or blood letting. The second life force is known as the ‘one that accompanies the breath’ and refers to a vital energy that is drawn into the body through the breath. The third life force, which is also referred to as bla, is of direct relevance to certain forms of illness and the use of ritual in healing . The text says of this that it ‘is like the soul and roams about’. We have seen that the seat of the consciousness (rnam shes) is in the heart centre. Amchi Gege explained to me that the bla originates from the consciousness. It is a vital principal which provides support to the body. It was also described to me as the most refined nutrient of the metabolic process (dangs ma’i dangs ma), along with the ‘vitality fluid’ ( mdangs). Geshe Tenzin Dargye explained to me that the bla is often considered as part of the threefold group, bla yid sems gsum which relates to the mind in the Bon tradition. Sems is the ordinary mind, yid is a deeper layer of the mind in which thoughts circulate, and the bla is the vital energy which sets things in motion. Lopon Tenzin Namdak referred to the bla in this context as the karmic traces ( bag chags) which cause thoughts to arise in the mind. For a variety of reasons the bla may leave. As this is potentially fatal for the individual, appropriate rituals must be done to bring it back. As we can see from this description, in Tibetan medicine there is no separation between the body and the mind; they form part of a single psychophysical continuum. It is also worth noting that according to Tibetan medical theory, the human constitution responds to rhythms in the natural environment. We have already seen that the bla rotates around the body according to the lunar cycle. Tibetan medical therapies are based on the notion that there is a direct relationship between the five elements of fire, air, water, earth, and space, in the inner world of body and these same elements in the outer world. Cures are affected by finding medicines in the environment that have an elemental nature which counteracts the elemental disequilibrium in the body. This interrelationship between the outer and inner worlds can be seen in the way that each of the element s and the humours rise and decline according to the prevailing season. This is discussed in some detail in the pulse chapter of both the ’Bum bzhi and the rGyud bzhi, where a series of interrelationships are given. Each season consists of three months: t wo months of thirty-six days and a transitional month of eighteen days. Each of these months corresponds to an astrological sign, one of the five elements, one solid and hollow organ, a natural event in the environment, a constellation, and a certain type of pul se. The Tibetan doctor must be aware of this when he or she is taking the pulse in order not to confuse the naturally changing pulse throughout the year with a pathological pulse. AETIOLOGY IN TIBETAN MEDICINE The distinction between sickness that can be treated by standard therapies and those that require a ritual intervention can be understood by considering the subject of disease causation in Tibetan medicine. Dunn (1976:134) lists four causative factors that lead to health or disease: exogenous, endogenous, behaviour, and human population. He specifies the endogenous factors as genetic, and he subdivides the exogenous factors into biotic and non-biotic. This accords well with a biomedical perspective, but the scheme also provides a useful template for understanding other medical traditions, where there will be some cultural divergence as to the explanations that appear under these headings.


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As the main medical text of the Bon tradition, the ’Bum bzhi, and the main medical text of the Buddhist tradition, the rGyud bzhi, are virtually identical, both texts are used interchangeably in the school in Dhorpatan. The first volume 24 gives a summary of the medical teaching using the metaphor of a tree with three roots. Each root has stems, branches, and leaves which enumerate and summarise the various elements of the medical teaching. The first root summarises th e condition of the healthy and pathological body. The second root summarises methods of diagnosis, and the third root summarises forms of therapy. The second volume covers a range of topics including anatomy, physiology, pathology, diet, behaviour, the characteristics of medicines, and diagnosis. The third volume which is by far the largest, covers Tibetan nosology. The fourth volume deals with pulse and urine diagnosis, and various forms of therapy. The cause of disease is explained in several locations in t he main medical text. It is first summarised in the first volume by the second stem of the first root of the medical tree. The first stem of this root explains the condition of the healthy body. It has three branches which signify the humours, the seven bodily constituents and the excreta. These are explained in more detail by the 25 leaves depicted on the branches. As long as these elements are functioning harmonio usly and are in their correct locations and proportions then one experiences the two flowers of longevity and good health, and three fruits of spirituality, happiness, and wealth, which are displayed at the top of the stem. The second stem has nine branches which explain the causes and conditions which lead to disease. The nine braches are: the primary ( rgyu) causes of disease; the contributory (rkyen) causes; the entrances of disease; the locati ons of disease; the pathways of disease; the time of predominance; the conditions having fatal outcome; humoural reactions; and a summary on types of disease. These nine broad subdivisions are explained by the sixty-three leaves attached to the branches. For our purpose here in understanding the various causes of disease, it is the first two branches where we find the primary and contributory causes of disease which are of most interest and clearly indicate the connectio n between Tibetan medicine and Tibetan religious and cosmological notions. The three leaves of the first branch gives the primary causes of disease as the three humours of wind ( rlung), bile (mkhris pa) and phlegm ( bad kan). As we have seen earlier the three humours are generated by the three mental poisons which according to Bon and Buddhist philosophy arise out of the fundamental ignorance which causes beings to be born in samsaric existence. The second branch of the stem lists the four contributory causes of disease as: seasons, harmful spirits, diet and behaviour. The humours are referred to in Tibetan by names which have specific physical referents, but the term refers to much more than this. According to Tibetan medical theory there are five forms of each of the humours, which govern specific functions in the body and the mind. In this way the three humours taken together are responsible for the entire range of psychophysical functio ns. For instance, wind is responsible for: breathing, movement, circulation in the body, the passage of bodily wastes, making the senses sharp, and sustaining the body. Bile is responsible for: hunger and thirst, digestion, body heat, the clearness of the complexion, and courage and intelligence. Phlegm is responsible for t he firmness of the body and stability of mind. It enables sleep, allows the body’s articulations, gives patience, and makes the body soft and lubricated.

16 TIBET JOURNAL The three humours have a paradoxical double nature. If they are in their correct proportions and locations they are the cause of health, hence they are listed on th e first branch of the stem of the body in a condition of health. At the same time as all disease involves some kind of dysfunction in the humours they are also listed on the first branch of the stem of the body in a pathological condition. Ayurvedic medicine, which has many similarities to Tibetan medicine, has two different terms for the humours. If they are in a healthy state they are referred to as dh a tu, ‘constituents’, and if they are in a disturbed state they are referred to as dos a, ‘defects’ (Meyer 1995:128). In Tibetan medicine they are referred to by only one name, nyes pa, which means ‘fault’ or ‘wrong doing’. This follows the Bon and Buddhist philosophy that suffering is inherent to all forms of samsaric life. The main text graphically describes the innate disposition of the humours to generate sickness to an insect poisoned as a consequence of feeding on a poisoned tree. The short summary of the cause of disease in the first volume of the main medical text is elaborated on in considerably more detail in chapters eight to ten of the second volume. Chapter eight provides a general discussion of the primary and contributory causes of disease which it frames as distant and close. Chapter nine provides a detailed discussion of the contributory causes of disease. Here the aetiology appears more complex as it is explained that each of the humours has several properties and may be disturbed when opposite conditions are present 25. Later in the same chapter a list of six general causes of disease are given: season or climatic conditions, harmful spirits, incorrect treatment, poison, diet, and negative karma. The subject of primary and contributory causes of disease is repeated at the beginning of each of the ninety-two 26 chapters of the third volume dealing with Tibetan nosology, where specific causes are given for each class of disease. The topic of the cause of disease is also presented in the twelfth chapter of the second volume which gives various classificat ions of disease in Tibetan medicine. The chapter commences by listing three broad classifications: by cause, by host, and by type of disorder. The classification by cause gives three subdivisions: disorders that arise when contributory causes disturb the three humours in the present life of the individual, disorders which arise from negative karma accumulated in previous lives, and disorders which involve a combination of the two. In an interesting parallel to the scheme proposed above by Dunn, the text then proceeds to divide disorders that arise due to causes in this life into two sorts: endogenous (rang bzhin nad ), which involve an internal disturbance of the three humours; and exogenous ( phyi rkyen ), for which the text gives, poisons, weapons, and harmful spirits. Disorders arising from negative karma, which spans across Dunn’s behavioural and endogenous categories, are placed by the text in a class of their own in that they cannot be treated solely by the therapies of standard medicine 27 but also require religious intervention. On several occasions now we have seen harmful spirits listed as a pathogenic agent. Amchi Gege explained to me that in Tibetan medicine there are whole classes of disease that derive from the action of harmful spirits, such as the gnyan nad 28 class of infectious disease originating from the gnyan spirits, and the rims29 class of infectious disease, which also originates from the action of harmful spirits. Amchi Gege was of the opinion that none of the types of disease that come under the gnyan nad classification existed in the past. In his view they appear in the ’Bum bzhi because Tonpa Shenrab had the spiritual insight ( mngon shes) to know that


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this group of disease would exist in the future. He explained that even during his grandfather’s time gnyan nad was seldom found in Tibet; this situation changed after the First World War. We saw in the previous section that according to Tibetan medicine, psychological processes are related to the ‘channels of existence’ located in the brain and at the heart centre. If a spirit is able to disrupt the normal functioning of these channels and the winds which traverse them, then this will lead to some form of psychological disorder. Chapters 77-81 of the third volume of the rGyud bzhi and the corresponding chapters 83-87 of the third volume of the ’Bum bzhi form what has been referred to as the psychiatric section. These chapters cover illnesses arising from spirits of the elements (’byung po’i gdon), spirits that cause madness ( smyo byed kyi gdon), spirits that disrupt memory (brjed byed kyi gdon), spirits that cause strokes and epilepsy (gza’i gdon), and disorders arising from the klu (skt. n aga) class of spirits (klu’i gdon). A common form of psychological disorder recognised by Tibetan medicine is that of srog rlung. It is known by the name of the ‘life bearing wind’ because the disorder arises when this wind is disturbed in its location in the heart centre. Commonly this disturbance is caused by a harmful spirit. The symptoms of srog rlung range from mild anxiety and depression to full blown psychosis 30. The name that was generally used in Dhorpatan to refer to sickness caused by spirits was gnod pa. Often this was thought to be a consequence of some kind of human activity which was damaging to the environment, such as, polluting a stream, food spilling out of the pot onto the hearth, quarrying work, or cutting down trees. On this topic Amchi Gege recounted a story about when he was you in the Khyungpo region of Kham in eastern Tibet. He had heard of a nearby village where there were several cases of gnod pa. A lama was sent to ascertain the cause. It turned out that the people had been burying their dead in an area of land without consulting the sa bdag, the spirit governing this area of land. The outbreak of gnod pa stopped when the appropriate rituals were carried out. Another notion which I came across frequently in Dhorpatan was that of sgrib. This is a form of pollution deriving from certain impure activit ies, such as working with dead bodies, breaking social taboos, eating garlic when one has a connection with certain yi dam , carrying out ‘sinful’ ( sdig pa) activity, using dead people’s possessions, and so on. It is thought that the accumulation of sgrib can lead to illness. Furthermore, all the above polluting activities connected with the spirits in the local environment can also bring about sgrib. Samuel (1993:161) has noted that much of the ritual activity that Tibetans perform to preserve a harmonious relationship with the natural environment is a means to prevent sgrib. We can now see that when a disorder arises from the action of a spirit then the therapies of standard Tibetan medicine will not be sufficient and the appropriate ritual must be performed. Usually standard Tibetan medical therapies are used alongside ritual. As I mentioned earlier this led to a strict division of labour between Amchi Gege administering all the standard Tibetan medicine and Geshe Tenzin Dargye who performed the rituals. In what follows I will describe the kind of rituals Tibetans in Dhorpatan performed to maintain balance and harmony in their lives and in their relationship with the natural environment. Following this I will describe some of the rituals that were performed when di sease occurred which was thought to be caused by harmful spirits.

18 TIBET JOURNAL RITUALS OF PROSPERITY AND PROTECTION The most popular route to Dhorpatan is to follow the footpath along the Myangdi River from Beni to the village of Lumsum. At Lumsum one climbs a steep path cutting its way through dense forest to the top of the Jaljala pass. At the top there is a small stone cairn ( lha tho) mostly painted white and heavily adorned with offerings and Tibetan prayer flags. In the forest nearby there is a large pool which is also surrounded by prayer flags. Every time I arrived there, the Tibetans I was travelling with would throw a stone onto the cairn or fasten a new prayer flag to it. At the same time, they would shout out ‘ ki ki so so lha rgyal lho’, ‘the gods are victorious’. Already some four hours before arriving at the Tibetan settlement one encounters the first visible signs of ritual activity carried out to maintain harmony with the local spirits. The clusters of Tibetan houses in the valley can be easily discerned from the Nepalese homesteads by the abundance of Tibetan prayer flags. Prayer flags also adorn a point at the western extremity of the settlement where a stream emerges from under a rock which is considered to be the abode of a klu spirit. The Gompa camp is the first group of buildings that one arrives at when approaching the settlement from Jaljala. As this is the location of the Bon temple and the medical school, it is the centre of the community’s medical and religious activity. Surrounding the Gompa compound are many ma ni stones inscribed with the Bon mantra Om Matri Muye Sale Du. In the Buddhist areas of the settlement the stones display the usual Om Mani Padme Hum. Within the Gompa compound there is a building containing a large prayer wheel ( ma ni ’khor lo) used for accumulating karmic merit. Already within the first few months of my stay in Dho rpatan I witnessed a range of ritual activity that related to the local deities and spirits in the valley. Some of these rituals were concerned with maintaining balance and harmony and cultivating prosperity, others specifically related to sickness es that were thought to have been caused by spirits. When I asked Geshe Tenzin Dargye about these rituals he couched his explanation in terms of the traditional nine fold classification of Bon knowledge which we saw earlier. He said that what I had witnessed him doing was rituals that are part of the first classification, the ‘way of the shen of cha,’ this includes divination, astrology, ransom rituals, and medicine. Tenpa Yungdrung, the Abbot of Triten Norbutse monastery in Kathmandu, told me that the reason why the four lower ways are known as the ‘Bon of Cause’ is because they deal with the methods of how to find out the causes of problems in this life, and the techniques that are used to overcome these problems. He said th e knowledge and practices found in the Bon of Cause are based on the notion that everything is interconnected, that everything in the external world is reflected in the microcosm of the human body. This follows on from what was discussed above in the section on the subtle anatomy and tantric cosmology, namely that the five elements in the outer world have a symbiotic relationship with five elements that make up the human constitution. In Tantric cosmology this appears as a series of fivefold correspondences where the five elements are related to the five mental poisons, the five skandhas, the five solid organs, the five orifices, the five seasons, the five transcendental wisdoms, the five cosmic Buddhas, and so on. This subject is dealt with in detail in the higher ways of the Bon of Fruit. Tenpa Yungdrung explained that based on the notion that the internal and the external worlds are


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related, it follows naturally that the actions p eople engage in the external world are inextricably related to their physical and psychological well being. The key Tibetan word in connection with rituals of prosperity and protection is phywa. According to Tucci (1980:172) popular ritual practice has a number of aims: to bring about health ( nad med ), prosperity and auspiciousness ( bkra shis, bde legs), long life ( tshe ring), and wealth ( longs spyod ). The Tibetan word that is commonly employed to convey ‘auspiciousness’ is bkra shis, though phywa which conveys the same meaning is most often used in a ritual context. In Geshe Tenzin Dargye’s view phywa is the potential for health and prosperity that can be generated through ritual to bring about actual prosperity, g.yang. He said that though g.yang and phywa are similar in nature to accumulated karmic merit ( bsod nams) they are not the same. He explained that the main Bon ritual that is used to invoke phywa and g.yang, is the phywa khugs g.yang khugs which is connected with the wealth deity ’dZam bha la . This ritual is often carried out at the time of marriage thou gh it can be carried out at about anytime. In the texts of the Bon of Cause, phywa is associated with two other related concepts dbang thang and rlung rta. dBang thang relates to a person’s charisma and personal power. It is connected to the person’s ability to be able to perform at a high level in some capacity; for this reason Norbu (1995:62) translates the term ‘ascendency capacity’. The capacity to accumulate wealth may also be associated with some valuable possession that an individual owns. For instance, one Tibetan man in Dhorpatan owned many horses, one of which was particul ar striking for its strength and beauty. A nomad in Tibet had offered him 20 yak for the horse, but he refused because in his view the horse was his wealt h god ( nor lha) and to get rid of it would amount to giving up his capacity to accumulate wealth. rLung rta31 is the name given to the Tibetan prayer flag that is found in abundance at any Tibetan settlement. The flag shows a pict ure in the centre of which is a horse surrounded by four animals, one in each corner, a tiger, a lion, a dragon, and an eagle. The symbolism concerns the continuous and speedy transformation of the elements into auspicious conditions. As the flags blow in the wind, health and prosperity are invoked. rLung rta also come in the form of small squares of thin paper with the symbols printed on them. The ritual of the rlung rta, involves reciting a prayer and casting a large quantity of rlung rta papers into the wind. The aim of the ritual is to increase one’s good fortune. It can be done at anytime but it is mos t often done at the beginning of a new venture. The Tibetan New Year is traditionally the time when all the old rlung rta flags are replaced by new ones. On one occasion during my stay in Dhorpatan I went up in the hills with Geshe Tenzin Dargye and one of the medical students looking for medicinal plants. At the top of the highest hill, Geshe Tenzin Dargye fastened a rlung rta flag to a pole and securely fixed the pole into the ground. Following this he recited prayers to the local deities and we each threw a handful of barley up in the air in a gestur e of offering. The purpose of this ritual can be understood in the light of Tenpa Yundrung’s comments above. For him, throwing the rlung rta papers into the wind, or barley, or setting up a rlung rta flag, is an action that by affecting the outer elements brings about a corresponding change in the inner elements. There are two types of ritual activity that are carried out to invoke phywa in Dhorpatan: rituals carried out intermittently by monks and lay people for individual benefit, and annual rituals that are carried out for the benefit of the community.

20 TIBET JOURNAL Individual rituals include: the rlung rta ritual, the decorating of mchod rten, repainting sacred buildings or images, carving or sponsoring the carving of mani stones, reciting or sponsoring the recital of sacred texts, and making offerings at the household altar. Another practise that was carried out by many of the Tibetans is the bsangs offering, which is usually done early in the morning. It involves burning juniper and reciting an offering prayer to the local deities as the large aromatic cloud of smoke disperses into the air. Every year three large rituals are carried out by the monks and lamas for the benefit of the whole community. As the year unfolds the first ritual to be performed is the ritual connected with the three classes of beings, the klu , sa bdag and the gnyan32. The ritual take place at the beginning of June and last s for a week. It was explained to me that the best time to perform the ritual is in the spring as this is the time when these beings awake. Before the ritual began there were several days of preparations, which involved making the butter lamps, drawing the mandala 33 with coloured sand, and making the appropriate gtor ma34. During the ritual, different types of objects were placed as offerings on specific locations of the mandala, these included: sweet smelling herbs, branches of juniper, various types of gtor ma, rgyang bu35 , pho sdong and mo sdong36 , and nam mkha’37. During the ritual, the klu , sa bdag, and gnyan are called to the mandala to receive the offerings. At the close of the ritual, the mandala is dismantled and the offerings are gathered together in four big metal dishes and placed some distance from the temple in each of the cardinal directions next to an object representing the element of that direction, such as next to a stream for water, or a stone for earth. In this way the spirits are appeased and a positive bond is struck between them and the human communit y. The next ritual occurs around the middle of August and again lasts for a week. Whenever I asked Geshe Tenzin Dargye about this ritual, he always referred to it as the ‘gompa p u ja’. The generic Tibetan term for ritual is zhabs brtan, but most often he used the Sanskrit term pu ja . This ritual is the annual ritual of the Bon temple (lha khang) that is situated next to the medical school. It focuses on the Bon protectors, Nyi pang sad, Mi bdud, rGyal po shel ’khab, sDon rgyung mthu chen, and the class of btsan. The third ritual, which Geshe Tenzin Dhargye referred to as the ‘people’s puja,’ commenced a few days after the end of the ritual of the Bo n protectors. The ritual involved the reading of two sets of texts: the ’bum, the 16 volumes of the Bon prajnaparamita sutras, and the gZi brjid , the long biography of Tonpa Shenrab. After the monks had done this they performed a long ritual dedicated to the Bon goddess Shes rab byams ma. The merit that i s accumulated from the reading of the texts is dedicated to the benefit of the community for the coming year. Shes rab byams ma is invoked as a guardian deity to bring prosperity and eliminat e obstacles. The four principal peaceful deities of the Bon religion are the ‘Four Transcendent Lords’ (Der she tso bzhi) which includes a mother goddess, and three male deities: the god (lha ), the procreator ( srid pa) and the teacher ( ston pa). In the present age these are respectively: Sa trig er sang, gShen lh a ’od dkar, Sangs po ’bum khri, and gShen rab mi bo. Shes rab byams ma is a form of the great goddess Sa trig er sang. Her name means ‘the Loving Lady of Wisdom’ (Kvaerne 1995:24-28). Though she


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is primarily a peaceful deity, the Bonpo consider her to be extremely powerful. The principal wrathful protector of the Bon religion, Srid pa’i rgyal mo, is considered to be her emanation. The ritual culminated in her gtor ma being carried beyond the monastic compound and cast into a fire of burning juniper branches. Most of the Tibetan people of the settlement came to witness this, along with many Nepalese. There was a strong contrast between the solemnity of the ritual and the party atmosphere amongst the people who were watching it. Though most of the valley of Dhorpatan lies above 3000m it is still engulfed by the monsoon rains before the clouds diss ipate in face of the indomitable Dhaulagiri mountain range situated a short distance to the north. At this time of the year the monsoon rains are beginning to thin out, yet it was still unusual to have a day without rain. Geshe Tenzin Dargye said that after he had finished the same ritual on the previous year, the rain had stopped, which he attributed to the power of the ritual. The same thing happened after the ritual I observed. Within a few hours of the culmination of the ritual, the skies cl eared and the rain stopped. However they did ensue again incessantly on the following day. RANSOM RITUALS AND RITES OF EXORCISM AND DESTRUCTION Geshe Tenzin Dargye informed me shortly after I arrived in Dhorpatan that even though considerable effort is put into maintaining balance and harmony with the local deities and spirits, this state is frequently disrupted. Dhorpatan has a reputation amongst Tibetans as a place where gnod pa frequently occurs. Both Nepalese and Tibetans living in the valley would frequently visit Geshe Tenzin Dargye and ask him for a blessing or some kind of amulet to protect themselves. Most often the blessing involved wafting the individual with i ncense whilst he recited prayers and mantras. Sometimes he would give them protection cords ( srung mdud ) which the person could tie around their neck, or amulets ( srung ’khor ) made of pieces of paper with mantras inscribed on them, folded into small squares and wrapped with different coloured thin threads. Tenpa Yungrung informed me that when a sickness is diagnosed as caused by a harmful spirit, then ritual must be used to resolve the problem. In the four lower ways of Bon, the ‘Bon of Cause’, we can s ee that the severity of the ritual increases as one moves up the scheme. This approach parallels the established protocol in Tibetan medicine that treatment should begin with milder therapies and move on to more intense therapies only if required. He explained that one should begin by using the less severe rituals of the first way of Bon. If this does not solve the problem then one moves on to the more severe forms of ritual , the rites of ransom and exorcism that are documented in the second way of Bon. These rituals are aimed at remedying the situation by appeasing the offending spirit through various kinds of offerings. If the techniques of the first two ways are unsuccessful then one moves on to the powerful methods of the third way, the ‘way of the shen of magic power,’ where the yi dam and protectors are invoked to capture the offending spirit and potentially destroy it. Tenpa Yungdrung explained that for this reason it is misleading to think of the lower and higher ways of Bon to be separate. Many of the rituals of the lower ways require a familiarity with the yi dam practices documented in the higher ways. The ritual response to gnod pa found in the first two ways of Bon usually takes the form of ransom rituals, where an effigy of the person (or animal) afflicted is

22 TIBET JOURNAL offered to the spirit causing the harm as a substitute for the real person. There are numerous forms of ransom rituals which are collectively referred to by the Tibetan word glud.38 The same word glud is also used for the effigy which is used in the ransom ritual. In this context the word means ‘substitute’ or ‘representative’ and is applied to the effigy that is offered as a representation of the afflicted person or animal. In Dhorpatan the everyday Tibetan word for ‘representative’, tshab, was often used in this context, but this word does not have the same ritual connotations as glud . Ransom rituals are used to cure sickness caused by harmful spirits in both humans and animals. There are also specialised ransom rituals that are used to prevent death ( ’chi bslu), to bring back a person’s soul, ( bla glud ) and the life force ( srog glud ). Ransom rites are one of the four classifications of practi ce found in the first way of Bon, where they are referred to collectively as gto. Usually these rites involve the construction of a small replica of the afflicted person or animal made from barley dough ( tsam pa). This is surrounded by other offerings to add to the authenticity such as clippings of the person’s hair and small pieces of the person’s clothes. The figure is then surrounded by other pleasing items such as pho sdong, mo sdong, rgyang bu, and nam mkha’. All these items are then offered together as a ransom to the offending spirit. Shortly we will see a ransom ritual that I witnessed in Dhorpatan that occurred exactly in this way. During the first few months of my stay in Dhorpatan I came across several ageing nam mkha’ strewn around the periphery of the monastery’s compound, and at certain crossroads nearby. As I was to learn, in a simplified version of the gto ritual nam mkha’ are offered on their own. When Amchi Gege suspected any of his patients to be suffering from gnod pa, before any course of treatment could be prescri bed, first it was necessary to make the verification of the diagnosis. Both the urine and pulse diagnosis sections of the ’Bum bzhi and the rGyud bzhi contain lengthy subsections on the characteristic signs of spirit-caused sickness. This subsection of the pulse chapter ( ’Bum bzhi 1999:44) begins by stating the characteristics of this type of pulse: it is irregular in the sense that the rhythm is not constant but fluctuates. It may also be ‘taut’ ( ’then) and sometimes it feels like two pulses are occurring at the same time ( lcam dral). The section then moves on to say that if these qualities are found in any of the pulses39 of the five solid organs this indicates the action of specific classes of spirits; two or three are listed for each organ 40. Following this the text lists five types of sickness that are caused by harmful spirits and identifies the spirits involved. These sicknesses are: wind disorders ( rlung nad ); a specific kind of fever affecting the lungs (btsan bdud ); a fever affecting the gall bladder ( rims dang mkhris nad ); oedema ( dmu chu), and certain kinds of tumours ( skran) in the form of small hard lumps (’bras)41 which according to Amchi Gege are very difficult to cure. The ’Bum bzhi concludes this section by saying ‘whatever is the case one must us e the relevant offering ritual ( gto ) and exorcism ( bskrad )’ 42. The corresponding line in the rGyud bzhi strikes the same note, ‘one must recognise what is the case and call for a ritual specialist 43 to carry out the relevant offering ritual ( mdos) and exorcism. 44 Section thirteen of the pulse chapter is also of relevance to the use of ritual in healing as it explains the pulse of the bla. Amchi Gege explained that as the bla is the support ( rten) of the body, it is present in all of the twelve pulses taken on the radial artery. However in order to ascertain the condition of the bla itself, the doctor


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must palpate the ulnar artery at the wrist. If the bla has been captured by a spirit, the pulse will be erratic, moving quickly from fast to slow, from prominent to sunken, and so on. If this is the case then the ritual that sh ould be performed is the bla bslu. This ritual was performed three times whilst I was in Dhorpatan. One of these occasions will be discussed below. Urine is dealt with in the chapter immediately following the pulse chapter. The urine chapter is divided into eight sections of which the last section is the one which discusses the characteristic features of the urine which signify sickness caused by a harmful spirit. Most of the relevant detail is not provided in the ’Bum bzhi or the rGyud bzhi, but is found in commentaries. Amchi Gege’s teachings on the subject were based on Khyungtrul Rinpoche’s commentary 45. The procedure involves the patient urinating into a flat bottomed round bowl. If the patient is male, the urinating must be done in the east direction; if female, in the west di rection. The container is then turned around 180 degrees and placed on the ground. Four thin sticks are placed over the container dividing the surface of the urine into nine sections. Each section is associated with a category identified as the source of the harmful spirits 46. The Tibetan doctor must observe the shape and location of any material sus pended in the urine ( ku ya ), and the shape and location of the surface film ( spris ma). If either of these two items is located in one of the nine sections then this indicates the source of the affliction. The Tibetan doctor may also use the power of his or her own yi dam to identify the relevant section. Amchi Gege explained that after invoking the yi dam the doctor spits in the direction of the urine and whichever section is struck directly is the source of the affliction. Another method is for the doctor to use nine grains, only one of which is black. The doctor drops one grain into each section without knowing the colours of the grains. The section where the black grain falls is the cause of the affliction. The shape of the suspended material and the surface film can also give direct information about the class of spirits causing the harm. The Khyung sprul sman dpe relates eight specific designs for the suspended material and 23 for the surface film to classes of spirits. For example the shape of a scorpion in the surface film signifies the cause to be the klu or bdud, or if the shape is a deer antler then this indicates the class of the rgyal po or yam shud. We can see here that some of the techniques used in examining the urine to identify the class of spirits causing the affliction are rather acts of divination than diagnosis. Amchi Gege stressed that if gnod pa is the cause of the disease then one must ascertain exactly which class of spirit is causing the problem in order that the appropriate ritual response can be made. In this area, Amchi Gege usually deferred to the divinatory skills of Geshe Tenzin Dargye. Divination is another one of the four topics of the first way of Bon. Within Tibetan culture there are numerous divination techniques, such as: scapulomancy ( sog dmar ), interpreting knots made in ropes ( ju thig), dice divination ( sho mo), and oracular pronouncements made by spirits possessing men ( lha pa) or woman ( lha mo)46. The two most common types of divination used by Tibetan lamas are dice divination (sho mo) and rosary divination ( ’phreng mo). Whenever Geshe Tenzin Dhargye was asked to perform a divination in Dhorpatan he used one of two techniques: divination using rosary beads ( ’phreng mo), or divination using the astrology text (rtsis). ’Phreng mo was the method that he most often used to verify cases of gnod pa. He explained to me that there are three forms of this type of divination in the

24 TIBET JOURNAL Bon religion: the first governed by the main protector of Bon, Srid pa’i rgyal mo, the second connected with the Bon deity sMra ba’i seng ge 47, and the third system connected with the Bon protector rGyal chen grags pa seng ge, which is the one that he personally preferred. After reciting a prayer to the protector he counted th e beads on his rosary in a way that randomly generated a number. He then referred to the entry under this number in the divinatory text under the relevant heading, such as travel, business, child illness, theft, and so on. Frequently people from the Tibetan and the Nepalese community would come and seek advice from Geshe Tenzin Dargye, suspecting that they had some sickness caused by harmful spirits. On one occasion a Tibetan woman approached him saying that her young son could not sleep and kept complaining of seeing a black figure during the night. He did a divination which stated that his life force ( srog) was being attacked by the spirit of a dead woman coming from the north-east. This stopped after he carried out the relevant ritual, changed the boy’s name ( ming gyur ), and his family set free one of their goats ( tshe thar ) from being slaughtered. On another occasion he cured the baby of a Nepalese family who was thought to be suffering from gnod pa. News of this passed quickly through the local Nepalese community, and consequently over the ensuing months a steady stream of Nepalese babies were brought for his blessing. On several occasions divination showed that amongst the Tibetans certain cases of gnod pa were caused by spirits associated with the family’s ancestral home. For example, on one occasion one of the female medical students asked Amchi Gege to do a mo concerning the health of her brother who had been suffering from recurring bouts of fever and insomnia. The result of the mo was that a particular type of demoness (srin mo) with a pig’s head was causing the problem. When her father heard about this he identified it with the same kind of spirit that had caused much gnod pa in his village in Tibet. The following account of gnod pa that I witnessed in Dhorpatan is of particular interest because it shows the way that standard Tibetan medicine and ritual medicine work together. It also provides an example of the use of gto, and the bla bslu ritual. Sometime around mid-morning I saw Geshe Tenzin Dargye consulting a Tibetan text for an old Tibetan man from the nearby Tibetan camp. When he had gone, Geshe Tenzin Dargye told me that the man was very concerned abo ut his daughter who had started the day well, but had suddenly become very ill. Suspecting gnod pa he had come immediately to get advice. Geshe Tenzin Dhargye had performed a divination using the rtsis48 text which had confirmed the man’s suspicions, saying that the cause was either a widow or the spirit of a dead person. Meanwhile Amchi Gege had sent one of his students, Yundrung, to examine the woman. When he came back, without knowing the result of the rstis reading, he recounted the following details to Geshe Tenzin Dargye. He said that the woman was lying in the corner of the room with a fever and a great deal of pain in her throat. He said that her pulse was ‘slow like a bad kan pulse’. In the morning she had begun the day well, cooking and eating breakfast with her family. After this she had taken all the dirty pots to wash in a nearby stream. While she was washing the pots, an old Nepali woman came angrily shouting at her as all the dirty water had gone down stream to where she was collecting drinking water. The Tibetan woman had become sick shortly after this. The fact that the Nepali woman was a


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widow verified the rtsis reading. It seems that the anger of the widow had provoked the spirit attack. Geshe Tenzin Dargye went to visit the woman early in the afternoon and I accompanied him. After giving her a protective amulet he decided to carry out the glud ritual later in the afternoon, as the best time to mak e the offering is at dusk. In preparation for the ritual he mixed several medicines, snippets of the woman’s hair, and small pieces of her clothing into some barley flour. He then made the flour into dough ( tsam pa) and made a small female figure from it in the likeness of the sick woman. Yungdrung, who was assisting him, made several gtor ma, and a butter lamp from the tsam pa. The figure was placed on a plate with the tsam pa butter lamp in front of it. Different kinds of food were spread around the figure and all the offerings were wrapped with a white ceremonial scarf ( kha btags) and a red scarf belonging to the sick woman. The glud text was then recited which took about two hours. The ritual was punctuated by moments when rice was scattered around the room in a gesture of offering, and moments when the sick woman was enveloped in clouds of incense. The ritual culminated with Geshe Tenzin Dargye leaning over the sick woman, reciting a long mantra, and gently tapping her on the head several times with the ritual text. After this the glud was left at a bridge crossing the stream at a point close to where it was thought the whole incident had begun in the morning. Back at the house the sick woman managed with great difficulty to eat a littl e Tibetan stew and to take some Tibetan medicine that Amchi Gege had sent. Yungdrung took her pulse which he said had changed to a fever pulse. A few hours after the completion of the ritual, Geshe Tenzin Dargye, Yungdrung, and myself returned to the gompa compound. When we reached the bridge where the glud had been placed, all that remained of the offering was the woman’s red scarf. There was no doubt in their minds that the widow had taken everything. On the following day the woman’s condition had improved slightly but she was still very sick. In the evening, Amchi Gege made another glud offering for her at the medical school. On the third day he diagnosed that the spirit causing the sickness had captured the woman’s bla. The bla bslu ritual was carried out that afternoon by two monks and the senior medical student according to the instructions found in the text ‘Swastika of Life’ (Tshe yi g.yung drung). On this occasion I was not present at the ritual but I was told the ritual was exactly the same as I had seen performed for another person a couple months before, which I have described elsewhere (Millard, C. 2002. Learning Processes in a Tibetan Medical School. PhD: University of Edinburgh)49. The ritual involves making a small human figure in a boat from tsam pa dough; this figure is called the ‘figure of the soul’ ( bla gzugs). The figure holds its arms out straight in front of it. In its left hand it holds a small turquoise stone representing the bla , and in its right hand a small arrow representing the sick person’s life force. A liquid is prepared consisting of water, milk and medicines in a large bowl. The boat is set floating on the surface of this liquid. In the first part of the ritual various gtor ma and a small figure resembling the person made of tsam pa dough are offered to the spirit causing the affliction. The aim of the ritual is to call the bla into the turquoise stone held in the hand of ‘the figure of the soul’ and thus return it back to the individual. At the end of the ritual various divinations are carried out to verify that the bla has returned. One method

26 TIBET JOURNAL involves stirring the water so that the boat and figure are set spinning, when the figure comes to rest, if the arms are pointing to the right of the sick person; this indicates the bla has returned. Another technique involves placing a black and white stone in the liquid and again setting it in motion. At a certain point one of the people conducting the ritual, randomly dips into the liquid and fishes out one of the stones; the white one indicates the ritual has been successf ul. All the signs had indicated that the ritual had been successful for the woman and s he was well within a few weeks. We have seen that the ‘art of medicine’ ( gso ba rig pa) in Tibetan culture includes a range of activities that are outside the usual scope of the English word ‘medicine’. The Tibetan healing activities in Dhorpatan demonstrate this range of meanings. Tibetan medicine can be practiced as a medical science without making any reference to Tibetan religion. As Tibetan medicine is increasingly affected by globalisation and modernising influences, a process of transformation has been identified whereby the categories of Tibetan medicine are reformulated according to the hegemonic theories and principles of biomedicine (Janes 1995, 2002). The potential culmination of this process is that Tibetan medicine will be truncated and exclusively identified with the aspect which has been described above as standard Tibetan medicine. If we consider the kind of healing activities that occur in Dhorpatan, gso ba rig pa taken at its broadest meaning would include standard Tibetan medicine and rituals associated with maintaining and preserving harmony with the environm ent, generating prosperity, and healing. In the examples given above we have seen that each of the four groups of practices that const itute the first way of Bon: astrology, divination, medicine, and ransom rituals were all used in the healing activities in Dhorpatan. The claim that these activities should be considered as aspects of gso ba rig pa is substantiated by the frequent reference to these activities in the rGyud bzhi and the ’Bum bzhi. These texts do not describe healing rituals in detail but they do identify the types of sickness where such rituals should be performed, for example, as we saw above in the pulse chapter of the ’Bum bzhi, the Tibetan doctor must first verify if a patient is suffering from harm caused by a malicious spirit, and if this is the case, ‘one must use the relevant offering ritual and exorcism’. Notes 1.

Leslie’s comments on Ayurvedic, Chinese and Persian medicine are equally applicable to Tibetan medicine. He points out that they are ‘scientific’ in the sense that ‘they involve the rational use of naturalistic theories to organize and interpret systematic empirical observation (1976:7). On the same subject see Needham (1963, 1969). 2. Janes (1995) identified this modernising ‘transformation’ of Tibetan medicine in his study of Tibetan medicine in Lhasa where he noted the downplaying of elements of Tibetan religion and an emphasis on disease entities similar to the approach taken in biomedicine. 3. A sngags pa is a class of non-celibate religious practitioner who has taken vows associated with a certain lineage of practice. 4. The Tibetan word means ‘Buddha’, but a more literal translation would be ‘one who has been completely purified’. 5. The layout of ’Ol mo lung ring is described in detail in Bon texts, see Martin (1995) Karmay (1975) and Reynolds (1991).


6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

22. 23. 24.

25.

26. 27.

28. 29. 30.

27

The land of ’Ol mo lung ring can be approached by following “the arrow path” and thus parallels Buddhist mythical land of Shambala. For a detailed discussion of the history and doctrines of Bon, see Karmay (1998) These translators are dMu tsha Tra he of sTag gZig, Khri thog sPa tsha of Zhang zhung, Hu lu sPa legs of Sum pa, lHa bdag sNgags dro of India, Legs tang rMang po of China, and gSer thog lCe ’byams of Phrom (Karmay 1972:16) See Haarh (1969) for an account of the early kings of the Yarlung dynasty. On this classification see Karmay (1975 1998:11) and Norbu (1995: 37). His study represents only the southern treasure; the other two versions have not yet been studied by western scholars. I have followed the English translation of the titles of the nine ways given in Norbu (1995) Khu tsha zla ’od is identified by the Bonpo with g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po the younger. The corresponding Tibetan Buddhist term is dge long. The Tibetan name for boil is gnyen ’bur which identifies the causal agent as the gnyen class of spirits. The mchod rten is a reliquary monument, the structure of which symbolically repre sents the attributes of Buddhahood. For instance the amount of bile in the body should fill the scrotum. Chyle (dangs ma), blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, and regenerative fluid ( khu ba) Heart, liver, lungs, spleen, and kidneys. Intestine, stomach, seminal vesicle/ovaries, colon, gall bladder, and bladder. The Tibetan word rtsa has a range of meanings, including ‘channel’, ‘vein’, ‘artery’, ‘nerve’, and ‘pulse’. Here the term is used for the channels (Skt. nadi) that convey wind (Skt. prana). The ‘white channels’ (rtsa dkar po) is the Tibetan name for ‘nerves’. The three descriptions of the life channels provided here are those given by Meyer (1988:125) The rGyud bzhi , as the name denotes, consist of four ‘tantras’: the Root Tantra (rtsa rgyud ), the Explanatory Tantra (bshad rgyud ), the Instruction Tantra (man ngag rgyud ), and the Final Tantra ( phyi ma rgyud ). The titles of the corresponding parts of the ’Bum bzhi do not include the word ‘tantra’. These are respectively: the Root OneHundred Thousand Essence of the Blue Sky (rTsa ba thugs ’bum mkha’ sngon), the One-Hundred Thousand Multi-Coloured Examinations ( dPyad ’bum khra bo), the Black One-Hundred-Thousand Remedies for Disease (gSo byed nad ’bum nag po), and the ‘White One-hundred-thousand Victorious Medicines (rNam rgyal sman ’bum dkar po). As the four parts form a coherent whole, covering different aspects of the medical teaching, I have referred to them as volumes. The qualities of wind are: rough, light, cool, subtle, firm and mobile. The qualities of bile are: oily, sharp, hot, light, strong-smelling, purgative and moist. The qualities of phlegm are: cool, oily, heavy, smooth, dull, firm and adhesive. The third volume of the rGyud bzhi has ninety-two chapters and the third volume of the ’Bum bzhi has ninety-six. Various types of medicinal compounds, and the external therapies of moxibustion, blood letting, hot and cold compresses, medicinal massages, steam baths, and minor surgery. Das (1995) gives the names and a short description of fifteen types of gnyan nad . The rims class includes flu ( cham rims) and typhoid (rims mi zad pa) For further information on the types of sicknesses caused by disturbances in this wind and on the classification and treatment of psychiatric disorders in Tibetan medicine see Millard (forthcoming)

28 TIBET JOURNAL 31. Karmay (1993) spells the word rlung rta and translates it as ‘wind horse’. Norbu (1995:62) prefers the spelling klong rta, as the word klung which now means ‘river’, in the past used to mean ‘space’, which is now conveye d by the world klong. However, both authors agree on the symbolic meaning. 32. A short description of a similar Bon ritual connected with these three classes of spirits can be found in Norbu (1995:131). 33. The mandala is a concentric diagram representing the palace or environment of a deity, and the deity’s emanations and attributes. 34. An offering cake made from barley. gTor ma come in many different shapes and colours, corresponding to types of ritual and deity. 35. A wooden stick with three strings tied on it; I was told the strings represent, life (srog), body (lus ) and ascendancy-capacity (dbang thang). 36. Wooden sticks with pictures of men ( pho ) or women (mo) on them, some rgyang bu also show pictures of animals; they are offered to the local deities and spirits as representatives of the real thing. 37. Sticks, with coloured threads wrapped around them in intricate patterns. There are many different types of nam mkha’. The types used here symbolise the five elements: red thread, fire; white thread, air; green thread, water; yellow thread, earth; and blue thread, sky. 38. For further information on these rituals see Tucci (1980), Snellgrove (1967), NebeskyWojkowitz (1956), Norbu (1995), Beyer (1973), and Karmay (1998). 39. Tibetan pulse diagnosis involves each of the first second and third fingers take two pulse, one at the top of the tip of the finger, the other at the bottom. Pulses are taken on both wrists, hence a total of twelve pulses are taken: the five solid organs all at the top of the tips of the finger (two kidneys gives a total of six pulses); and the six hollow organs at the bottom of the tips of the fingers (Meyer 1990, Donden 1986). 40. Heart (lha and rgyal po), lungs (klu , bdud , and klu btsan), liver (sa bdag, dam sri, and gri mo), spleen (gri bo, gnyan, and sa bdag), right kidney (klu and gnyan), left kidney (mtsho sman and klu srin). 41. The Tibetan word used in the text, ’bras, means ‘rice’; it is used in this context because the lumps resemble rice. 41. ‘ De la rang rang gang mthun gto dang bskrad par bya’ (’Bum bzhi 1999:45) 42. Interestingly the word which I have translated here as ‘ritual specialist’ is ‘bon’, which may be a reflection of the chos pa pejorative use of the term, identifying the Bonpo with the practices only of the lower ways. 43. ‘dos zin bon dang mdos dang bskrad pa dang’ ( rGyud bzhi 1992: 566) 44. Khyung sprul ’Jigs med nam mkha’i rdo rje, Bon lama and scholar born in 1897 and passed away in 1956. His four medical works collectively referred to as Khyung sprul sman dpe, were published by the Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre at Dolanji in 1972. 45. The nine categories that are given as possible sources of harmful spirits are: gods, humans, spirits, paternal/maternal ancestors, oneself, children and grand children, cemeteries, home, and land. 46. For a discussion of Tibetan divinatory techniques see Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1956:454) and Norbu (1995) On the subject of oracles in Tibetan culture see Day (1989) NebeskyWojkowitz (1956:398-443), Prince Peter (1978) and Berglie (1976). 47. The deity that corresponds to the Buddhist Mañjusri. 48. rtsis is usually used for finding out the auspicious time to embark on a new venture, such as, marriage, a new business, building a new house, going on a journey, and so on. 49. For further information on this ritual see Lessing (1951), Bawden (1962), Mumford (1989), Karmay (1998) and Norbu (1995).


29

Bibliography Aschoff, J.C. 1996. Annotated bibliography of Tibetan medicine, 1789- 1995: Garuda Verlag. Bawden, C.R. 1962. Calling the Soul: A Mongolian Litany. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 25, 81-103. Berglie, P.-A. 1976. Preliminary Remarks on Some Tibetan ‘Spirit Mediums’ in Nepal. Kailash 4, 87-108. Cech, K. 1987. The Social and Religious Identity of the Tibetan Bonpos with Special Reference to a North-west Himalayan Refugee Settlement. Ph.D: Oxford University. Cornu, P. 1990. L’astrologie Tibétaine : Collection Présences. Das, S.C. 1995 (1902). A Tibetan English Dictionary. Delhi: Book Faith India. Day, S. 1989. Embodying Spirits: Village Oracles and Possession Ritual in Ladakh, North India. Ph.D: London School of Economics and Political Science. Peter, HRH Prince, of Greece and Denmark. 1978. Tibetan Oracles. In Himalayan Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface (ed.) J.F. Fisher. Donden, Y. 1986. Health Through Balance: An Introduction to Tibetan Medicine. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. Dunn, F.L. 1976. Traditional Asian Medicine and Cosmopolitan Medicine as Adaptive Systems. In Asian Medical Systems (ed.) C. Leslie. Berkley: University of California Press. Haarh, E. 1969. The Yarlung Dynasty. Copenhagen. Janes, C. 1995. The Transformations of Tibetan Medicine. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 9, 6-39. ——. 2002. Buddhism, Science and the Market: The Globalisation of Tibetan Medicine. Anthropology and Medicine 9, 267-289. Karmay, S.G. 1972. The Treasury of Good Sayings: A Tibetan History of Bon. London: Oxford University Press. ——. 1975. A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bon. Memoirs of the Toyo Bunko 33, 171-218. ——. 1993. The Wind-horse and the Well-being of Man. In International Seminar on the Anthropology of Tibet and the Hima laya (eds.) C. Ramble & M. Brauen. 1990 : Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich. ——. 1998. The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths and Beliefs in Tibet . Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point. Rinbochay, K S 1982. Tantric Practice in Nying-ma. London: Rider. Kvaerne, P. 1972. Aspects of the Origin of the Buddhist Tradition in Tibet. Numen 19, 2240. ——. 1974. The Canon of the Tibetan Bonpo. Indo-Iranian Journal xvi. ——. 1995. The Bon Religion: The Iconography of a Living Tradition. London: Serindia. Leslie, C. 1976. Introduction. In Asian Medical Systems (ed.) C. Leslie. Berkley: University of California Press. Lessing, F.D. 1951. Calling the Soul: a Lamaist Ritual. Semitic and Oriental Studies XI, 263-84. Martin, D. 1991. The Emergence of Bon and Tibetan Polemical Tradition. Phd: Indiana University. Meyer, F. 1988. Gso-Ba Rig-pa: Le System Medical Tibetain. Paris: C.N.R.S. ——. 1995. Theory and Practice of Tibetan Medicine. In Oriental Medicine (eds.) J.V. Alphen & A. Aris. London: Serindia Publications. Millard, C. forthcoming. Tibetan Medicine and the Classification and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders. In Soundings in Tibetan Medicine, Proceedings of the Tenth

30 TIBET JOURNAL Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Oxford 2003 (ed.) M. Schrempf. Leiden: Brill. Mumford, S.R. 1989. Himalayan Dialogue : Tibetan Lamas and Gurung Shamans in Nepal. Madison, Wisconsin; London: University of Wisconsin Press. Nebesky-Wojkowitz, R.d. 1956. Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities. The Hague: Mouton. Needham, J. 1963. Poverties and Triumphs of the Chinese Scientific Tradition. In Scientific Change (ed.) A.C. Combie. New York: Basic Books. ——. 1969. The Grand Titration: Science and Society in East and West . London: George Allen and Unwin. Norbu, N. 1995. Drung, Deu and Bön: Narrations, Symbolic Languages and the Bön Tradition in Ancient Tibet . Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Peter, H.P. 1978. Tibetan Oracles. In Himalayan Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface (ed.) J.F. Fisher. The Hague: Mouton. Reynolds, J.M. 1991. Yungdrung Bon - The Eternal Tradition, The Ancient Pre-Buddhist Religion of Central Asia and Tibet: Its History, Teachings, and Literature: Bonpo Translation Project. Samuel, G. 1993. Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies. Washington; London: Smithsonian Institution Press. Snellgrove, D.L. 1967. The Nine Ways of Bon (London Oriental Series, Vol. 18 . London: Oxford University Press. Stein, R.A. 1972. Tibetan Civilization. London: Faber and Faber. Trungpa, C. 1982. Sacred Outlook: The Vajrayana Shrine and Practice. In The Silk Route and the Diamond Path: Esoteric Buddhist Art on the Trans-Himalayan Trade Routes (ed.) D.E. Klimburg-Salter. Los Angeles, California: published under the sponsorship of the UCLA Art Council, c1982. Tucci, G. 1980. The Religions of Tibet (trans.) Geoffrey Samuel. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Tibetan Works ’Bum bzhi 1999. gSo rig bdud rtsi’i bang mdzod ’bum bzhi bzhugs Delhi: Paljor Publications. rGyud bzhi 1992. bDud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud ces bya ba bzhugs so: Bod ljong mi dmangs dpe skrun khang. (Lhasa edition)

Tibetan Medicine in Gyalthang Denise M. Glover This article is an overview of Tibetan medicine in Gyalthang (rGyal thang), focusi ng mainly on the significance of ethnicity in the practice and use of Tibetan medicine in the area. I begin the article by discussing how the discourse on ‘traditional’ and ‘ethnic’ medicine is effectively linked to ethnic discourse in the contemporary PRC. Next, in order to provide ethnographic detail of the current practice of Tibetan medicine in Gyalthang, I move on to give brief profiles of the doctors with whom I studied in the area and to discuss the basic training and certification of a Tibetan doctor. Lastly I offer a brief introduction to the natural environment of Gyalthang, which allows for abundance of medicinal plants; because of this natural wealth, the area has much significance in terms of material resources, the access to which has become an area of increasing contestation. Much of this contestation takes the form of ethnic identity politics and provides another example of the link between ethnicit y and medicine in Gyalthang. ETHNOGRAPHIC SETTING

Gyalthang is located in the southernmost reaches of Khams. Of the six sgang (T) (plateaus/highlands) in Khams, Gyalthang is located in sPo ’bor sgang and roughly corresponds to present-day Shangrila County in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (C, Diqing Zangzu Zizhizhou), northwest Yunnan Province. 1 Essentially there are two Gyalthang: Gyalthang 1, which refers to the greater cultural (and previously administrative) area, and Gyalthang2, which refers to the core town of the greater cultural area. The research presented in this paper was conducted in 1999, 2001 and 2002 (for a total of 11 months) in central/navel Gyalthang (Gyalth ang 2), in the town known in Chinese as Zhongdian, and in surrounding villages. 2 As explained below, most of my time was spent with doctors of Tibetan medicine at two of the three public hospitals in Zhongdian town. The main focus of my research was on the classification of medicinal plants by Gyalthang doctors, which I discuss at length in my doctoral dissertation (Glover 2005). The research presented here, however, is important for understanding the current status of Tibetan medicine in southern Khams, and in some instances more generally throughout the entire PRC, and is therefore presented in this forum for such benefit. MEDICINE AND ETHNIC IDENTITY

Tibetan medicine, throughout China, is ethnically marked in Mandarin: zang yi or zang yao,3 where zang is short for Zangzu, or the Tibetan ethnic group. 4 Chinese medicine is, instead, the unmarked, non-ethnicized category of zhong yi or zhong yao, medicine of the ‘middle country,’ or, more contemporarily, the nation. The linkage between Chinese medicine and the Han ethnic group is not linguistically explicit (that is, Chinese medicine is seldom called Han yi/yao ), although it is implicit and often quite overt in medical publications, particularly those that deal with ‘ethnic’ medicines. There is even a slippage in terminology, so that sometimes Chinese medicine is referred to as zhongyi/yao (Chinese medicine) and sometimes it is Zhongguo yi/yao (medicine of China) (see below). Western biomedicine, although

32 TIBET JOURNAL utilized quite extensively in some areas of medical treatment throughout China for close to 50 years, carries the name of the (imagined) area of its origin: the West ( xi).5 In the past decade or more, ‘traditional,’ institutional Tibetan medicine, as practiced at the Tibetan Hospital in Zhongdian, has been touted as one of China’s great medical treasures, although its status in relation to Chinese medicine is somewhat ambiguous. Often Tibetan medicine gets lumped in with other medical systems of China’s ‘ethnic minorities’ in contrast to Chinese medicine and sometimes it is presented as an example of China’s ‘ethnic medicines’ along with Chinese medicine. 6 The crux of understanding how Tibetan medicine fits into the larger discourse of medicine in China depends in large part on understanding what Chinese medicine symbolizes in China. Here I examine two instances in which Tibetan medicine comes in contact with the larger discourse of medicine in China and Chinese medicine. The first is a highly publicized horticultural exposition that I attended in Yunnan and the second is a recent publication on minority medicines in China. At the 1999 World Horticultural Exposition in Kunming, a small exhibit titled Ethnic Medicine and Pharmacology ( Minzu yiyao),7 contained within the larger exhibit of Herbal Medicine Gardens ( Yaocao yuan), presented a variety of medical traditions in the PRC. Non-Chinese medical traditions 8 (Tibetan, Mongolian, Uighur, Yi, Dai, etc.) were exhibited in one hall while Chinese medicine was exhibited in several connecting and adjacent halls. Although the entire exhibit was titled Ethnic Medicine and Pharmacology , the use of this phrase was mostly limited to cases of ethnic minority medicine. For example, signs in the hall with non-Chinese medical traditions that read “Ethnic Drugs with Unique Curative Effects” ( Liaoxiao dute de minzu yao) and “Rich and Varied Ethnic Drugs in Yunnan Province” ( Fengfu duoshi de Yunnan minzu yao ) actually cite examples of texts and drugs from non-Chinese medical traditions only. Signs in the halls for Chinese medicine did not use the term ‘ethnic medicine’ to describe Chinese medicine—the tradition was referred to either as zhong yi/yao, Zhongguo yi/yao (significance of these terms discussed below) or ‘traditional’ medicine ( chuantong yiyao). And yet at the same time, in the hall where displays of minority medical traditions were housed, the Han ethnic group is briefly mentioned as an important ethnic component of the nation and as the holders of the Chinese medical tradition: China is a multi-ethnic country. Not only does the Han ethnic group have Chinese medicine and pharmacology ( Hanzu you zhong yiyaoxue ) [emphasis mine] but also each of the other fifty-five minority groups has its own ethnic medicine and pharmacology [with] long-standing histories and rich contents; they are an important component of China’s medical and pharmacological sciences (shi Zhongguo yiyaoxue zhongyao zucheng bufen).

So Chinese medicine is a type of ethnic medicine as well, since it is the medical tradition of the Han ethnic group, yet it is seldom directly referred to as such. The use of ‘ethnic’ medicine is generally reserved for non-Han Chinese traditions. In this sense, the term ‘ethnic’ ( minzu) is used in very much the same way that it is in the United States: ‘ethnic’ music generally means music of non-Anglo origin; the ‘ethnic’ food aisle at a large chain grocery store usually contains Mexican, Chinese, Thai, and Japanese foods, for example. 9 ‘Ethnic’ in the United States generally means nonAnglo; in China it means non-Han.

TIBETAN MEDICINE IN GYALTHANG

33

There is often a slippage in terminology between Chinese medicine ( zhong yi/yao) and medicine of China ( Zhongguo yiyao). In another sign at the same exhibit the term Zhongguo yiyao (medicine and pharmacology of China) is clearly used to mean Chinese medicine. This sign lists important medical canons in the Chinese tradition and outlines a brief history of the same. Throughout the text of the sign, Zhongguo yao (medicine of China) is used interchangeably with zhong yao (Chinese medicine). Not surprisingly, the slippage between Zhongguo yi/yao and zhong yi/yao parallels that in other ethnic discourses in the PRC, where the traditions of the Han-Chinese majority are made to symbolize those of the nation. Thus Chinese medicine is the hallmark ‘traditional’ medicine of China. All other types of medical traditions are ‘ethnic,’ non-Han—marked, and not mainstream. These marked medical traditions were presented at the Expo as examples of the wondrous resources of the nation, particularly in natural materials. A sign titled “Brilliant Future for Pharmaceutics of Ethnic Drugs” ( Qianjing guangguo de minzu yao zhiji ), at the exhibit reads: China has devoted much attention to the work for exploration, management, development and investigation of ethnic drugs (minzu yao ). In recent years, large numbers of pharmaceutics from ethnic drugs with significant curative effects have be en investigated and manufactured. [It then lists examples of drugs that have been manufactured, giving their Chinese and Latin names and uses]… Development and research of ethnic pharmaceutics will bring enormous contributions to humanity.

Although no particular mention is made in this sign of which medical traditions these drugs have come from, certainly non-Chinese traditions are among them (I recognize one example as coming from the Tibetan tradition). Later in this article I discuss how some of the ‘exploration and development’ of Tibetan pharmaceutics in Gyalthang has played out, from production factories of Tibetan medicine to plant prospecting in remote villages. Lastly, at the Expo, viewers were briefly introduced to the theoretical foundatio ns of non-Chinese medical systems through the interpretive lens of Chinese medicine and dominant Han Chinese culture. Tibetan medicine, for example, was discussed in terms of yin/yang theory; such a theory is particular to Chinese medicine, but not at all to Tibetan medicine. All plant names given for mounted sp ecimens were Chinese (and Latin), not those from the language of the respective medical tradition, or even Chinese phonetic approximations of these names. 10 Books displayed in cases were all written in Chinese, although in the case of Tibetan medicine, for example, there are countless medical publications within the PRC in Tibetan. Clearly the World Horticultural Exposition was aimed in large part at the Han Chinese middle to uppermiddle class (and some international travelers, since most signage was translated into English); in this cohort are citizens with some knowledge of Chinese medicine, a budding curiosity about the diverse nature of the nation (and the world), 11 and enough money to pay the entrance fee of 100 yuan (approximately US$12) per person per day. Ethnic medicines, as with other things ‘ethnic’ in the PRC, were presented as objects of wonder and potential consumption by the greater Chinese, un-marked yet implicitly Han-centric, public. 12 A related discourse about the relation between Chinese medicine, the nation, and medical traditions of China’s ‘minority nationalities’ appears in a 2000 publication titled Collection of Traditional Minority Medicines of China ( Zhongguo Shaoshu

34 TIBET JOURNAL Minzu Chuantong Yiyao Daxi). First, while the volume profiles medical systems of

thirty-five ethnic minority groups in China, comparisons to the Chinese medical system are made throughout. In the opening paragraphs of the Tibetan medicine section (which is 189 pages long, divided into 25 chapters), the authors state, On the Tibetan Plateau, the Tibetan ethnic group created Tibetan medical science ( zang yixue ), which has a long history, substantial content, and a unique system and theory that are second only to the integrated medical system of the Han ( Hanzu yixue ). (Qi and Luo: 3)

The text goes on to state that the history of Tibetan medicine is generally consi dered not as extensive as that of Chinese medicine due to the fact that written Tibetan language was not established as early as written Chinese: In terms of the history of Tibetan medical science, generally speaking it is not as long as that of Han Chinese medicine (buru Hanzu zhongyi name youjiu). This is because the history of Tibetan written language standardization did not start until the time of the ruler that united the country [Tufan wangchao tongyi xueyu—presumably this means Songsten Gampo (Srong btsan sgam po), mid 7th Century]. However, if we start calculating from the time of human habitation in Tibet ( ruguo cong xueyu kaishi you renlei juzhu shenghuo suanqi), then Tibetan medical science could also be said to have a lengthy history. (Qi and Luo: 3)

Here two versions of Tibetan medical history (one text based, the other orally based) are offered up, with clear preference of accuracy given to the first. If the second version were truly plausible, that could mean that the Tibetan medical tradition might rival the Chinese in antiquity.13 The important point here is not which version of Tibetan medical tradition is ‘correct,’ but that Tibetan medicine (and other traditions discussed through the text) is always placed in contrast with Chinese medicine. And usually Tibetan medicine falls short of the ‘standard’ set by Chinese medicine in one way or another. Secondly, in this volume the authors make explicit that the Tibetan medical system, as a minority medical tradition, is one of several great traditions of the Chinese nation that, consequently, should bolster the strength of the nation.14 Citing the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, which stipulates that the traditional medicines of the nation (literally ‘our nation,’ woguo) should be developed ( fazhan ), the authors explain that minority medical traditions, taken together as a whole, are one of the great treasures ( weida de baoku) of the nation (the other great treasure is Chinese medicine, of course). Because of this important status, all minority medical traditions should work to “discard the false and retain the true [as well as] discard the crude and retain the refined” ( qu wei cun zhen, qu cu cun jing ). Furthermore, they should be “practical and realistic in picking and choosing” ( shishi qiushi de qushe yangqi) what to discard and what to retain ( Qi and Luo : i-ii). The authors further urge party and government officials, as well as health care workers, to take ethnic medical traditions seriously because doing so advances ethnic culture ( hongyang minzu wenhua), implements ethnic policy ( guanche minzu zhengce), and generally helps medical sciences of the motherland ( zuguo) prosper. The authors warn that while important technological changes must be implemented in minority medical systems, substantial leaps (tiaoyue) should not be taken hastily. In particular, Western medicine is cited as an area for caution:


35

Some people think that changing to Western medicine, or medical westernization, (xiyao hua) is a shortcut. But after making such a change [to use of Western medicine], ethnic medical traditions are unable to find themselves again (minzu yiyao ye jiu zhaobudao ziji le ). This is something that all ethnic medicine workers must consider. ( Qi and Luo: ii)

In other words, these medical traditions are part of a nexus of national treasures and as such have obligations to the motherland: to adapt to changing conditions but also to maintain integrity. The nationalist rhetoric in this volume (much of it quite reminiscent of like rhetoric during the Maoist era) is not surprising because the discourse on ethnic medicines in China is linked to ethnic minority discou rse, which is effectively linked to nationalist discourse. In both the 1999 World Horticultural Exposition and Collection of Traditional Minority Medicines of China, Tibetan medicine and other non-Han Chinese medical systems are presented to the inquiring public in the shadow of Chinese medicine and Han Chinese culture at large. In this context, Tibetan medicine is always a medical tradition of a minority group (shaoshu minzu yiyao), a tradition on the fringe of the mainstream. While Tibetan doctors may not consider themselves terribly on the fringe during the midst of their practice—indeed they are very much at the center of medical care for most Tibetans in Gyalthang—they do seem acutely aware of the position of Tibetan medicine in the larger context of the entire nation, especially given that the doctors with whom I studied are presently or have been doctors at state-sponsored institutions. They commented that Tibetan medicine, although finally recognized as the important tradition that it is after many years of persecution in the PRC (see Janes 1995: 15-22), still struggles in some areas to achieve the equality granted to Chinese medicine (below I discuss certification of pharmacologists as one example). TIBETAN MEDICAL DOCTORS

Traditionally, there have been two main types of doctors in the Tibetan cultural complex: monastically-trained and family-trained. Since monasteries were the storehouses of and foci for Tibetan intellectual life for centuries, it was also in these institutions that medicine was taught and practiced. Part of a monk’s 15 basic educational curriculum consisted of courses in medicine (along with logic, debate, astrology, grammar, calligraphy, and others). If a monk found that he was particularly interested in medicine, he could continue to study beyond the basic curriculum, provided there was someone to teach him, and/or he could attend a specialized medical college. Even without a teacher present, however, a monk could learn a fair amount from studying medical texts, since literacy was one of the hallmarks of monastic life. Patients would seek out qualified doctors at nearby monasteries. The second type of medical lineage consisted of those doctors trained within the family. Before 1949 most of the families with which we are familiar in the literature were aristocratic and often traced their ancestry back to important historical figures (many Indian) in the development of Tibetan medicine. Doctors of this genre were connected to landed estates, were literate, and varied in the degree to which they practiced medicine as a profession. Although most of these doctors were men, it was possible for women in a medical family to be trained as well. Such are the two ideal historical types of Tibetan doctors. Certainly there must have been quite a few doctors that did not match the descriptions given here: doctors who may have had some basic monastic training in medicine but then returned home

36 TIBET JOURNAL to village life to become the local village doctor; doctors who were somehow selftaught, possibly traveling to other locations to find willing teachers; or other familytrained lineages. What this typology of Tibetan doctors leaves out are those doctors trained outside the world of literacy. Certainly I encountered a few such doctors during the course of my fieldwork, although I was not able to study with them extensively (explained below). Sometimes called village or country doctors in Chinese (nongcun yisheng),16 these doctors were usually trained within a family by a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle and are undoubtedly part of a long tradition of oral medical training. Such doctors tended to be men as well, although not exclusively so, and they treated patients within the local context of a village or group of villages. These lineages were (and are) most often found in more remote areas, away from cultural centers and large monasteries. Since the founding of the PRC and the Communist Revolution, the specialized study of Tibetan medicine in institutions has been moved from the monasteries to state-sponsored colleges and hospitals;17 medicine of this lineage is no longer yoked exclusively to religious study.18 The Gyalthang doctors with whom I studied were all products of institutions, hence I use the term ‘institutional doctors’ to describe them. 19 Yet the types of institutions in which they studied vary depending on age. Those born before 1940 (Pema Tenzin, Tsedrup Gönpo, and Shiang Rinpoche) had all begun their study of Tibetan medicine as young monks in monastic institutions. In contrast, younger doctors, born after 1960, (Ma Liming and Kelsang Chöden) had started by apprenticing with one or more senior doctors and then had gone on to study at formal medical institutions. One of the underlying commonalities for all of these institutional Gyalthang doctors is literacy in Tibetan language. One cannot study Tibetan medicine without fluency in the language. Although there is nothing stopping a non-Tibetan from learning to read and write Tibetan (and therefore studyi ng Tibetan medicine) it is thus far unheard of in Gyalthang. 20 GYALTHANG ‘INSTITUTIONAL ’ DOCTORS OF TIBETAN MEDICINE

Institutional doctors in Gyalthang for the most part practice in hospitals. 21 There are three main public hospitals in the town of Zhongdian. 22 The Diqing Prefectural People’s Hospital (C, Diqing Zangzu Zizhizhou Renmin Yiyuan) was established in 1978 and utilizes both Western and Chinese medicines. In 1979, the Prefectural Hospital established a clinic of Tibetan medicine that was disbanded after the establishment of the Tibetan Hospital (see below) in 1987. Since there were no doctors of Tibetan medicine at the Prefectural Hospital during the time of my research I did not spend any time there. The County People’s Hospital (C, Zhongdian Xian Renmin Yiyuan) was founded in 195223 and utilizes mostly Western and Chinese medicines but also has a small clinic of Tibetan Medicine. I interviewed the doctor of Tibetan medicine, Tsedrup Gönpo, at the County Hospital several times. The third public hospital in Gyalthang is the Tibetan Hospital (C, Diqing Zhou Zang Yiyuan; T, bDe chen khul bod lugs sman khang), established in 1987. At the Tibetan Hospital, Tibetan medicine is practiced almost exclusively; of the twenty-seven doctors on staff, twentythree of them are doctors of Tibetan medicine, two are doctors of Chi nese medicine, and two are doctors of Western medicine. (All doctors of Tibetan medicine at the Tibetan Hospital have had minimal training in both Western and Chinese medicines.) Most of my time was spent at the Tibetan Hospital. My main consultant was Ma


37

Liming. In addition, I interviewed Pema Tenzin while he was still a doctor at the Tibetan Hospital in 1999 and then again later in 2001 and 2002 at his private clinic. These three hospitals are within an approximately two-mile radius of each other. The Prefectural and County Hospitals are toward the center of town and within blocks of various government buildings (prefectural and county), the bus station, and the central food market. The Tibetan Hospital is located on the north end of town, past the Minorities Middle School (Zhou Minzu Zhongxue) and the statue of a man (visually marked as Tibetan) riding on horseback. The location of these facilities is symbolically significant and mirrors the status of the respective medicines in the eyes of the state; locating the Tibetan Hospital on the edge of town signals the peripheral status of Tibetan medicine within the larger discourse of medicine in China. PROFILES OF DOCTORS

Pema Tenzin (Pad ma bstan ’dzin) Pema Tenzin is a native of Dongwang (literary name: gTer ma rong), 24 a township in the northern part of Zhongdian County. He began his study of Tibetan medicine in Dongwang with teachers Ani Lhatsa and Tsering Gyatso at age eight or nine; he was a monk until age 27. Pema Tenzin explained that he had traveled to many places (the TAR, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan) throughout the years, studying medicine with a variety of teachers. He himself has been a doctor since 1966 and has been practicing in Zhongdian since 1984. First he worked in the Tibetan Medicine Clinic of the Prefectural Hospital but then moved to the Tibetan Hospital after it was constructed in 1987.25 He explained to me once that he only instructs about four students at a time, for four to six years. In 2000 he retired from the Tibetan Hospital and opened his own private clinic in his home. He was quite humble about the importance of his clinic but every time I was there a line of patients (between 8-25 people long) was formed in the courtyard to see him. He often treated people and dispensed medicines free of charge. I was told by Ma Liming that people will come from far away, especially from his home area of Dongwang (about an eight-hour trip by bus), to see him. When I first arrived in Gyalthang in 1999 I went directly to the Tibetan Hospital. I was accompanied by a graduate student from the Kunming Institute of Botany; although she had never been to the area herself and was from neighboring Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, she was assigned to be my peitong (accompanying companion—theoretically required for all researchers in the PRC). We had names of doctors to contact that were given to us by one of her fellow graduate students who had done research in the area. At that time Pema Tenzin was one of the leading doctors at the Tibetan Hospital and Ma Liming was a new doctor there who had been studying under Pema Tenzin for many years. One of the distinct memories I have of that first visit is of Pema Tenzin’s demeanor. I remember that his voice was quite soft, his Mandarin was heavily accented, and his face had a warm glow. His skin was not weathered like that of many in the area, presumably from having spent most of his adult life indoors studying. His smile was sweet and his eyes seemed kind. In many ways he was guarded: he had asked that I not record our interviews (I asked if I could since I had difficulty understanding his Mandarin at times) and he seemed especially careful about my questions concerning the connection between medicine and religion. I realize now that most of the questions I asked at that time were too direct for these beginning conversations. Although cautious, Pema Tenzin nonetheless

38 TIBET JOURNAL was encouraging and extremely helpful; I remember that a particularly bright smile came across his face when he learned that I could read Tibetan (although haltingly). In 2002 I spent time at his private clinic, observing doctor-patient interaction, interviewing him, and receiving treatment myself. Once when I was at his clinic in 2002, and after all patients had left for the afternoon, Pema Tenzin took me into the upstairs part of his home to show me where he stores all of his plants. He explained how he used to collect most of the plants hi mself, but now he mostly buys them from a few people he trusts to collect. Baskets of plants were drying in the sun on the rooftop while others were drying in the shade. 26 He had built shelves on which to stores bags of dried plant parts; the upstairs rooms and hallway were filled with the aroma of these. Next he showed me his shrine room, where thangkas lined the walls and a central shrine was at the west end of the room. Some plants were even stored in the shrine room, and he explained that to aid in efficacy all plants should be properly blessed. We did not talk much about the contents of the shrine room, since his main purpose in bringing me upstairs seemed to be to show me his storehouse, but I was able to recognize many of the figures in the thangkas, some of which were the Medicine Buddha. I felt honored that he would share all of this with me. I also felt that perhaps in some way he was trying to communicate to me that the questions I had asked him three years previously about the connection between medicine and religion were important ones, even though he had not chosen to d iscuss them with me then. In many ways I began to feel like Pema Tenzin and I were finally establishing a meaningful relationship—just as my fieldwork was coming to a close. I am sorry that this did not happen in large part before mid-2002. Ma Liming Ma Liming is from a farming family in Yangthang village (C, Xiao Zhongdian), about 25 km south of Zhongdian town. His Tibetan name is Chos ’phel but he hardly ever uses this name, he told me. He explained that he did well in school from an early age and therefore was encouraged to continue on to study medicine. He was an apprentice for six years with Pema Tenzin before attending the School of Health (C, Weisheng Xuexiao) in Zhongdian where he studied for four years. The same age as myself (34 in 2002), Ma Liming has been the head pharmacologist at the Tibetan Hospital since Pema Tenzin retired in 2000; now he even occupies the office that previously belonged to Pema Tenzin. He is in charge of acquiring all medicinal ingredients (either through organizing collecting parties or purchasing) and is overseer for all production of medicines at the hospital. There are four doctors who work under him that actually mix the medicines, and help with collecting materials. The majority of my time interviewing was spent with Ma Liming, hence I consider him my main consultant. He often had afternoons free and these were the best times for me to visit the hospital to interview. He was instrumental in my learning, never seeming to tire of my rudimentary questions. He explained an enormous amount of Tibetan medical theory to me and showed me how to read recipes in medical texts. He helped me decipher audiotapes I had made in Dechen and in surro unding villages of doctors and common householders reciting names of plants. We drove around several times in his small minibus identifying plants in the field and taking small collections. One time we even drove out to Tsoli village for the day; Ma Liming sai d he would be happy to help me interview some random villagers and a few men he knew there that had working knowledge of local medicinal plants. We of course


39

spent a good amount of our time discussing plant classifications and he helped me identify and locate important texts for my research. He has even responded recently to a letter I wrote him about my findings on the variations in plant classifications in medical texts and has provided his interpretation of some of these. Overall I feel incredibly indebted to him and could not have undertaken this research without his help. It is worth noting here that while in general I felt quite at ease with Ma Liming, and I believe he did with me as well, he seemed quite cautious about our spending too much time together alone. The few times he offered to take me plant hunting were when my son was along (the decision was usually spontaneous, as was bringing my son along to interviews). He tended to wax more conversational when there were other people in the room during our interviews. Even when we drove to Tsoli village (we did drive there alone and had some very interesting conversations along the way), he asked a friend in Tsoli to accompany us for the day. I have no way of knowing for sure whether Ma Liming would have behaved differently in these regards if I were a man, but I suspect so. Although I do not feel that I was slighted in any way, that somehow information was withheld from me because of my gender, by any of the Tibetan doctors, I was and am conscientious about my role not only as a foreign anthropologist, but as a woman as well. 27 Tsedrup Gönpo (Tshi sgrub mgon po) Tsedrup Gönpo was born in Geze village, about 30 km north of Zhongdian town. He went to Lingshi Ridrö (Gling bzhi ri khrod) Monastery in Bathang (in present-day Sichuan Province) when he was eight years old. By age thirteen he was ordained as a monk and had begun his study of Tibetan medicine. When the Communist Revolution arrived in China in 1949, Tsedrup Gönpo (aged twenty-four) removed his robes and gave up his monk’s vows. He practiced medicine for ten years in his home village of Geza (C) before coming to work at the Tibetan Hospital when it was first established (1987). In 1996 he moved to the Tibetan medicine clinic of the County Hospital, where he is the only Tibetan doctor on staff. In 1999 he told me that he had seventeen students, which seemed like a large number. He also told me once that only Pema Tenzin, Shiang Rinpoche, and himself know anything about Tibetan medicine in the Gyalthang area: “All the other doctors [he did not mention names] are ‘book doctors’— they don’t know enough about actual practice,” he said. I interviewed Tsedrup Gönpo several times at the County Hospital. He was fairly gruff and sometimes seemed bothered by my requests to speak with him. I was told by many people, Pema Tenzin and Ma Liming included, that Tsedrup Gönpo is simply that way, that I should not worry too much about his behavior and attitude. But I found it challenging to be around him. He constantly chided me for misspelling Tibetan plant names (even after I told him that I specifically needed help with the spellings) and he spoke very sternly to me quite often. In general I was quite put off by his interpersonal style and could tell early on that he was not someone with whom I would be able to work extensively. Nonetheless, he was clearly a knowledgeable doctor with decades of experience and I tried to make the most of our encounters. OTHER TIBETAN MEDICAL SCHOLARS IN GYALTHANG

In addition to the doctors at the Tibetan and County Hospitals, there are other practitioners and medical scholars in the area. Shiang Rinpoche (Byang 28 Rinpoche)

40 TIBET JOURNAL is one of the area’s most well respected authorities on Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan medicine. At an age of 80 and having just undergone gall-bladder surgery, Rinpoche was kind to agree to an interview with me in 1999. At that time he said he was not sure if we would meet again when I returned to Gyalthang, alluding to concern that his present life was soon to end. Fortunately he was still alive when I returned in 2001 and 2002 and I was able to interview him several times. However, his failing memory seemed a point of embarrassment to him and he continually mentioned how he had not practiced medicine in a very long time. In particular, Rinpoche helped fill me in on some of the history of Tibetan medicine in terms of specializations within particular Buddhist sects. Kelsang Chöden (sKal bzang chos ldan) is a native of Lhasa and did his medical training both there and in India, where he lived for many years. In Gyalthang, Kelsang is actually a tour guide in the summer months, since he can make a fair amount of money doing this.29 He then returns to Chamdo (Chab mdo) in the winter months to work at the Tibetan medicine factory there, where he helps mix medicines. When I first met Kelsang (we were introduced by a mutual friend) he explained to me that it was quite difficult for him to find work. Since he had left Lhasa when he was fairly young (age thirteen I believe) and spent so much time in India, his Chinese language skills, especially written Chinese, were quite poor. He said it was impossible to get a job anywhere in this part of cultural Tibet without being able to read and write Chinese. He had come to Gyalthang hoping to work in medicine but had then settled on tourism when no other jobs were available for him (and he grew to appreciate the income from tourism, he said). Kelsang was not only a consultant but also a good friend. We shared many meals together with other friends and he was a fun person to be around, with a bright face and gentle demeanor. NON-HOSPITAL PRACTITIONERS

I was also able to interview several village doctors in Zhongdian. Ngödrup (dNgos sgrub) lives at Sumtsenling (Sum rtsen gling) Monastery. His son is a monk at the monastery, so he is able to live in a small room there. He sees patients occasionally and specializes in healing stomach ailments. He is from a line of village doctors that goes back at least eight generations. His father, who died when Ngödrup was ten years old, is still famous in the area for being able to diagnose illnesses from gazing at corpses (a type of visual autopsy); I interviewed at least half a dozen villagers in the area who mentioned this. Ngödrup told me that because his father died when Ngödrup was so young he was not able to learn as much as he would have liked to from him. Although I expressed what I believe is sincere interest in learning from Ngödrup, in many ways he seemed very suspicious of me. He told me only a few names of plants that he uses, saying that he did not know the names of most of the plants. For a while I thought that possibly because he is not literate in Tibetan, he felt uncomfortable with the fact that I am. Thinking this, I explained that he could just tell me whatever names he knows for plants, that he need not be concerned with whether they are standard names or not; he just responded, several times, that he does not know any names for the plants he uses (below I explain why). Another fellow in town with a very similar name, Yudrup (g.Yu ’grub), also claimed that he did not know the names of the ten plants he uses to treat muscle strains and broken bones (his specialty) although he very agreeably answered other questions I had. By the time I had interviewed Yudrup, I already had been pondering this


41

phenomenon of ‘un-named’ plants: I speculated that possibly there are names that are used just within the family and that since I was not a family member I should not be privy to them. I asked Yudrup if this was the case; I said that he did not need to tell me what the names are if he did not want to. He again said that they do not use names for the plants but that they can easily recognize them in the field. I was puzzled: can such covertness exist for these useful plants? In a later conversation with Ma Liming, I was told that the names of these plants are secretive—they are passed on from one generation to the next and not shared outside the family. This I had suspected. But apparently even the fact that the names are secretive is also secret. While I was extremely interested in learning more from these men I was not able to. I am not sure which was the biggest obstacle: being a woman, an ‘outsider,’ too forward in my approach, not persistent enough, or a possible liability in terms of keeping family secrets/traditions. It is not that I learned nothing from them, as the above account of secretive names indicates. Whatever the case, the way in which knowledge is imparted to and shared among institutionally trained doctors is much more congruent with the type of research I was conducting and the way in which I conducted it. After all, I also come from a world of educational institutions. STREET VENDORS, MEDICINAL MARKETS

On the streets in Zhongdian there are also street vendors selling various medicines. When I first got to Zhongdian in 1999 I interviewed several of these vendors, mostly Tibetan women over 50. One of the most interesting exchanges I remember was one woman’s response to my inquiry as to whether the goods she sold were Tibetan or Chinese medicine: “It’s a little bit of both—and not exactly Chinese or Tibetan.” Here was folk medicine in the making, I thought: eclecticism at its best. Unfortunat ely, the number of street vendors diminished by 2001 and 2002, and none of the women I had interviewed in 1999 were selling on the streets any longer. I realized that these vendors were more itinerant merchants than healers, which is not to say that they did not know about the medicines they sold. Nonetheless, I could not track down the original interviewees and other vendors seemed too intermittent for a sustained research project. Additionally, a variety of markets and stores exist throughout Zhongdian town that sell medicinal plants; I did not extensively interview any of the proprietors although I did take note that the stores in particular seemed to expand between my first and last stays (1999 to 2002) in Gyalthang. CURRENT MEDICAL TRAINING, PRACTICE , AND CERTIFICATION

The most obvious difference in training between older, monastically trained doctors and younger institutional doctors is the context within which Tibetan medicine is studied and practiced. Monastically trained doctors learn that they often need to treat not just the body but also the mind/spirit of a patient. So, in addition to prescribing medicines to take, a monastically trained doctor might suggest certain prayers to say or might offer a ritual blessing to a patient. They are taught that ultimately health refers not just to the proper physiological functioning of the body but also to the balanced functioning of the mind/spirit/psyche. They also learn that karmic actions often play an important role in the health of an individual. Institutionally trained doctors in the PRC (that is, non-monastically trained), on the other hand, spend the majority of their time learning and conceptualizing about the primarily material nature of the body and the ramifications thereof in terms of treatment. They prescribe

42 TIBET JOURNAL medicines but not prayers. And yet, I found that there was definite conviction among young doctors that there is more to health than just the material body. The difference is not so much that younger doctors are strict materialists, not ‘believing’ in the concerns of metaphysical contemplation or the law of karma, but that they readily admit that they are not trained to treat disorders connected to such matters. Ma Liming explained to me once that if he suspects that a patient need s treatment having to deal with the spirit/psyche (C, shen) or with karmic action (T, las), he will send him/her to the monastery to speak with and/or receive blessings from a high monk. 30 Medical training for those that attend the program in Tibetan medicine at the School of Health in Zhongdian includes study of two topics that the older generation of Tibetan doctors never received trained in: Western and Chinese medicines. Although Chinese medicine is studied for only one semester (four months) during the fouryear curriculum, Western medicine is studied for a full year. I found that when I spoke with younger doctors they would sometimes draw parallels between certain aspects of Tibetan medicine and Western medicine or point out the ways in which the two systems are different. Importantly, while instruction in Tibetan medicine is completely in Tibetan, instruction in Chinese and Western medicine is in Mandarin, which points to the linguistic divide between Tibetan and non-Tibetan medicines in China. A significant change in medical practice between the two generations has to do with specializations. Pema Tenzin explained to me that during his training, he learned all aspects of medicine (diagnosis, treatment and preparation of medicines) because a doctor could expect to utilize skills in all of these areas throughout his career. 31 He explained that beginning in 1990 at the Tibetan Hospital a division of labor was formed wherein doctors either diagnose (C, kanbing) or work in the mixing of medicines (C, peifang ).32 While students at the School of Health do learn all aspects of Tibetan medicine during the course of their study, they are encouraged to pick a specialization (either diagnosis or medicine-mixing) toward the end of the program, in large part because this will help determine placement in a facilit y after graduation. Now that facilities such as the Tibetan Hospital have administrative units t hat reinforce this division of labor, doctors by default become specialists once they begin employment in such institutions (see Table 4.1). Table 4.1. Relationship between areas of specialization, administrative units and number of employees per unit at the Tibetan Hospital, Gyalthang. Specialization

diagnosis (C, kanbing) diagnosis (C, kanbing) medicine-mixing (C, peifang) (administrative)

Tibetan Hospital Unit

In-patient (C, zhuyuan bu ) Out-patient (C, menzhen bu) Manufacturing/preparation (C, zhiji shi ) Administration (C, bangong shi)

Number of employees per unit 14

4 5 10


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The state system of medical certification, as Ma Liming described it to me, is a series of progressive advances toward Directing Physician. After After graduating from a certified medical facility, such as the local School of Health, one is awarded the title of Medical Practitioner (C, yishi ). After eight years of practice and successful passing of a standardized exam, one can then become a Qualified Doctor Do ctor (C, yishi ).33 After seven more years of practice and passing another exam, one can move on to Attending Physician (C, zhuzhi yishi). Finally, one can advance to the position of Directing Physician (C, zhuren yishi) if one so desires. 34 Ma Liming explained that t hat the Tibetan medical text the rGyud bzhi recognizes three levels of qualification for medical doctors: Kachupa (dka’ bcu pa), Men rampa (sman rams pa), and Bum rampa (’bum rams pa), which roughly correspond to levels l evels 1 & 2, level 3, and level 4, respectively, respectively, in the state certification program (see table 4.2). Table 4.2 State and canonical levels l evels of certification/qualification certification/qu alification for doctors of Tibetan medicine. State certification (titles in Chinese) Yishi(4)35 Yishi(1) Zhuzhi yishi (1) Zhuren yishi (1)

Level of qualification in rGyud bzhi (in Tibetan) dka’ bcu pa dka’ bcu pa sman rams pa ’bum rams pa

Approximate English translation Medical Practitioner Qualified Doctor Attending Physician Directing Physician

Interestingly, the division of specialization discussed above (diag nosis vs. medicinemixing) is reflected in the state system of medical certification for Chinese medicine but not yet for Tibetan medicine, although Ma Liming explained exp lained in 2002 that such a structure was soon to be established for Tibetan medicine as well. Thus if one has specialized not in diagnosis but in the mixing of medicines, one can become a Qualified Pharmacist (C, yaoshi) instead of a Qualified Physician (C, yishi). Likewise, rather than an Attending Physician (C, zhuzhi yishi) the parallel for those specialists in medicine-mixing is Lead Pharmacist (C, zhuguan yao). Finally, Directing Physician (C, zhuren yishi) is replaced by the title Directing Pharmacist (C, zhuren yaoshi) in this system of certification. I have not been able to determine if there is a causal relationship between the bureaucratic structuring of specialization (encouraged in medical schools and obligatory in employment) and the state system of medical certification or if these two structures arose simultaneously. Whatever the case, specialization does appear to be a new development in the ongoing careers of Tibetan doctors in the PRC; it will be interesting to see how this plays out in generations to come. Below I mention some areas in which this could have potentially volatile ramifications. CONSUMPTION OF TIBETAN MEDICINE BY TIBETAN HOUSEHOLDERS IN GYALTHANG

Part of my time in Gyalthang was spent interviewing common householders about their knowledge (or perceived lack thereof) th ereof) of medicinal plants (Glover, forthcoming). I interviewed both within the town of Zhongdian and in five surrounding villages. During these interviews, besides asking about the use of medicinal plants, I also inquired about the utilization of prepared medicines and medical services, querying where common Gyalthang-ers seek medical care and asking what types t ypes of medicines

44 TIBET JOURNAL they consume. People explained to me that twenty to thirty years ago medicine was difficult to obtain, even Tibetan medicine, which mostly came from Lhasa. Now, people commented, prepared prep ared medicines are easy to get. You You can buy them at hospitals, h ospitals, pharmacies, and apothecaries in Zhongdian. Some of these medicines are locally produced, some are from Lhasa, some from India, and some (particularly Chinese and Western medicines) come from Kunming or other parts of China. Most interviewees said that although medicines are more available now, they are also more expensive. As one forty-one year old woman from Bongchating village commented, “When I was younger medicine was hard to get but cheap. Now it’s easy to get but expensive.” 36 Additionally, Additionally, interviewees commented that doctors do ctors are more prevalent now, especially in Zhongdian. While the County Hospital was founded in the early 1950s and state-run health clinics proliferated in the 1960s, it is difficult to know how much these institutions instit utions were accessed by local Tibetans at the time. According to my interviews they were fairly underutilized, at least for common ailments. 37 As stated above, Tibetan medicine was not institutionalized in the area until 1979, when the Tibetan medicine clinic was established establis hed at the Prefectural People’s Hospital and again later, in 1987, when the Tibetan Medicine Hospital—where Tibetan doctors practice Tibetan medicine—was built.38 Some villages in the area may have had resident village doctors, but in only one of the villages in which I interviewed had there been such a practitioner in the past forty years. One woman noted the increased pervasiveness of doctors and the t he convenience this brings: brings : “Oh it’s much easier to go see a doctor now than having to treat yourself [with medicinal plants].” Furthermore, the combination of greater availability of both medicines and doctors has generally created improved health-care conditions, people noted. One woman from Bongchating village stated, “When I was younger, we could only get medicine from Lhasa. Now we can go to the hospital in Zhongdian if we get very sick. Previously if you got really sick you would just die!”39 While many Gyalthang-ers said they sometimes utilize non-Tibetan medicines (Western or Chinese), they all commented that Tibetan medicine was constant in their choice of medicines. They also voiced a preference for Tibetan medical services. “I’d rather go to the Tibetan Hospital because the doctors do ctors are really great there,” one woman commented. She added, “They know what our lives are like; they are Tibetan too.” For some older women, language is an issue; many do not no t speak fluent Mandarin and are concerned whether they will be able to effectively communicate with doctors. Tibetan doctors all speak Tibetan, of course, so this is another reason to seek out a practitioner of Tibetan medicine—whether at the t he Tibetan Tibetan Hospital or elsewhere. Being a Tibetan Tibetan patient in Gyalthang Gy althang means foremost using usin g Tibetan medicine. 40 NATURAL ENVIRONMENT & MEDICINAL TRADE IN GYALTHANG

With an average elevation of 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) enormous enormo us vertical undulations, undulati ons, and a location of 27 N latitude,41 the environment in Gyalthang and the surrounding area is an interesting mix of temperate to alpine (boreal) vegetation. Valley floors (2,000-2,500m) are often dotted with cacti, palm trees, and eucalyptus while alpine areas (3,500+ m) host rhododendrons, gentians, and the prized snow lotus ( Saussurea medusa), which looks a bit like a pelt when dried. Deqin County, just northwest of Gyalthang, boasts the world’s lowest-latitudinal glacier (Minyong), a key tourist destination in the area. Three major rivers of China Chi na and Southeast Asia (the Yangtze, Yangtze, Mekong, and Salween) all pass through Gyalthang and the area directly west of °


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Gyalthang, separated by only a few valleys in some places. In summer the area is greatly affected by the southwestern monsoon from the Indian Ocean; this weather system brings warm moist air to the region and causes heavy summer rains. Unpublished climatic data from 1958-2001 for Zhongdian 42 indicate an average annual precipitation of 635mm, nearly 75% of o f which (467mm) falls from June-September. 43 The Tibetan Plateau protects the area from Siberian cold current in the winter and consequently temperatures are relatively mild in winters, particularly given the elevations (Chang 1983). In Zhongdian, the mean temperature in January is–3.31ºC (26ºF), with highs reaching an average of 6.28ºC (43ºF) and lows averaging–10.7º C (13ºF). These conditions make ideal growing environments for a wide range of vegetation types, thus the area is touted as one of immense biological diversity. 44 Many of the medicinal herbs used for both Chinese and Tibetan medicines come from this part of Yunnan; Yunnan; this is undoubtedly a result of the wide range in biodiversity. biodiversity. It is estimated that approximately 6,000 plant species exist in the northwestern corner of Yunnan and that 40% of plants used in Chinese medicine and close to 75% of plants used in Tibetan medicine come from this area. Gyalthang and Dechen are well known for the existence of the intriguing caterpillar fungus ( Cordyceps sinensis) so prized in Chinese medicine, although used only occasionally in traditional Tibetan medicine. 45 In addition, important plants (for both systems of medicine) such as Aconitum , Gentian, Saussurea and some Meconopsis are available only in this area. From a medical point of view, the variety of growing conditions produces a variety of healing potencies in plants. The Menri (sMan ri: Medicine Mountain) Range, which borders the t he prefecture and the th e Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), (TAR), as well as Pema (Pad ma: Lotus) Mountain are cherished areas for the collection of medicinal plants by Tibetan doctors; the plants gathered in these areas of high altitude have great potency (nus pa), particularly for disorders with ‘hot’ characteristics. Even in the popular imagination plants from this area have great potential. In 2001, I interviewed a young Chinese man from Kunming who says that he comes to Zhongdian specifically to buy herbs for his ailing grandparents. Although many of these same plants can be purchased in Kunming, this man expressed his belief that the ones purchased in Zhongdian are more potent and fresh. There are many small herb shops in Zhongdian, many of which specialize special ize in caterpillar fungus; additionally, ad ditionally, there are street vendors that sell a mix of medicinal plants and animal parts. Recently there appears to be substantial over-harvesting ov er-harvesting of some plants, a majority of which end up in the Chinese market, and this has become an increasing area of concern for conservation efforts. 46 While it is difficult to obtain reliable information on the extent of the historical plant trade in this area, we can speculate specul ate that it was quite pervasive. pervasi ve. We We do know that at least one branch of the ancient tea trade route went throu gh Gyalthang: tea (along with silk, cotton goods, and brocades) from China was traded for wool, hides, musk and deer horn from inner Tibet. Given that a fair amount (my rough es timate is onequarter to one-third) of plants used in Tibetan medicine grow in tropical regions and possibly up to three-quarters of Tibetan medical plants grow in the Gyalthang and Dechen areas, there had to have been a substantial commerce in plan ts between this area and those to the north and an d south. Trade still exists, of course, although alth ough I did not ask extensively about abou t this when I was in the field and have not been able to find fi nd any published literature on the topic. I do know that the Tibetan Hospital does purchase medicinal plants from India and southern Yunnan; I am just not sure how much. In

46 TIBET JOURNAL fact, in the medicinal plant storerooms at the Tibetan Hospital in Gyalthang, dried plant materials are organized according to their place of origin: one room is for local plants (collected in the Gyalthang and Dechen areas) while the other is for plants that come from elsewhere (mainly India and Yunnan). 47 To the best of my recollection, the storeroom with plants from elsewhere seemed at least three-quarters as full as the room with local plants, although this is certainly not a reliable way to measure annual imports. I have even less information about medicinal plant export s, either in raw or prepared form, since my research was not focused on this. th is. Given that Yunnan’s Yunnan’s plans for economic development include bolstering environmental tourism and the medicinal plant trade ( Time International 2000), we can expect that the flow of medicinal plants to and from this region will only increase in the years to come. MEDICINES IN PRODUCTION

There was an interesting transformation in the local medicine factory during the course of my research in Gyalthang that highlights highl ights in many ways the complexities complexiti es of power and identity politics in the local production produ ction of medicinals. When I first arrived in 1999, the Tibetan medicine factory was administered under the auspices of the Tibetan Hospital. I was given a tour of the medicine factory (the hygienic nature of the venue and the shiny new equipment were especially highlighted) as well as of the storage rooms where plant materials were kept until processing. Physically located on the hospital premises, the medicine factory was an integral part of the hospital. When I had returned to Zhongdian in 2001 much had changed: all of the st ores of medicinals that were at the Tibetan Hospital had been bought by a busi nessman from Kunming who now owned a separate medicine factory (to be renamed the Diqing Shangrila Tibetan Medicine Company in 2002). Doctors at the Tibetan Hospital explained to me that they had h ad no choice but to sell to this businessman. As I understand it, the man who was head of the medicine factory while it was under the Tibetan Hospital remained head under the new ownership and persuaded the doctors to sell their stock.48 There seemed to exist a certain amount of animosity between the Tibetan Hospital, at least as represented by the doctors, and the new medicine factory/company. factory/company. As one doctor stated, stated , “We “We care about treating patients; pat ients; they [the owners own ers of the factory] only care about making money. They’re businessmen.” By the time of my return in early spring 2002, the Tibetan Hospital had replenished its stock of medicinals and was again making medicines. Most of the medicines prescribed by doctors at the hospital can be purchased at the hospital dispensary, located on the first floor of the main building in the hospital complex. By late summer 2002 the hospital had also established establi shed its own pharmacy adjacent to the hospital that was open to the public. The doctors seemed to express a small amount of pride at thi s new, new, modest pharmacy, which stands in great contrast to the th e opulence of the Tibetan Medicine Company only 300 yards or so down the road. Medicines from the hospital pharmacy appear to be aimed only at local consumption, while those at the Medicine Company are accompanied by slick brochures in Chinese and reportedly have a wider circulation than the Gyalthang area. To the best of my knowledge, plant resources from both the Company and the hospital come from similar areas (Gyalthang, Dechen, Chamdo, southern Yunnan, India). During 2002 the Hospital installed a new statue of Yuthog Yuthog Yonten Yonten Gonpo Gon po (g.Yu (g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po), an important historical hi storical figure fig ure in the development of Tibetan Medicine, in its small courtyard—a symbolic representation of the connection to a long lineage of medicine.


47

During the course of my fieldwork I did not interview anyone at the Tibetan Medicine Company (although I did interview Wang Yongshen, who would become one of the head administrators of the Medicine Company, in 1999 at the Tibetan Hospital). In part the Company became off-limits for me due to my indirect involvement with The Nature Conservancy. In 2001 I was invited by Dr. Jan Salick of the Missouri Botanical Garden to participate in a research trip to the Khawakar po Mountain area, northeast of Gyalthang. Dr. Salick’s research is on sustainable harvesting practices in the sMan ri (Medicine Mountain) area and is contract work for The Nature Conservancy. We made arrangements to meet in Dechen; I was to drive from Zhongdian to Dechen with one of the doctors from the Tibetan Hospital, who had also been invited along. When the doctor appeared at my hotel on the morning of our departure, he was accompanied by three other men—from the medicine company. Although I suspected that there could be a potential conflict of interest (explained below) I did not feel that it was my place to resolve th ese issues and so we proceeded to Dechen. After our arrival in Dechen we participated in a very uncomfortable dinner where the company employees and the doctor were told that they could not come with us to the village. Since the doctor had actually been the only one invited initially, he explained that he was told by his boss that he had to bring these fellows along. He did not explain why his boss made such a demand but it became clear that The Nature Conservancy’s interest in conservation and the presumed commercial interest of the medicine company in finding new ‘hunting grounds’ for plant collection were at odds. I asked that we please allow the docto r to come along, since we invited him and he made the long journey there; I also had little suspicion in my mind about the doctor’s general interest and was hoping he could help me identify plants. We did invite him, but he declined and said that he should stay with the other men, since they were in part his ‘responsibility’ given by his higher-up. I understood his position, but I was terribly worried that a major faux pas had been committed. I was not so much concerned about the company workers, but I was concerned about the doctor and worried that an important relationship had been destroyed before it had barely begun. In the end, the doctor ended up being an important consultant and a good friend while the company refused to let me and another researcher from the Missouri Botanical Garden into their factory on several occasions. The people in the village to which we traveled thanked us for not bringing the men from the medicine company along; the villagers were equally suspicious of the intentions of this company.49 The production of medicines in Gyalthang points to two important phenomena. First, this is not an obvious case of ethnic identity politics at work in criticizing the production of medicinals since many of the workers at the company, and indeed the head of production, are Tibetan. The criticism levied at the company by the doctors does not appear to be ethnic in nature—it is more a discourse about ethics and motivations (doctors help people, businessmen make money). In many ways, it appears to be a commentary on the emerging market economy. And yet, no one (doctors and lay people alike) ever seems to forget the fact that the owner of the medicine company is non-local, and therefore non-Tibetan; this point was continually reiterated to me. What local could afford to undertake such a venture, some wondered. Given that few of China’s emerging nouveaux riches, or those capable of such capital investment, are Tibetans, the apparently non-ethnic, and possibly class-based, nature of this discourse could easily become ethnic in focus. Indeed, many of the commentaries

48 TIBET JOURNAL about ethics (doctors as altruistic, businessmen as selfish) seem to parallel ethnic stereotypes (Tibetans as willing to help others, Chinese as out for themselves). 50 Secondly, this points to the significance of the changes brought on by the new institutionalized division of labor in Tibetan medicine. There are new possibilities as to how this division will play out with the opening of a market economy not only dependent upon an increasingly product-oriented consumer body such as the Chinese public51 but also upon capital investment. While this division of labor does not appear to be the foremost concern of doctors criticizing the company (indeed, one of the most vocal critics was a doctor that himself specializes in knowledge of medicine manufacturing) the fact that one can own the means of production of medicine, much more easily at present than one can own the production of medical services, could create new issues in this division of labor, particularly with the added variability of ethnicity. 52 CONCLUSION

Insomuch as a Tibetan ethnic ‘revival’ continues in Gyalthang, Tibetan medicine will undoubtedly become even more of a symbol of Tibetan ethnicity, both for practitioners and consumers and in the larger context of ‘ethnic’ medicines in China. Yet the nationalistic rhetoric of Tibetan medicine as a great treasure of the motherland may always outweigh any symbolic strength otherwise gained. The specialization of training in Tibetan medicine may take on new meaning in terms of career choice and collegiality. It will be interesting to see if more non-native Tibetan speakers in the PRC will begin training in Tibetan medicine in the near future and, if so, what sorts of changes their involvement might bring to the profession. Ownership of the production of Tibetan medicines will undoubtedly continue to be an area in which contending views will be voiced and identity politics enacted. Intellectual property rights may become increasingly drawn upon in the struggle for contestation over knowledge appropriation, particularly in the commercialization of prepared Tibetan medicines. 53 And the struggle over natural resource extraction will no doubt escalate as continued harvesting increases and population density builds. The doctors of Tibetan medicine in Gyalthang with whom I studied will hopefully continue to practice medicine as long as is feasibly possible for each of them and will continue to train new students of Tibetan medicine in the years to come. There is no doubt that they will continue to make an important difference in the lives of many Gyalthang Tibetans and at least one foreign anthropologist. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan for being my official host and ally in making necessary arrangements during the course of my research in Gyalthang. Research funding was provided in large part by the Fulbright Program; additional funding was made possible by the Department of Anthropology and the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Thanks to Stevan Harrell for comments on portions of this paper and to Larry Epstein for his endless encyclopedic knowledg e. I extent an enormous heartfelt thanks to the doctors mentioned herein for their patience with me and to the people in Gyalthang who kindly agreed to interviews. Alas, any errors are my own.

A Note on Language Usage Throughout this article I use both Tibetan and Chinese names and words, relying on the Wylie system of transliteration (minus the periods in between syllables) for Tibetan and


49

pinyin romanization (minus tone marks) for Chinese. I purposefully use Chinese names for political units (county, prefecture, province, nation) to highlight their creation under the modern Chinese state. I use Tibetan names for cultural and historic areas as well as local place names used by Tibetan inhabitants. Thus Zhongdian is used to refer to the county and/ or the county seat (although see footnote #1 about the recent county name change) while Gyalthang is used to refer to the cultural area of this study. (Similarly, I use Deqin (C) to refer to the county next to Zhongdian but Dechen (T) to refer to the cultural area.) Place names and proper names are not italicized in either case, although all other terms are. When not clear from context, I indicate C or T for Chinese or Tibetan, respectively, directly before or after a given name or word. When available I indicate full Tibetan spellings; it should be noted that I could not obtain reliable spellings for several villages in which I interviewed (most of the population in the Gyalthang area is not literate in Tibetan) and have therefore relied on approximate transliterations of local pronunciations.

Notes 1. Zhongdian County (Zhongdian Xian) was officially renamed Shangrila County (Xianggelila Xian) in May 2002. 2. The scholar/abbot in exile Geshe Tenpa Gyaltsen (full name: Lha mkhar Yongs ’dzin Geshe bsTan pa rgyal mtshan) wrote in 1985 that Gyalthang consists of five rdzong (an administrative unit where the district magistrate was headquartered; a county, Chinese xian , can correspond roughly to a former rdzong): Gyalthang yul lte ba (central, literally ‘navel’ Gyalthang), gTer ma rong (present-day Dongwang), Yangthang (Chinese Xiao Zhongdian), ’Jang (the area north of Shigu, near the first major bend in the Yangtze), and Rong pa (present-day Nyi shar area). Geshe Tenpa Gyaltsen’s explanation of a greater Gyalthang area centered on a core, navel town of Gyalthang (what I refer to as Zhongdian) is one that is corroborated by many Tibetans in the area today. I thank Wang Xiaosong of the Diqing Institute of Tibetan Studies in Zhongdian for helping me make sense of the relation between textual place names and those on current Chinese maps. 3. The distinction between Chinese yi and yao is essentially that yi generally refers to the practice of medicine while yao refers to the material of medicine education, pharmaceuticals, medicinals). Often the two terms are combined. 4. Throughout this article, I have chosen to translate Chinese minzu as ‘ethnic group’ rather than the more legalistic term of ‘nationality.’ This is because ethnic group (along with correlatives ethnic and ethnicity) is much more effective in conveying the connotative meanings of minzu. 5. It is significant that even when speaking Tibetan many Gyalthang Tibetans use Mandarin zhong yi/yao (Chinese medicine) and xi yi/yao (Western medicine) rather than the Tibetan rgya sman and nub phyogs pa’i sman (or sometimes phyi gling pa’i sman ), respectively. In contrast, the Tibetan bod sman (Tibetan medicine)is more often used than Mandarin zang yi/yao . 6. The term ‘traditional’ medicine (chuantong yiyao) is often used inter-changeably with ‘ethnic’ medicine (minzu yiyao), especially for medical systems other than Chinese medicine. 7. The more complete translation for yiyao is ‘medicine and pharmacology’ although throughout I often shorten this to the all-inclusive English lay term of ‘medicine’ for the sake of simplicity. See footnote 3. 8. In using the term ‘non-Chinese medical traditions’ I simply mean traditions other than Chinese medicine, usually referred to in the West as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). 9. A local market nearby my house that I like to frequent and which caters mostly to the immigrant population of the city in which I live has enacted a creative reversal of this trend: the ‘ethnic’ foods at this market (located in a separate part of the store and labeled ‘ethnic foods’) are cheeses, sausages, steaks, hot dogs, potato chips, etc. The foods that would be classified as ‘ethnic’ in a large chain super-market, along with fruit and vegetab les,

50 TIBET JOURNAL constitute the bulk of the merchandise in this market. The hegemony of using ‘ethnic’ to mean non-Anglo may indeed be gradually changing in the US and certainly varies from community to community. 10. We cannot expect, of course, that the average exhibition viewer could have read Tibetan script, for example. Some of the medical traditions do not actually have their own script (although I do not recall if any of these were displaye d in the exhibit). But the fact that no phonetic approximations were offered again signals the filtering through the Chinese medical system (and Han Chinese culture at large), which utilizes many of these same plants. 11. Other exhibits in the Expo included those of the nation (an exhibit for each of China’s provinces and autonomous regions) and of the world (exhibits for a variety of nations, from Switzerland to Sudan). 12. See Janes (1995) for a brief discussion of classifying Tibetan medicine under the rubric of ‘Chinese traditional medicines’ in documents issued by the central government. 13. The Chinese medical classic The Yellow Emperor’s Book of Internal Medicine ( Huangdi Neijing ) is sometimes cited as dating back as far as 2500 BC (the supposed time in which the Yellow Emperor lived); this is about one thousand years before written Chinese language (in the form of oracle bone writing) began. Most scholars agree that the more likely date for this text is sometime during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). 14. See Adams (2001) for a discussion of how practices considered ‘scientific’ (read: apolitical) in Tibetan medicine in the TAR are acceptable while those considered ‘religious’ (i.e., political) are not. Although religious and political expression in Yunnan does not seem as aggressively repressed as in the TAR, Adams’ point is worth considering for any national discourse on Tibetan medicine. 15. Throughout I use the normative male title of ‘monk’ even though there have always been a small percentage of clerics in Tibetan culture who were female. 16. Not all village doctors are non-literate, but many are. 17. A move in this direction was begun during the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama, in the early 20th Century, with the establishment in 1916 of the Mentsikhang (Medical and Astrological Institute) in Lhasa and the Dalai Lama’s interest in increasing secularization of the medical profession. 18. To the best of my knowledge, however, most basic monastic education still does have a component of medical study. 19. Below I present two other doctors in the Gyalthang area that were of the family-trained, non-literate ilk of doctors but with whom I did not study (I discuss why). Although my research was with institutional doctors, this does not imply that these are the only docto rs present in Gyalthang. At the same time, based on interviews I conducted among common householders in 2001 and 2002, I would argue that institutional doctors occupy a dominant position in providing health care to Tibetans in Gyalthang. 20. This is not the case elsewhere (the US, Europe, India) where Tibetan medicine is being taught to non-Tibetans. 21. Exceptions include Pema Tenzin, who opened his own private clinic in his home in 2000 but who previously worked for both the Prefectural and Tibetan Hospitals, and Shiang Rinpoche, who used to see patients at his home in addition to the Prefectural and Tibetan Hospitals (although he was never an employee of either hospital as far as I could ascertain). 22. There were two other hospitals in town during the tenure of my field work, the Army Hospital and the privately owned Shangrila Liver, Gallbladder, and Urology Hospital (C, Xianggelila Gandan Miniao Zhuanke Yiyuan). Neither of these hospitals employed practitioners of Tibetan medicine, however. 23. The County School of Health Hospital (Zhongdian Xian Weisheng Yuan) officially became the County People’s Hospital (Zhongdian Xian Renmin Yiyuan) in 1956. 24. Although Dongwang may appear to be strictly a Chinese name for the area, linguist Ellen Bartee (who has conducted extensive linguistic research in Dongwang) explained to me


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that the pronunciation of gTer ma in the local Dongwang dialect sounds phonetically like ‘dong wang.’ She explained that Tibetan ‘ma’ as a second syllable in this dialect is often pronounced ‘wang’ or ‘wong’ and the ‘e’ vowel (as in gter) is often pronounced as a backrounded vowel. So most likely Chinese Dongwang is actually derived from the local pronunciation of gTer ma. 25. While interviewing in Ninong village in the Dechen area in 2001, I met a doctor (Ngawang Chöpel) who knew Pema Tenzin from the time when the Tibetan Hospital first opened; the two were doctors on staff together. He explained that the hospital was overrun with patients at first and that they could not make enough medicine to keep up with the demand ; they would have to close the hospital for a week at a time to mix enough medicines for patients and then reopen. 26. It is important that plants are properly prepared. Plants that are cooling should never be dried in the sun but always in the shade, while those with heating characteristics should be dried only in the sun. 27. All of the doctors who I interviewed were male. Although there were several female doctors at the Tibetan Hospital during the time I was in Zhongdian, none of them were specialists in plants and/or pharmacology. I do hope that further research in the Gyaltha ng area will allow me to come into contact with some of these female Tibetan doctors since it would be interesting to know more about their training and areas of specialization and to examine their interactions with me as a comparison. 28. The combination of the Tibetan letter ba with subscript ya in Gyalthang dialect is approximately pronounced as š. Throughout I simply write ‘sh’ for š. 29. In particular, Kelsang is fluent in English and has an international savvy (undoubtedly from living in India) that is valuable in the booming tourist industry of northern Yunnan. 30. One of the signs of having an illness at least partially caused by karma is not responding effectively to medicines, Ma Liming explained. It is somewhat easier to spot a problem with mind/spirit/psyche, Ma Liming said, because usually the person will act erratically and is often clearly psychologically unstable. 31. Additionally, according to the classic medical text the rGyud bzhi, the training of a doctor involves all of these aspects of medicine. In Part I of the rGyud bzhi, medicine is described in terms of the analogy of a tree; two of the three roots of this tree are diagnosis (ngos ’dzin rtags) and treatment (gso byed thabs). The preparation of medicine is described as one of the eleven principles to be learned by the student of Tibetan medicine. 32. The amount of doctors working in diagnosis is much greater than that of those making medicines at the Tibetan Hospital. During my tenure in Gyalthang, there were five doctors that worked in medicine preparation while there were eighteen doctors total working in diagnosis (see figure 4.1). 33. Although the romanized spellings for medical practitioner (yishi) and qualified doctor ( yishi) are identical, the characters (and tones) for shi are different. The character shi in medical practitioner translates roughly as ‘scholar’ while that of qualified doctor means ‘master.’ Yi in both cases refers to the practice of medicine. 34. Unfortunately, I am unable to recall (and it is not clear in my notes) if there is also a time factor (practicing for a certain number of years) and an exam to pass before qualifyin g for Directing Physician. I suspect that there is not (since I did not note that there is) but cannot say so for certain. 35. I have indicated tones of Chinese shi with numbers in parentheses after each title. See footnote 19 for an explanation. 36. Only one interviewee mentioned that medicines are actually cheaper now than they were before. However, this man had an above-average income as a private driver; his remarks undoubtedly reflect his economic standing and are not representative of the sentiment of most Gyalthang farmers.

52 TIBET JOURNAL 37. It should be noted that the local monastery in Zhongdian, Sumtsenling, does not appear to have a significant history of providing medicines or medical services to the local community. 38. My conjecture is that Gyalthang Tibetans first became exposed to professional doctors through the Tibetan clinic at the Prefectural Hospital and later the Tibetan Hospital. More than several times people told me how incredibly busy the doctors were the first few years after the Tibetan clinic opened—patients would wait in line for hours to see a Tibetan doctor. One of the two doctors involved with establishing the clinic in fact told me that they could not make enough medicine to keep up with the demand for the first two years and were often overwhelmed, having to turn patients away. I suspect that local Tibetans were interested in the Tibetan medicine clinic in part because the doctors were Tibetan themselves. 39. And yet this health care is becoming increasingly more difficult to access for those without money. Although doctor’s visits at local hospitals are free, patients have to pay out of pocket for most medicines. There are a number of independent practitioners in Zhongdia n who charge rather reasonable rates—in many cases they even treat patients for free. Most of these independent practices operate less as commodity-based businesses and more as ‘charities’, accepting whatever bit of money or other offerings (usually food) patients give, rather than having set rates for treatment. 40. I discovered another interesting link to ethnic identity during these interviews: householder self-perception of knowledge of medicinal plants was quantified in relation to other ethnic groups. One man in Yangthang village highlighted what he saw as an important difference in ethnic knowledge bases: “Han, Yi, and Naxi know how to use plants and harvest them in the high mountains. Most local Tibetans don’t know much. There was one Tibetan guy about sixteen years ago who knew about plants but he didn’t teach anyone and now he’s dead.” Two other interviewees mentioned that village remedies came from non-Tibetan families: one Naxi, one Lisu. Thus on the level of assessing their own knowledge base of medicinal plants, Gyalthang Tibetans often compare themselves with other ethnic groups and find their own knowledge lacking. See Glover, forthcoming (2005). 41. As a reference, Houston and Cairo are at about the same latitude. 42. This data was graciously supplied to me by the Yunnan Meteorology Center via Xu Jianchu. 43. For comparison, the greater Seattle area, with a reputation as being one of the rainiest parts of the United States, receives an approximate 1000mm, although the majority of this rain is during the winter months. I have often joked about not seeing the sun in years while doing fieldwork: living in Seattle during the rainy season (winter) and Gyalthang during the rainy season (summer). 44. The high density of biodiversity has made the area of particular interest to both domestic and international researchers. While The Nature Conservancy has been conducting research within the past several years on biodiversity and conservation in the area (mostly in Deqin County), local biological/biodiversity research in northwest Yunnan, conducted by The Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (an NGO established in 1995) as well as the Kunming Institute of Botany, has been continuous for over the past decade. 45. The collection of caterpillar fungus has become a recent side business for many locals who can sell the fungus for a high price. As of summer 2004, the going rate for one caterpillar fungus in the Gyalthang area was 8-10 yuan (US$.90-1.20) per piece (Daniel Winkler, personal communication). See Boesi (2003) for an important discussion of caterpillar fungus. Even more lucrative, of course, is the matsutake (songrong) mushroom market, where mushrooms are harvested in Gyalthang and hurriedly shipped to Japan and Korea where they fetch a high price. 46. In many cases, local Tibetans themselves participate in the depletion of resources—due undoubtedly to the market incentives involved. In an interview in Nyi shar (C, Nixi) village in May 2002, an old monk told me that there are a number of medicinal plants that villagers harvest to sell, many of which they themselves do not know how to use, and that


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this harvesting is depleting some local plant populations. The monk insisted that local villagers are selling them to the Chinese market, although I could not get confirmation of this. At the same time, non-locals (Chinese, Tibetans, possibly Naxi) are supposedly participating in similar resource depletion. During an interview in the Khawakarpo (Kha ba dkar po) Mountain area with a local village doctor in July 2001, I was told that outsiders—mostly non-Tibetans—have tried to come to the area to harvest gentians for non-local use. 47. It is interesting to consider the classification that is being enacted in the storerooms. Yonten Gyatso, a Tibetan doctor in the States (trained in India) with whom I have had a correspondence for several years once said that one can classify plants according to those that are native (yul sman) and those that come to Tibet from across the mountains— places like India and China (la sman). Yonten was careful to say that although ‘la sman’ would appear to mean medicine from the mountains, this is not actually the case. When I asked Ma Liming about this kind of classification, he said that ‘la sman’ means medicine that grows in the mountains while ‘yul sman’ means those that grow very locally, in and around villages (he said that ‘yul’ in this case corresponds to Chinese ‘cun’ or village). But it was not a common way of classifying, Dr. Ma stated. It is interesting that these two doctors should have such different interpretations of the same terms, especially ‘la sman.’ I attribute such differences to each doctor’s geographic orientation and location of training. However, Yonten Gyatso’s explanation of these terms seems to describe quite effectively the actual layout of the medicinal plant storerooms at the Tibetan Hospital in Gyalthang. 48. I am not clear exactly who had the last say in all of this. Undoubtedly this is the product of administrative negotiations and the doctors themselves could have had very little say over the fate of these materials. 49. The villagers told us during this trip how on a number of occasions there had been outsiders (Chinese from Kunming and also Tibetans from Chamdo) coming into their village trying to collect medicinal plants. This village is in the sMan ri (Medicine Mountain) range—a range that has plants of exceptional potency from the perspective of Tibetan medicine, as stated above. 50. One doctor told me his opinion about the difference between Tibetans and Chinese: a Tibetan will give money to a beggar in the street, while a Chinese will not only not give money but will kick the beggar and tell him he is in the way! 51. Tibetan medicine is apparently being marketed in China in recent years as having successful ‘miracle’ cures for heart conditions, impotence, hair loss, cancer, etc. Even the SARS outbreak in 2002 spurred on increased advertising for a prepared Tibetan medicine (ril bu dgu nag) which supposedly was effective in preventing SARS (WTN May 7, 2003). 52. It would be interesting to do a comparative study of the privatization of hospitals. The recently opened Shangrila Liver, Gallbladder, and Urology Hospital (Xianggelila Gandan Miniao Zhuanke Yiyuan) is reportedly financed by a Hong Kong businessman. 53. Although intellectual property rights do not appear to figure much in the current discourse of medicine (Tibetan or other) in China, I suspect that especially with the increasing presence of various NGOs in the country, particularly in the Southwest, there may be an augmented currency in their usage.

References cited Adams, Vincanne. 2001. The sacred in the scientific: ambiguous practices of science in Tibetan medicine. Cultural Anthropology 16(4), 542-75. Boesi, Alessandro. 2003. dByar rtswa dgun ’bu (Cordyceps sinesis Berk ): An important trade item for the Tibetan population of Li thang County, Sichuan Province, China. Tibet Journal 28(3): 29-39. Chang, David H.S. 1983. The Tibetan Plateau in relation to the vegetation of China. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 70:564-570.

54 TIBET JOURNAL Glover, Denise M. 2005. Up From the Roots: Contextualizing Medicinal Plant Classifications of Tibetan Doctors in Rgyal thang, PRC. PhD Dissertation, University of Washington. Glover, Denise M. Forthcoming (2005). The Land of Milk and Barley: Medicinal Plants, Staple Foods, and Discourses of Subjectivity in Rgyalthang. In Schrempf, Mona (ed.) Soundings in Tibetan Medicine: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives. Proceedings of the 10th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies (PIATS), Oxford Sept 6-12, 2003. Leiden: Brill Publishers. Janes, Craig R. 1995. The transformations of Tibetan medicine. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 9(1), 6-39. Lha mkhar Yongs ’dzin Geshe bsTan pa rgyal mtshan. 1985. rGyal thang yul lung dgon gnas dang bcas pa’i byung ba mdo tsam brjod pa blo gsal mgul pa mdzes pa’i rgyan (A

History of the rGyalthang dGon pa Monastic Complex and Its Environs) Dharamsala: Tibetan Library. Qi, Ling and Luo Dashang (eds.) 2000. Zhongguo shaoshu minzu chuantong yiyao daxi (Collection of Traditional Minority Medicines of China). Chifeng: Science and Technology Publishing House of Inner Mongolia. Time International, August 21, 2000. Nature’s Remedy: A backward province steers its economy from drugs to a clean, green source of income. 156 (7/8):70. World Tibet Network News. Tibetan medicines in demand to keep SARS at bay.

Hybrid Methodologies in the Lhasa Mentsikhang: A Summary of Resources for Teaching about Tibetan Medicine Frances Garrett

A number of studies have been published in the last decade documenting the practice of Tibetan medicine in Tibetan regions of the People’s Republic of China. Many of these articles have focused on the effects of “modernization” on the practice of medicine in the Mentsikhang in Lhasa. The present article announces the presence of new multi media resources for the study of Tibetan medicine, based on a series of videos shot in the Lhasa Mentsikhang. These resources, freely available online, used along with the growing list of scholarly publications by ethnographers who have worked in Lhasa, greatly enhance the richness of materials available for teaching about Tibetan medicine in the university classroom. TIBETAN MEDICINE IN TH E TIBETAN AN D HIMALAYAN DIGITAL LIBRARY

The Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (THDL) was founded in 2000 under the auspices of the University of Virginia Library and the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. It is an integrated environment for the digital publication of projects developed by scholars and institutions around the world. Although supported and published by THDL, individual projects are run by independent administrations that are decentralized and autono mous. THDL holdings are organized under five domains: community, reference, collections, tools and education. Current resources on Tibetan medicine are devoted to three main themes: Clinical Practice, Therapeutics and Pharmacy, and History and Culture. Developed in collaboration with the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences, the Lhasa Hospital of Tibetan Medicine (Mentsikhang) and t he University of Virginia’s NIH-funded Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies, this project was begun by Frances Garrett in Lhasa during the summer of 2001 with the collection of over 25 hours of video (see Table 1) and several hundred photographs and other forms of documentation on the contemporary practice of Tibetan medicine. These videos are now being transcribed and translated by Mentsikhang doctors and medical students in Lhasa; draft transcriptions and translatio ns are made available online at THDL as they are process ed. The THDL collections on Tibetan medicine currently contain only materials on Tibetan medicine as practiced in Lhasa. The Library hopes to expand these resources to encompass medical theories and practices of the entire Himalayan region as individual or institutional collaborators willing to develop these resources are identified. Development priorities presently fall under the following rubrics: clinical practice observations, traditional pharmacolog y, history of medicine, and the relationship bet ween medicine and culture. The development of Tibetan language digital text

56 TIBET JOURNAL collections and lexical and bibliographic resources over the next several years is also anticipated. DISCUSSIONS OF TH E TREATMENT OF GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS AT TH E LHASA MENTSIKHANG

The official attitude toward Tibetan medicine in the PRC has fluctuated greatly since the 1950s, and many of these changes are seen reflected in th e microcosm of Tibetan medicine in the Lhasa Mentsi khang. Tibetan medicine was officially admitted into the PRC public health sys tem in 1962, was declared illegitimate in 1978, and was again accepted by the health bureaucracy in the mid-1980s. 1 Craig Janes’ 1995 article, “The Transformations of Tibetan Medicine,” outlines the ways in which shifts in government policy resulted in “significant theoretical, institutional, and clinical transformations” in Tibetan medicine within the PRC. 1 The administrative organization of the Lhasa Mentsikhang was one of these changes. Janes notes, for example, that the hospital was organized into special ized departments, such as the Department of Liver Disorders, the Department of Gastro-intestinal Disorders, and so on, and that doctors began wearing white coats to appear more “modern and scientific.” 2 Janes explains that from the 1970s onwards, the director of the Mentsikhang was charged with the task of transforming Lhasa’s Tibetan medical institution according to three prin ciples: First, to create an institution that paralleled, symbolically and in terms of the organization of care, the biomedical institutions then present in Lhasa; second, to increase utilization rates in order to demonstrate the popular demand for services; and third, to de-emphasize those elemen ts of Tibetan medicine that the government found objectionable, particularly the use of religious concepts and the problematizing of the mind or self in diagnosis and treatment.3

In his research, Janes demonstrates the process by which interaction with the PRC health bureaucracy altered the face of Tibetan medicine in the 20t h century, but he notes also that post-1980 reforms to social policy in the TAR led to a revitalization of Tibetan medicine, allowing it a “somewhat more conceptual and epistemological autonomy than other Asian medical systems.” 4 Much of what Janes outlines is seen reflected in the THDL videos with Mentsikhang doctors, making these videos a vivid classroom complement to the study of Janes’ research. In the three-part THDL video series on Gastrointestin al Disorders, 5 Dr. Lobsang Norbu introduces the Mentsikhang’s Department of GI Disorders. In 1984, he explains, the department was affiliated with the Department of Clinical Research and was responsible for conducting various clinical trials on GI disorders, for which it received an award from the Ministry of Health. In 1987 it joined the Department of Internal Medicine ( khog nad sde khag) and fourteen doctors supported the inpatient treatment of over ninety patients a year. In 1996, the Gastrointestinal Disorders Department ( pho rgyu sde khag) was formed as one of four specialization units, with twenty doctors and over forty hospital beds. Of these twenty doctors, one possesses the Bumrampa (’bum ram pa ) degree, four the Rabjampa ( rab ’byams pa) degree, seven the Duraba ( bsdus ra ba) degree, and eight serve as professors of medicine. Lobsang Norbu says that these doctors now treat nearly 400 pati ents a year. Disorders treated include

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atrophic gastritis ( pho rub ), chronic gastric ulcers ( pho ba smug po) and others, and Lobsang Norbu reports a 96% recovery rate. In this video series, Dr. Lobsang Norbu explains that the Four Tantras and other ancient Tibetan medical texts divide atrophic gastritis ( pho rub ) into three progressive stages: the stage in which the disease is generated from ordinary phlegm ( bad kan), a more serious stage in which the disease is generated from phlegm from the digestive system ( bad kan lcags dregs), and a very serious third stage in which tumors (skran) may develop. 6 These tumors, he comments, develop as a result of untreated open wounds in the stomach or intestines, but Tibetan treatments can successfully prevent the progression of the disease to its more serious stages. The three stages of gastritis have three different treatment protocols. For a patient in th e first stage of the disease, Tibetan doctors prescribe medicinal compounds such as gtsho bkru zla shel,7 grub thob ril dkar ,8 smug po gyul rgyal,9 and others. Additional compounds aimed at stopping hemorrhage are added in later stages of the disease, and in the early stages of gastric tumor development, medicines such as rin chen grang sbyor 10 and se ’bru 25 11 are recommended. Combinations of medicinal treatments are customized according to a patient’s particular set of symptoms. Lobsang Norbu explains that a very advanced case of gastrointestinal tumor resulting from untreated gastritis ( pho rub ) may be incurable and is likely to be fatal. Early detection and successful treatment of the early stages of the disease is th erefore essential. The occurrence and treatment of GI disorders in Tibetan regions has been studied by numerous medical researchers from around the world, and Tibetan Mentsikhang researchers, some of whom were educated in medical institutions in the People’s Republic of China located outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and are active participants in the liv ely scientific community of the PRC. 12 Janes situates this emphasis on the importance of scientific research as part of the generalized acceptance of “the cultural authority of science” in urban Tibetan medical communities today. 13 Vincanne Adams’ research also highlights the selfconscious effort by medical practitioners to “modernize” Tibetan medicine, defining modernization as “establishing the scientific legitimacy of the traditional system.” 14 Although Janes states that in 199 3 Mentsikhang research activit y was low or nonexistent, in the “Department of GI Disorders” THDL video series Lobsang Norbu asserts that physicians in th e GI Disorders Department today are involved in various research projects. He cites a research study on atrophic gastritis ( pho rub ) in which researchers have ascertained the success of a traditional Tibetan remedy, and a promising study on gastric bacteria that was presented at the International Conference on Tibetan Medicine held in Lhasa in 2000. Lobsang Norbu notes that research by doctors in the Department of GI Disorders reports particular success with Tibetan treatments of chronic gastric ulcers ( pho ba smug po). Doctors in these videos describe the usage of a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic methodologies, as Adams has also noted to be the case in the Mentsikhang women’s ward. 15 Modern medical instruments such as gastroscopes are used to track the progress of gastric ulcers, although in general physicians do claim to interpret disease stat es in a manner consistent with the teachings of th e ancient Tibetan medical text, the Four Tantras. Biomedical instruments are used to photograph ulcerous conditions, to examine tissue samples, and to remove

58 TIBET JOURNAL excess gastrointestinal tissue, and Lobsang Norbu speaks favorably of the benefits of combining use of these tools with use of traditional Tibetan diagnostic techniques and medicines. He asserts that evidence collected by means of modern instruments reinforces, and does not contradict, the understanding of gastrointestinal diseases founds in Tibetan medical texts, and he emphasizes the view that the combined use of modern and ancient methods of diagnosis and treatment can only be beneficial. Adams’ analysis of a recently published Tibetan text on women’s health, authored by a Mentsikhang doctor, points similarly to the text’s insistence that biomedicine validates, rather than rejects, traditional medicine.16 DISCUSSIONS OF THE TREATMENT OF LIVER DISORDERS

In a six-part series filmed in the Lhasa Mentsikhang Department of Liver Disorders (mchin nad sde khag), 17 Doctors Samten and Yangchen Drolkar discuss the department’s history and organization and introduce some common diseases encountered in the department and the methods by which they are typically treated. The specialized Department of Liver Disorders was establi shed in 1997. In 2001 it supported fifteen health care providers, including nine doctors and six nurses, and twenty-five hospital beds. Most patients are treated for liver diseases such as hepatitis (ldem bu) and mchin dug, as well as hepatic ulcers ( mchin khrag smug po ), for which, the doctors report, recovery rate is high with the application of Tibetan medicines. Doctors Samten and Yangchen Drolkar also note that many Chinese patients, in addition to Tibetan patients, come for Tibetan medical treatment of liver disease, and that Tibetan medicines for liver disease are very popular throughout the PRC. The Chinese scientific community has also shown an interest, and a number of research studies have been conducted on Tibetan liver disorders and their treatment in China and elsewhere. 18 In this video series, Doctors Samten and Yangchen Drolkar discuss the prevalence of icterohepatitis ( grang mkhris) and the efficacy of Tibetan remedies for this disease, although they do note that occasionally some types of biomedicines are prescribed in addition to the Tibetan preparations. The fourth part of the series focuses on the various types of hepatitis ( ldem bu), as understood by traditional Tibetan medicine, and on the specific treatments that are used. Although the Four Tantras describes nearly fifty types of medicinal compound s to be used for liver diseases, these Mentsikhang doctors say they now primarily use a specialized set of seven medicinal compounds: zla bdud , dwangs gtso, autpal nyer lnga, gur mchog, mun sel, ghi dgu kha tshar , and ghi dgu khyung nag kha tshar . THE LHASA FACTORY OF TIBETAN MEDICINE

The THDL collections on medicine also contain nearly forty s hort videos recorded in 2001 at the Factory of Tibetan Medicine on Nyangral Road in Lhasa. This includes an eleven-part series illustrating the process of making medicinal compounds in the factory, as well as a number of videos on related topics such as factory operations, gathering medicinal substances, and the changing techniques of pharmacy. This Factory of Tibetan Medicine in Lhasa produces medicines that are sold at cost to clinics and in some cases to individuals in Tibet and internationally. Janes


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notes that in 1992 the factory produced over 60,000 kg of 400 different medicinal compounds, netting an estimated one million Yuan (US $ 200,000). 19 In the THDL video Medicine Factory Operations (THDL ID #672), a factory administrator explains that the Nyangral Road factory supplies Tibetan medicines to all areas of Tibet, Xinjiang Province, Mongolia, and Inner Mon golia. The Factory offers heavily discounted prices on medicines supplied to rural doctors and hospitals, he explains, and it supplies medicines di rectly to individual buyers as well, often at prices significantly discounted from rates available at hospital or clinic pharmacies. (Janes’ 1992 study, by contrast, comments that at that time rural clinics were rarely able to afford medicine produced in large urban centers. 20 ) Despite these practices, the vid eo reports that the sale of some medicines brings in a good profit, although because the Factory suppl ies medicines to such a large area and at such reduced rates, it does not operate on a high profit margin. TIBETAN MEDICINE LEARNING RESOURCES

Based on these videos shot in Lhasa, THDL is now developing a set of multimedia instructional materials for the study and teaching of Tibetan medicine. The project is not completed and is expected to continue production through 2005. These materials are aimed at those interested in alternative medical traditions and in ethnographic and clinical research on these traditions, as it provides a view of Tibetan medical professionals in practice, as well as translations of discussions about medical and pharmacological theory and practice by Tibetan professionals, and accompanying reference materials. This resource will also be valuable to language students who are beginni ng to learn about Tibetan medicine in Tibetan, as no such resource for these students exi sts to date. Together with the excellent scholarly articles by ethnographers such as Craig Janes and Vincanne Adams, there is now a rich grouping of resources for higher education classroom instruction and the in-depth study of Tibetan medicine as practiced today in Lhasa. The Tibetan Medicine Learning Resources (TMLR) project is focusing on development of two instructional units for the study of Tibetan medicine using either English or Tibetan language. The first unit, Clinical Practice, includes video examples of doctors in Lhasa’s Hospital of Tibetan Medicine examining patients and commenting in detail on their disorders. It also includes interviews on types of disease, on the prevalence of those diseases in the hospital, and on the general operations of the hospital. Using these videos as basic instructional sources, supporting materials are being developed, such as vocabulary lists, explanatory essays, self-study tests, and additional recommended readings. The second unit, Tibetan Pharmacy, is based on the series of videos filmed at Lhasa’s Factory of Tibetan Medicines. These videos outline the Factory’s process of making medicines, and will also be accompanied by a database of Tibetan medicinal substances and compounds, as well as vocabulary lists, explanatory essays, self-study tests, and additional recommended readings. LINKS TO KEY PAGES IN THE TIBETAN AND HIMALAYAN DIGITAL LIBRARY

Videos discussed in this survey, plus their transcripts and translations as these are produced by the THDL transcription staff in Lhasa, are now available as works-inprogress online.

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http://www.thdl.org – THDL home page http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/intro/index.html – Orientation to THDL http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/collections/medicine/ – THDL collections on Tibetan medicine home page http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/collections/medicine/TMLR.html – Tibetan Medicine Learning Resources home page http://forums.itc.virginia.edu/tibet/ndrp/mediaflowcat/home.cfm – Audio/Video Collections search page

Notes 1. Janes, 1995: 7. 2. Janes, 1995: 18. 3. Janes, 1995: 18. 4. Janes, 1999a: 1816. 5. Information in this section is derived from the following video titles: Department of GI Disorders: Introduction 1 (THDL ID #345), Department of GI Disorders: Introduction 2 (THDL ID #346), and Department of GI Disorders: Introduction 3 (THDL ID #347). Please see the THDL video cataloging details for these vi deos for a record of participating physicians, transcribers, translators and other individuals who contributed to the publishing of these titles. 6. Tumors of various types are discussed in the Four Tantras’ third book, the Oral Secret Tantra (man ngag rgyud ), chapter seven. This chapter has been translated into Sanskrit and English by Bhagwan Dash, in his Encyclopedia of Tibetan Medicine, Volume 7 (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1999). Other gastrointestinal disorders are discussed in that book’s tenth and thirty-ninth chapters. The disorder bad kan smug po, which sometimes manifests symptoms in gastrointestinal regions, is discussed in the Oral Secret Tantra’s fifth chapter as an example of a disorder caused by an imbalance in all three humors. That chapter has been translated into Sanskrit and English by Bhagwan Dash, in his En cy cl op ed ia of Tib et an Me dici ne , Volume 6 (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1999). 7. Contents unknown at this time. 8. For the traditional ingredients of this compound, see T.J. Tsarong, Han dbook of Traditional Tibetan Drugs (Kalimpong: Tibetan Medical Publications, 1986), 40. On the herb Picrorhiza kurroa (hong len), see “Picrorhiza kurroa: Monograph” in Alternative Medicine Review: A Journal of Clinical Therapeutics 6:3 (Jun 2001), 319-321. 9. For the traditional ingredients of this compound, see T.J. Tsarong, 1986. 10. Contents unknown at this time. 11. For the traditional ingredients of this compound , see T.J. Tsarong, 1986. 12.Research publications on gastrointestinal diseases and their treatment in Tibetan communities include the following articles. A literature search on Chinese scientific research on atrophic gastritis in its various stages reveals this to be a highly active area of interest among Chinese physicians, as it is among Tibetan physicians. Basnyat, B.; Cumbo, T.A.; Edelman, R. “Infections at high altitude. ” Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America . 2001 Dec 1; 33 (11): 1887-1891. Katelaris P, Tippett G, Zoli G, Lowe D, Norbu P, Farthing M. “An evaluation of factors affecting Helicobacter pylori prevalence in Tibetans exiled in India.” Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1993 Jul Aug;87(4): 400-3. Katelaris PH, Tippett GH, Norbu P, Lowe DG, Brennan R, Farthing MJ. “Dyspepsia, Helicobacter pylori, and peptic ulcer in a randomly selected population in India.” Gut . 1992 Nov;33(11): 1462-6.


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Shrestha, S.M.; Takeda, N.; Tsuda, F.; Okamoto, H.; Shrestha, S.; Shrestha, V.M. “High prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection amongst Tibetans in Nepal. ” Tropical gast roenterolog y : official journal of the Digest ive Diseas es Foundation. 2002 Apr Jun; 23 (2): 63-65. Wang JC. “Pathologic analysis of mucosal biopsies from 548 cases of chronic gastritis in the Tibet plateau.” Zhonghua Bing Li Xue Za Zhi. 1988 Dec; 17 (4): 295-7. (Chinese.) Zhao GB, Li L. “Impairment of the digestive system in high altitude erythrocythemia.” Zhonghua Nei Ke Za Zhi. 1991 Aug;30(8): 492-4, 521-2. (Chinese.) 13. Janes, 1999a: 1815 and Janes, 2001: 207. 14.Adams, 2001: 225. 15.Adams, 2001: 232. 16.Adams, 2001: 234. 17. Information in this section is derived from the following video titles: Department of Liver Disorders: Introduction 1 (THDL ID #349), Department of Liver Disorders: Introduction 2 (THDL ID #350), Department of Liver Disorders: Introduction 3 (THDL ID #351), Department of Liver Disorders: Introduction 4 (THDL ID #352), Departme nt of Liver Disorders: Introduction 5 (THDL ID #353), and Department of Liver Disorders: Introduction 6 (THDL ID #354). Please see the THDL video cataloging details for these videos for a record of participating physicians, transcribers, translators and other individuals who contributed to the publishing of these titles. 18. Research publications on liver disease and its treatment in Tibet include the following articles: Bai Y, Cheng N, Jiang C, Wang Q, Cao D. “Survey on cystic echinococcosis in Tibetans, West China.” Acta Trop. 2002 Jun; 82(3):381-5. Bai Y, Cheng N, Wang Q, Cao D. “An epidemiologic al survey of cystic echinococcosis among Tibetan school pupils in West China.” Ann Trop Paediatr. 2001 Sep; 21(3):2358. Cao M, Liu F, Jiang S, Shao X, Lan K, Li X, Zhang Z, Wang W, Zhao W, Huang R. “Seroepidemiologic survey of hepatitis G virus in selected population of Shanxi, Qinghai and Xinjiang Provinces (region) of China”. Zhonghua Shi Yan He Lin Chuang Bing Du Xue Za Zhi. 2002 Dec; 16(4):345-7. (Chinese.) Cui C, Shi J, Hui L, Xi H, Zhuoma, Quni, Tsedan, Hu G. “The dominant hepatitis B virus genotype identified in Tibet is a C/D hybrid.” J Gen Virol 2002 Nov; 83 (Pt 11): 2773-7. Harris NS, Crawford PB, Yangzom Y, Pinzo L, Gyaltsen P, Hudes M. “Nutritional and health status of Tibetan children living at high altitudes.” N Engl J Med. 2001 Feb 1;344(5):341-7. Jiang J, Yang C, Fu K. “Clinical characters and CT findings of steatohepatitis in highland area.” Zhonghua Gan Zang Bing Za Zhi. 2003 Feb; 11(2):84-5. (Chinese.) Litch JA, Shackleton JR, Bishop RA. “Prevalence of hepatitis B infection among Tibetan refugees in northern India.” Trop Doct. 1998 Oct; 28(4):229-30. Luo K. “Seroepidemiological investigations on hepatitis B virus infection in the populations of Han, Tibetan, Dai, Yao, Uighur, Mongol and Li nationalities”. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi. 1993 Oct; 14(5):266-70. (Chinese.) Mai K. “Study on hepatitis delta virus infection in China.” Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi. 1989 Feb; 10(1):21-3. (Chinese.) Nikolaev SM, Sambueva ZG, Chekhirova GV, Tsyrenzhalov AV. “Effect of hepatophyt on the choleretic function of the liver damaged by tetracycline.” Antibiot Khimioter. 2003; 48(4):24-6. (Russian.) Peng B, Feng W, Wang L, Li L, Zhang Y. “Effect of Tibetan drug Arenavia kansuensis Maxim. var. ovatipetala Tsui on inflammation and immunological function.” Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 1991 Jun; 16(6):363-6, 383. (Chinese.)

62 TIBET JOURNAL Qi Z, Cui D, Pan W, Yu C, Song Y, Cui H, Arima T. “Synthesis and application of hepatitis E virus peptides to diagnosis.” J Virol Methods. 1995 Sep; 55(1):55-66. Shang XY, Shi JG, Yang YC, Liu X, Li C, Zhang CZ. “Alkaloids from a Tibetan medicine Meconopsis quintuplinervia Regel”. Yao Xue Xue Bao. 2003 Apr; 38(4):276-8. (Chinese. ) Shrestha SM, Takeda N, Tsuda F, Okamoto H, Shrestha S, Shrestha VM. “High prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection amongst Tibetans in Nepal.” Trop Gastroenterol. 2002 Apr-Jun; 23(2):63-5. Zhao SM, Li HC, Lou H, Lu XX, Yu XF, Gao DH, Hu J, Chiba H, Takezaki T, Takeshita H, Yashiki S, Fujiyoshi T, Sonoda S, Tajima K. “High Prevalence of HBV in Tibet, China.” Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2001; 2(4): 299-304. Zhao GB, Li L. “Analysis of the etiology and clinical charac teristics of Tibetan cirrhosis in Tibet.” Zhonghua Nei Ke Za Zhi. 1989 Sep; 28(9): 529-31, 571-2. (Chinese.) 19. Janes, 1999a: 1814. 20. Janes, 1999a: 1814.

Bibliography

For online bibliographies of Tibetan medicine, see Jurgen Aschoff’s Tibetan Medicine Annotated Bibliog raphy, http://www.uni-ulm.de/%7Ejaschoff/bibli2.htm, THDL’s Recent Publications on Tibetan Medicine, http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/collections/medicine/biblio_medicine.html Adams, Vincanne. 1998. Suffering the winds of Lhasa: Politicize d bodies, human rights, cultural difference, and humanism in Tibet, Medical Anthropology Quarterly 12 (1): 74102. Adams, Vincanne. 2001. Particularizing Modernity: Tibetan Medical Theorizing of Women’s health in Lhasa, Tibet, in L. Connor and G. Samuel (eds.), Healing Powers and Modernity. Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Science in Asian Societies, London, Bergin and Garvey, pp. 222-246. Adams, Vincanne. 2001. The Sacred in the Scientific: Ambiguous Practices of Science in Tibetan Medicine, Cultural Anthropology 16 (4): 542-575. Adams, Vincanne 2002 “Establishing Proof: Translating “Scien ce” and the State in Tibetan Medicine” In Mark Nichter and Margaret Lock (eds.), Ne w Ho ri zo ns in Me di ca l Anthropology New York: Routledge pp.200-220. Adams, Vincanne and Fei Fei Li. (forthcoming) Integration or Erasure? Modernizing Medicine at Lhasa’s Mentsikhang, in in L. Pordie (ed. ), Exploring Tibetan Medicine in the Contemporary Context , New Delhi, Sage Publications. Janes, Craig R. 1995. The Transformations of Tibetan Medicine, Medical Anthropology Quarterly 9 (1): 6–39. Janes, Craig R. 1999a. The Health Transition and the Crisis of Traditional Medicine: The Case of Tibet, Social Science and Medicine 48: 1803 – 1820. Janes, Craig R. 1999b. Imagined Lives, Suffering, and the Work of Culture: The Embodied Discourses of Conflict in Modern Tibet, Medical Anthropology Quarterly 13 (4): 391-412. Janes, Craig R. 2001. Tibetan Medicine at the Crossroads: Radical Modernity and the Social Organisation of Traditional Medicine in the Tibet Autonomous Region, in L. Connor and G. Samuel (eds.), Healing Powers and Modernity. Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Science in Asian Societies, London, Bergin and Garvey, pp. 197-221. Leslie, Charles and Alan Young (eds). 1992. Paths to Asian Medical Knowledge. Berkeley: University of California Press. Loizzo, Joseph J. and Leslie J. Blackhall. 1998. Traditional Alternatives as Complementary Sciences: The Case of Indo-Tibetan Medicine. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 4, no. 3: 311-319.


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McKay, Alexander. (Forthcoming) ‘Himalayan Medical Encounters: the Establishment of Biomedicine in Tibet’, in Mona Schrempf (ed.), Soundings in Tibetan Medicine. Historical and Anthropological Perspectives. Proceedings of the 10th Seminar of the International Association Assoc iation for Tibetan Studies (PIATS), Oxford Sept. 06-12 2003, Leiden, Leide n, Brill Publishers.

McKay, McKay, Alexander. Alexander. (Forthcoming). ‘The Birth of a Clinic: the IMS dispensary in Gyantse (Tibet), 1905-1910’, in Medical Medi cal History Histo ry. Pordie, Laurent. Laurent . 2002. Pharmacop eia as an Expression of Society. An Himalayan Study, in Fleurentin et al. (eds.), From the Roots of Knowledge to Future Medicines, French Society for Ethnopharmacology. Samuel, Geoffrey. 1999. Religion, Health and Suffering among contemporary Tibetans, in John R. Hinnells and Roz Porter (eds.), Religion, Relig ion, Health H ealth and Suffe S uffering ring, London, Kegan Paul International, pp. 85-110. Samuel, Geoffrey. 2001. Tibetan medicine in contemporary India: theory and practice, Heali ng Powers Po wers and Modern Mo dernity. ity. Traditional Traditi onal Medic M edicine, ine, in L. Connor Conno r and G. G. Samuel (eds.), (ed s.), Healing Shamanism, and Science in Asian Societies, London, Bergin and Garvey, pp. 247-274.

TABLE 1: A SUMMARY OF THDL VIDEO TITLES ON MEDICINE

Introductory lectures on aspects of Tibetan medical theory, practice and education by various doctors from the Lhasa Mentsikhang, and documentation of doctor-patient and patientpatient interactions: • •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

An explanation of Tibetan embryology, by Dr. Palden Tenzin (approx.1 hour) An explanation of Tibetan methods of treating bon e disorders and broken bones, by Dr. Lobsang Dorje (approx. 50 minutes) Detailed commentary on four pages about medicine from the Shes bya kun khyab, by Dr. Palden Tenzin (approx.1 hour, 20 minutes) An interaction betwee n a man suffering serious joint and muscle pain and a woman who treats him using certain types of massage. (approx. 45 minutes) Interactions between patients and doctors at the in-patient Mentsikhang (approx.4 hours total) An interview with a doctor about maintaining a private clinic in Lhasa, with Dr. Tsegyal (approx. 45 minutes) Comments from several doctors about treating terminally ill patients (approx. 45 minutes) A re-enactment of the entire process of going to see a doctor at the out-patient hospital, with Dr. Lobsang, actors from the Tibetan Drama Group, and other Mentsikhang staff (approx. 1 hour) A discussion between several older people about various medical con ditions they’ve experienced in the past (approx. 30 minutes)

Additional short video topics: • •

• • • • • • •

a woman consults her friend about trouble conceiving a child a woman announces to her friend that she is pregnant and asks questions about morning sickness and birth practices a woman about to give birth asks about diapers and taking care of an infant two people discuss remedies for altitude sickness two people talk about having diarrhea a couple worries about the safety of the blood supply two people talk about allergies two men discuss male health problems two people talk about wounds and scars

64 TIBET JOURNAL • •

•

discussion of dentistry practices in Lhasa discussion of various physical disabilities and what arrangements are made for persons with disabilities in Lhasa comments on various dermatological problems, particularly on the face

Topics in the history of medicine: •

•

A history of Tibetan medicine (from Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the Elder to Desi Sangye Gyatso, roughly), by Dr. Jampa Trinley (approx.1 hour) A history of the Tibetan Medical Hospital ( Mentsikh Ment sikhang ang ), by Dr. Dramdul, the Mentsikhang president (approx.1 hour)

Plant categories and types in Tibetan Tibetan materia medica Alessandro Boesi

INTRODUCTION Nowadays as in the past medicinal substances represent an important resource for Tibetan people both for health and wealth. Tibetan medical institutes and independent practitioners carry out activities related to drug identification, collection, and the compounding and administration of remedies. Tibetan communities have been always relying as a source of income on the bartering and selling of several products taken from the natural environment such as rhubarbs, Fritillaria bulbs, caterpillar fungus and musk deer pods, sought after by practitioners of Tibetan, ayurvedic and Chinese medicine and at present also by pharmaceutical and phyto-pharmaceutical companies. The materia medica of Tibetan medicine, significantly influenced by Ayurveda1 (as other aspects of the Tibetan medical science) after t he translation into Tibetan language of medical and tantric treatises of Indian origin, has been enriched and modified during the centuries according to the needs of the population and has been adapted to the environmental conditions of Tibetan regions. Even at the present time Tibetan traditional doctors try to find new drugs. In addition, owing to the great extension of the area over which Tibetan medicine is practised, the many substances of mineral, animal , and plant origin of Tibetan pharmacopoeia may vary according to the region, climate and vegetation, medical schools, local traditions, and foreign influences. Fundamental medical treatises, their commentaries, and several texts of materia medica are devoted to describing features, qualities and therapeutic properties, time and methods of collection, and processing of medicinal substances. Yet Yet when I decided to t o research into Tibetan medicinal plants p lants and in particular on their classification I realised that it was not possible to accomplish this study only through the reading of the written sources because the information on the different categories is for the most part too concise for grasping the criteri a upon which they have been devised. The explanation of the mast er is absolutely crucial to completely understand plant actual features, classifications, classifications, properties, and ways of exploitation. exploitatio n. Therefore I decided to ask directly to Tibetan traditional doctors about these categorisations. categorisati ons. The research fieldwork has been conducted with practitioners from different di fferent Tibetan Tibetan regions focusin g on those who collect and process medicinal substances and know fundamental medical texts and pharmacopoeias. Participant observation and open-ended conversations have been mostly used as methods of investigation. Semi-structu red interviews have also been conducted with other Tibetan doctors who do not perform the above activities 2. Some systems of medicinal substance categorisation are described in classical literary sources. The classification may be devised on the basis of medicinal substance morphological, biological and ecological features (particularly for plants), taste ( ro)3, potency ( nus pa)4, and on the basis of the disease ( nad ) cured. For example, medicinal medicinal substances substances may be separated into two groups: the former

66 TIBET JOURNAL includes drugs that cure hot diseases ( tsha nad ) whereas the latter consists of drugs that cure cold diseases ( grang nad ). ). Some classifications are mainly practical such as the one proposed by some practitioners from Baragaon (central Nepal) who distinguish distinguis h two types of medicinal plants: the ones growing at high altitude, named mtho sa sman, “medicines of high altitude areas”, and the ones growing at low altitude, named dma’ sa sman, “medicines of low altitude areas”. The principal aim of this article is to examine that traditional classification which separates Tibetan medicinal plants into categories, sub-categories and “types” 5 and and in particular to try to explain the criteria upon which they have been worked out. The analysis does not concern the categories including the t he medicines of mineral and animal origin. The first part of the article is devoted to introducing introduci ng the categories of medicinal substances, in the following part the different categories of medicinal plants are thoroughly examined. The last section is devoted to analysing the classification of medicinal plants in “types”. Each category has been examined initially on the basis of the information available on written sources. After I have tried to explain this information according to the elucidations given by the informants, the data concerning the botanical identification of the plant specimens gathered during my fieldwork and the identification proposed in modern pharmacopoeias. The classification of Tibetan materia medica in its entirety has been dealt with by Francesca Cardi 6 in her dissertation work on Tibetan pharmacopoeia and preparation of the remedies. Meyer 7 in his book devoted to Tibetan medicine has briefly dealt with the categories of medicines. CATEGORIES OF MEDICINES In Tibetan medicine medicinal substances ( sman)8, natural and non-natural, are classified in several categories and sub-categories. Although the classical classification described in fundamental treatises is accepted by all practitioners, I emphasise the discrepancy in the conception of certain categories, and in particular of the categories of thang sman, “medicines of the plains”, and sngo sman, “herbaceous medicines”. The cause of this disparity depends on the practitioners’ level of education, educati on, and on the influence of the modern treatises of Tibetan medicine, which introduce new concepts and systems of classifying medicinal substances. This recent phenomenon is enhanced also because the traditional classification of medicinal plants in categories, according to fieldwork observations and to the opinion of the informants, has little practical relevance and in this way it may be easily substituted by a simpler one. As far as the level of knowledge of Tibetan materia medica is concerned, the recent standardisation and industrialisation of the process of medicament production in the biggest medical institutes, the specialisation specialisatio n of practitioners and the capillary distribution of the medicines to the dispensaries (for example to the ones which depend on the Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute of Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, Prad esh, India) in many regions, imply that only a portion of practitioners has an in-depth knowledge of medicinal substances. In spite of that other traditional doctors in all Tibetan regions have been carrying on practising Tibetan medicine in a traditional way and know very well its pharmacopoeia. The types of substances included in each category may be heterogeneous. As it will be shown in the next sections, some categories consist of medicines coming exclusively from minerals, others include only medicines coming from plants, one

PLANT CATEGORIES AND TYPES ... 67

category includes medicines from living beings, one category consists of different types of substances, another includes only mineral substances except for one that is a plant. The following categories ( rigs) of medicines are described in The Four Tantras (rGyud bzhi) and in its commentary The Blue Beryl (Vaidurya sngon po): rin po che’i sman (precious medicines), rdo’i sman (stone medicines), sa’i sman (earth medicines), rtsi sman9 (essence medicines), shing sman (medicines coming from woody plants), thang sman (medicines of the plains), sngo sman (herbaceous medicines), srog chags sman (medicines coming from living beings), and lo thog gi sman (crop medicines). The expressions properly designating each category are not commonly employed by the practitioners in their practical activities, but only during theoretical discussions on the materia medica. Differently some other categories of medicines are described in the Crystal Rosary (Shel phreng): tshwa sman (salt medicines), chu’i sman (water medicines), me’i sman (fire medicines), and gdus pa’i sman (concentrated medicines). I point out that in The Four Tantras and consequently in The Blue Beryl the different groups of medicinal substances are described in a chapter whose aim is to describe their potencies 10. Plants are included in five among the eight categories above mentioned: rdo’i sman (or sa sman according to the text) , rtsi sman, shing sman, thang sman, sngo sman, and lo thog gi sman. The three categories that include the majority of medicinal plants (shing sman, thang sman, sngo sman) may be separated into some subgroupings worked out on the basis of the plant organs that are gathered and\or employed as medicines such as leaves, flowers, and stems. According to the The Four Tantras11 and The Blue Beryl12 shing sman and thang sman are divided into sub-groupings whereas the category sngo sman is not. I emphasise that in these texts the drugs that belong to rtsi sman, shing sman, and thang sman are listed together without setting any limit between the categories and between their sub-groupings and, as far as the categories shing sman and thang sman are concerned, their constituents are listed together without any order. Thus it is very difficult to distinguish them. This might suggest that it is not very important to know to which of the above categories a drug belongs probably because this does not have significant implications on its potency. Yet the drugs that belong to the category rtsi sman can be distinguished more easily since they are listed together and because of the indications given in The Blue Beryl, as it will be explained in the section devoted to this category. Differently from the two texts above, the author of The Crystal Rosary describes several sub-groupings also in the category sngo sman and he clearly differentiates the shing sman category by enumerating the constituents according to their subgroupings 13. The thang sman medicines are listed without distinguishing their sub-groupings 14 as in The Four Tantras and The Blue Beryl . According to the authors of the two texts above on one side and to De’u dmar dge bshes on the other one, the categories shing sman, thang sman, and sngo sman exhibit a significant disparit y in their content. In The Four Tantras and The Blue Beryl many plants included amongst the sngo sman such as thang phrom 15 , dres ma ( Iris spp.) 16 , dwa ba ( Arisaema spp.), and mtshe ldum ( Ephedra spp.), are considered in the Shel phreng as thang sman. Moreover, according to The Four Tantras and The Blue Beryl, woody plants such as shug pa tsher can ( Juniperus spp.), mdzo mo (Caragana spp.), skyi ba (Sophora

68 TIBET JOURNAL moorcroftiana ) 17 , dbyi mong , ( Clematis spp.), and ba lu ( Rhododendron anthopogon)18 are included in the category sngo sman, “herbaceous medicines”. These drugs are considered — p robably more correctly considering their biological and morphological features — as shing sman in the Shel phreng. Curiously in The Four Tantras, se rgod ( Rosa spp.) and skyer pa ( Berberis spp.) are mentioned twice: firstly when the shing sman , rtsi sman, and thang sman medicines are listed and secondly among the sngo sman medicines in the same chapter 19. Medicinal salts ( tshwa sman), which are placed in a category of its own in the Shel phreng 20, in The Four Tantras and The Blue Beryl are listed amongst the shing sman and the thang sman medicines. The author of The Four Tantras describes only a part of the actual plants that belong to each category of medicines probably with the intention of giving some examples. As a matter of fact many other plants (and other medicinal substances of mineral and animal origin) are mentioned in the other parts of The Four Tantras . sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho has systematized these medicines in The Blue Beryl 21 and in the Tibetan Thankas 22 he has commissioned, where they are described as supplementary materia medica (kha skong gras , “supplementary class”). Medicinal substances have been organized more properly in relation to their features in the Shel phreng where the categories and sub-categories (except for the thang sman) are neatly separated and the number of medicinal substances described is exhaustive. I have chosen this text as the main clas sical reference also because of its frequent use by the informants and the relatively detailed plant descriptions (concerning both morphological and ecological plant features) given by the author and since it const itutes the main reference source for the recently published modern texts of Tibetan materia medica . An interesting aspect of the classification of medicinal plants (and in general of all kinds of medicinal substances) in Tibetan medicine is the disparity in the criteria employed to group the plant together in the different categories. The constituents of the category rtsi sman are assembled on the basis of their peculiar therapeutic properties and fragrance, the category shing sman is worked out on the basis of the plant features from which its compon ents come and the categories thang sman and sngo sman are devised on the basis of plant morphological, biological features, and environment of growth. I note that in The Four Tantras 23 the term rtswa is employed to indicate thang and sngo medicinal plants at the same time. Actually several traditional doctors from the regions of Litang, Baragaon, and Ladakh include in a single group called sman rtswa, “medicinal herbaceous plants”, and rtswa sman, “herbaceous medicines”, all medicinal herbaceous plants. This classification is probably used for convenience. In all Tibetan cultural regions the new designations and categorisation systems introduced in the modern Tibetan pharmacopoeias certainly under Chinese influence are seldom used although they are known by the new generations of practitioners and also by some traditional doctors from is olated regions because of the rapid diffusion of the above texts. Karma chos ’phel (1993) presents three new categories of medicinal substances: gter dngos kyi sman rdzas , “mineral medicinal substances”; skye dngos kyi sman rdzas , “medicinal substances which grow”, that includes medicinal plants; srog chags


kyi sman rdzas, “medicinal substances of living beings”. The author’s intention is probably to work out a classification that reflects the one of modern science in three kingdoms: mineral, plant, and animal. Yet it is not possible to adapt the drug traditional classification to the classification system of modern science because the criteria upon which they are based are di fferent. For example, it is doubtful whether the traditional category of the “essence medicines” ( rtsi sman) can be included in the so-called skye dngos kyi sman rdzas group, “medicinal substances which grow”, as proposed by Karma chos ’phel, because besides a few medicinal plants some substances of animal and mineral origin such as gla rtsi (musk) and brag zhun (bitumen) 24 are also listed in this category. Categories of medicines that include plants

STONE MEDICINES AND EARTH MEDICINES The medicine called rdo dreg (Parmelia tinctorum25) is included in the category of stone medicines ( rdo’i sman)26 according to the pharmacopoeia Shel phreng 27 whereas according to The Four Tantras ( bShad rgyud 28) it is included in the category of earth medicines ( sa sman)29. The expression rdo dreg may be translated as “stone incrustation”. Although considered as a plant by all informants, it has probably been included among the medicines coming from the stones because it appears to be growing directly from the rocks, as some practitioners from Litang and Baragaon assert. In the modern treatises of Tibetan materia medica, rdo dreg has been included either in a new-devised category including st one medicines and earth medicines, called sa rdo’i sman 30, or amongst the herbaceous medicines ( sngo sman) 31 reflecting a recent adjustment of the classification according to the one of modern botany certainly under Chinese influence. ESSENCE MEDICINES The essence medicines ( rtsi sman)32 represent a peculiar category that consists of heterogeneous components. According to written sources, these medicinal substances may come from sentient beings as in the case of gla rtsi (musk)33 and dom mkhris (bear bile) 34, from stones as brag zhun (bitumen) 35, and from plants (see below). Here follows the description of this category according to The Four Tantras36 (the same is given in the Blue Beryl ): “the rtsi sman originate from herbaceous plants ( rtswa), woody plants ( shing), and sentient beings ( srog chags).” Differently, according to the Shel phreng37, the rtsi sman “originate from woody plants ( shing), from the plants of ldum type, from the plants of sngo type38, from sentient beings ( srog chags), and from stones ( rdo )…” Here the essence medicines also include a substance ( brag zhun) that comes from the stones and the two distinct expressions ldum and sngo are employed in the place of the term rtswa to indicate herbaceous plants. The author of the rGyud bzhi does not give any indication about which substances belong to the essence medicines: all the substan ces included in the shing sman, rtsi sman , and thang sman are listed without setting any limit between them. Nonetheless in the Vaidurya sngon po 39, when commenting this

70 TIBET JOURNAL category, it is stated that some practitioners affirm that all the medicin es listed between gi wang (liver and gall-bladder bezoars) and utpala ( Meconopsis spp.) belong to the rtsi sman. The above medicines are gi wang, cu gang , gur gum, sug smel, dzwa ti, li shi , ka ko la 40, gla rtsi, dom mkhris , and utpala. Thus in this text, essence medicines consist of ten substances. Differently in the Shel phreng De’u dmar dge bshes 41 lists 12 different rtsi medicines: ga bur 42, dzwa ti, li shi, sug smel , cu gang, gur kum , gi wang , gla rtsi, dom mkhris , dbang po ril bu (intestinal bezoars), and brag zhun. In this text, among the rtsi sman of plant origin, in the place of utpala, which here is included in the category sngo sman43, there is ga bur , which is assigned to the category shing sman in The Four Tantras . The medicine of animal origin dbang po ril bu and the one of mineral origin brag zhun have been added. In the rGyud bzhi brag zhun is placed in the category of earth medicines ( sa sman). As far as utpala44 is concerned, it might be speculated th at in ancient times it corresponded to the imported Indian blue lotus ( Nymphaea nouchali) 45 and therefore was included in the rtsi sman category as described in the Four Tantras owing probably to its fragrant perfume and the lotus being a symbol of purity, perfection, and compassion. Later on, when some species of Himalayan poppy ( Meconopsis spp.) were selected as local substitutes, the drug was reallocated in the category of the herbaceous medicines sngo sman , as shown in more recent classical pharmacopoeias as the Shel phreng46 and the materia medica of ’Jam dpal rdo rje 47. A few modern Tibetan pharmacopoeias, most probably under Chinese influence, introduce new elements among the essence medicines. In the materia medica of dGa’ ba’i rdo rje dbyar rtswa dgun ’bu ( Cordyceps sinensis ), a parasite mushroom traditionally considered as a herbaceous plant by Tibetan people 48, is included among the rtsi sman and designated with the recentlydevised name rtswa da byid 49. Yet another modern pharmacopoeia 50 published at Lhasa regards the same medicine as belonging to the category ldum bu thang sman that mainly includes herbaceous plants . The dbyar rtswa dgun ’bu is not mentioned in the fundamental treatises of Tibetan medicine as rGyud bzhi and Vaidurya sngon po and in the classical pharmacopoeia Shel gong and in its commentary Shel phreng, but it is described in the illustrated materia medica written in the XIX century by ’Jam dpal rdo rje 51, a practitioner from Mongolia, where it is included in the category of herbaceous medicine ( sngo sman)52. The analysis of the expression rtsi is significant to assess the features of the essence medicines. The Tibetan-English dictionary of Chandra Das 53 proposes the following definitions: “varnish, paint”, “all fluids of a certain consistency, such the juice of some fruits, certain secretions, etc.”. These definitions cannot be employed for the term rtsi according to its use in Tibetan medicine. Also Meyer 54 has stated that the expression rtsi “ne peut pas être traduit par comme cela a été fait dans la tab le des matières de “An Illustrat ed Tibeto-Mongolian Materia Medica of Ayurveda” 55, car ce groupe de drogues comprend des produits aussi divers que la bile d’ours , le camphre et les clous de girofle”. In order to understand the nature of the essence medicines, I have asked the informants the following questions: what is the reason for assembling together these drugs that apparently seem to be so different? Which are the


parameters that justify this classification? The first answer given by many practitioners from different regions has been that the attribution of the term rtsi to certain substances indicates that t hey have strong therapeutic properties. In particular the fact that even a small amount ( sman nyung nyung ) of any rtsi medicine has strong potency ( nus pa chen po ) has often been emphasized as the fundamental feature. Hence, according to the informants, a little amount of them is enough to prepare medicaments. A traditional doctor from Baragaon states that the presence of fragrance is an important feature of the essence medicines as well: “when fragrance ( dri ma ) is absent — he says — there is no potency, even if the taste of the plant corresponds to the one described in medical texts.” Actually the majority of informants agree that the drugs included in the category of essence medicines have good fragrance ( dri bzang) and that this scent denotes their curative properties 56. Almost all the drugs of this category actually have a strong fragrance and also in the Shel phreng 57 the good fragrance dri bzang (and dri zhim) is attributed to the maj ority of them. A practitioner from Litang assigns to essence medicines the property of being “good medicines” ( sman bzang po). He affirms that these drugs possess outstanding and long-lasting therapeutic properties. It may therefore be assumed that the expression rtsi mainly refers to the following conception: good fragrance — strong and concentrated medicine. In this way the definition of rtsi proposed by the Dharma Dictionary 58, “essence”, “elixir”, “nectar”, seems more appropriate in Tibetan medicine. The modern pharmacopoeia of dGa’ ba’i rdo rje 59 mentions a treatise named g.Yu thog dgongs rgyan where this category of medicines is defined as follows: “name of a class of medicines that are endowed with the essence ( rtsi bcud ) that provides sustenance to the bodily constituents and defeats the diseases”. After that 60 it is also explained that the substances included in the category of rtsi sman have, among the others, the property of “increasing strength” ( zungs skyed ). Therefore the introduction of the dbyar rtswa dgun ’bu in this group may be ascribed to its properties as a tonic and aphrodisiac and to its great importance in Chinese medicine. Another drug recently introduced among the essence medicines is the horn of rhino ( bse ru )61 which, like dbyar rtswa dgun ’bu , is a well-known product in China. Traditionally bSe ru is placed in the medicines of animal origin as reported in the Shel phreng62 and in the rGyud bzhi 63. THE MEDICINES COMING FROM WOODY PLANTS The medicines named shing sman consist of drugs which come from woody plants ( shing sdong). According to the rGyud bzhi64 the divisions of the shing sman are ten. Each of them is devised by assembling the plants of which the same organs are employed in medicine: fruits and seeds ( ’bras bu ), flowers (me tog), leaves ( lo ma), trunks ( sdong po), branches ( yal ga ), skins ( shun pa ), resins ( tshi ba), roots ( rtsa ba), shoots (ldum bu) and marrow (rkang). I emphasise that several practitioners from Litang and Baragaon have stated that the meaning of the term ldum bu, usually employed to designate a category of medicines 65 or generally herbaceous plants by common people, corresponds here to the expression gsar skyes66: “fresh shoots and leaves”.

72 TIBET JOURNAL Differently in the Shel phreng67 the divisions of the shing sman are eight 68, the two divisions shoots (ldum bu) and marrow (rkang) are lacking. Although in the Shel gong 69 the division of roots ( rtsa ba) is mentioned at the beginning of the section devoted to shing sman, it is omitted in the following pages where the plants that belo ng to each division are described. The author gives the reason for the omission in the Shel phreng70 where he explains that, even if a group of shing sman designated rtsa ba exists, this division has not been dealt with independently owing to the fact that only the root of bra ma (Caragana spp.) is evocated during practical activities. Bra ma has been placed here in the sub-group of branches 71. The same woody plant may be included in more than one division at the same time according to the plant organ used as medicine. For example, according to the Shel phreng, se ba72 ( Rosa spp.) belongs to three divisions: 1) fruits and seeds ( ’bras bu), with the name of se rgod ’bras bu 73; 2) flowers ( me tog ) as se ba’i me tog 74; 3) skins ( pags pa ) as se rgod 75. Similarly skyer pa ( Berberis spp.) is included in the divisio n of flowers as skyer pa’i me tog 76 as well as in the division of skins as skyer pa 77. In The Blue Beryl 78 it is stated that some practitioners affirm that all the medicines listed in this text between ga bur and a ga ru are shing sman, particularly ga bur , tsandan dmar po (Santalum album), tsandan dkar po (Pterocarpus santalinus), and a ga ru ( Aquilaria sinensis ) 79. Yet the author also states that there are doubts on the above order because in the category of shing sman there are ten sub-groupings and, according to the above statement, only four examples are given. Actually many plants commonly cat egorized as shing sman as a ru ra (Terminalia chebula ), ba ru ra (Terminalia bellirica), and skyu ru ra (Phyllanthus emblica)80 are listed in the following pages. According to the Shel phreng81, it seems that the sub-groups of shing sman and sngo sman (herbaceous medicines) are not seen by De’u dmar dge bshes exactly in the same way, because in the description of the sub-gro ups of shing sman he omits the term btu ba , “to gather”, which is employed in referen ce to sngo sman. The omission might suggest that the medicines coming from woody plants are not gathered locally. This may be explained considering that several of these medicines do not thrive on the Tibetan plateau and are bought on local markets already cut in parts. Nonetheless several medicinal woody plants thrive in the region of origi n of the author of this famous treati se (east Tibet) as I could also verify in the Litang County and adjacent regions. De’u dmar dge bshes lists as example of shing sman some plants coming from the tropical and sub-tropical regions of India and China as tsan dan dkar po , tsan dan dmar po, and a ru ra (Terminalia chebula ), but he also indicates se ba ( Rosa spp.), a woody plant thriving in many Tibetan regions, as several other medicines coming from woody plants that I have gathered for example in the Litang County82. According to the descriptions of each medicine given in The Crystal Rosary, the majority of the plants included in the category shing sman come from the low altitude regions of India, China and Nepal (nearly 40%) and from the deep forested valleys at relatively low altitude (nearly 27 %) located in east, south Tibet, and at the fringe of the Tibetan plateau, which ar e called rong by Tibetan people. The woody medicines gathered over the high areas of the


Tibetan plateau are fewer (nearly 33%). Although the above percentages are not very indicative since in the Shel phreng the descriptions of the growing areas of each plant are not always precise and sometimes not even existing, they are similar to the data that can be obtained by analysing the plant botanical identifications proposed by Karma chos ’phel: 34.35% of the woody medicines come from tropical and sub-tropical regions, 33.3% from the relatively lower Tibetan regions, and 32.35 % from the proper Tibetan plateau. I note that sometimes in modern pharmacopoeias a medicine included in this category may present some types which are herbaceous plants. For example, although the standard drug that corresponds to khyung sder 83 is a woody plant (Uncaria scandens ), there are some types which are herbaceous plants as suggested by the determinant sngo placed at the beginning of their names 84: a white type ( sngo khyung sder dkar po , Saussurea katochaetoides)85 and a purple-brown type ( sngo khyung sder smug po, S. stella )86. THE MEDICINES OF THE PLAINS AND THE HERBACEOUS MEDICINES These two categories of medicines have been dealt with in the same section since their distinction is not clear according to both informants and written sources, and because many practitioners tend to see them as a single group. The category thang sman is commonly designated by employing a few slightly different expressions according to the text considered and the informant. The rGyud bzhi 87 mentions the term thang sman, “medicines of the plains”, whereas in the Shel gong88 this category is designated as ldum bu thang sman , “medicines of the plains and of ldum type”. In the Shel phreng89 three similar expressions are mentioned: thang sman, ldum sman , “ldum medicines”, and ldum bu’am thang sman , “medicines of the plains or of ldum type”. 90 De’u dmar dge bshes, in a chapter devoted to introducing the different categories of medicines, explains that the expressions thang and ldum are equivalent 91 in the sense that they indicate the same category. Practitioners from all the regions where the fieldwork has been carried out employ the designations thang sman and ldum bu thang sman indifferently. The expression ldum sman has been seldom evoked. The rGyud bzhi 92 and the Shel phreng93 describe some sub-groupings of this category. They are worked out on the basis of th e plant part which has t o be gathered and therefore that is employed in medicine. In the former text five sub-groupings are described ( rtsa ba, underground organs; ngar pa, stalk; lo ma , leaves; me tog , flowers; ’bras bu , fruits and seeds) whilst in the latter only four, the sub-group ngar pa not being mentioned. Curiously De’u dmar dge bshes does not list the medicines included in this category according to their sub-groupings, as he does with the other main categories of medicinal plants ( shing sman et sngo sman), but all the medicines of the plains are presented together as it happens in the Four Tantras. As we have already explained in the section devoted to essence medicines, in the Four Tantras and in The Blue Beryl it is not possible to discern the drugs included in the category thang sman clearly, since all the shing sman, rtsi sman, and thang sman medicines are listed without setting any limit between them.

74 TIBET JOURNAL As concerns the category sngo sman, “herbaceous medicines”, it is also categorised in several sub-groupings devised on the basis of the plant part which has to be collected, as it is explained in the Shel phreng 94 where six subgroupings are described: the one whose underground organs ( rtsa ba) are collected, the one whose leaves ( lo ma) are gathered, the one whose flowers (me tog) are collected, the one whose fruit s and seeds ( bras ’bu) are collected, the one whose aerial portion of the plant alo ng with fruits ( lo sdong me ’bras) are gathered, and the one whose the entire plant without the stalk ( rtsa lo me ’bras) is collected. This distinction is not mentioned in The Four Tantras and in The Blue Beryl . Most informants from different regions do not have precise ideas of what the real nature of the medicines that b elong to the thang sman and sngo sman categories is and even learned practitioners do not clearly elucidate the differences between them. This phenomenon might be explained considering that the classification of medicinal plants in thang sman and sngo sman does not seem to have any practical utility according to informants. Actually a practitioner from Dhorpatan and some practitioners from Litang have affirmed that the plants included in these two categories share the same characteristi cs (mtshan nyid ), the same particular qualities ( khyad chos ) and the same mode of use ( lag len). Traditional classification may therefore be substitut ed, as we have shown in the above sections, with other usually simpler classification systems. This phenomenon is very common and many traditional doctors in different regions adopt a classification which does not differentiate thang sman and sngo sman, but they consider a category seen as including medicinal herbaceous plants. Other than using the term rtswa sman (herbaceous medicines), the tendency towards employing the expression sngo ldum sman (sngo and ldum medicines), as proposed by the authors of some modern treatises of Tibetan materia medica95 that have been recently spreadi ng over all Tibetan regions, is not so common. This expression connotes medicinal herbaceous plants. Other practitioners employ the term sngo sman to indicate all medicinal herbaceous plants. In order to explain the real nature of the plants included in the category thang sman, the term thang will be analysed below. The common sense of this word is “plain”, “flatlands” 96 . However in Tibetan medicine it may also designate a type of medicinal preparation, notably decoctions . Actually many informants from different regions have wrongly affirmed that the term thang97 sman exclusively indicates decoctions and not also a category of medicinal substances. A few other informants have also incorrectly asserted that the thang sman include drugs of plant origin, which are used to prepare decoctions. Meyer98 has given similar explanations in his book devoted to Tibetan medicine. A small number of practitioners from different regions have suggested more interesting definitions of the thang sman. They affirm that the medicines of the plains grow on flatlands ( thang) in opposition to the herbaceous medicines (sngo sman ) which thrive on the mountains ( ri la). However it is important to point out what is here the meaning of the expression thang according to the informants: it does not generally specify the flatlands locat ed at low altitudes as the ones of India and China, but it also desi gnates the localities of Tibetan regions that are endowed with bde mo and snyoms po99 qualities. The attribute


bde mo is assigned to comfortable and pleasant areas and the attribut e snyoms po to the localities that are uniform and evenly balanced as far as altitude, climate, and conformation of the ground are concerned. These features may certainly be ascribed to some Tibetan localities. In particular the informants have mentioned flatlands and valleys which are not situated at high altitudes. Tibetan people see high altitude areas as uninhabited high mountains, and as plateaus where, owing to the harsh climate, there are no villages and only nomads can live. A few traditional doctors from Baragaon, Litang, and Dharamsala have suggested a definition of the category thang sman, which is also mentioned in the medical dictionary gSo ba rig pa’i tshig mdzod g.yu thog dgongs rgyan 100 , that describes the ecological setting of the plants belonging to this category: “Category of medicines that thrive in the flatlands and not in the elevated areas as stony mountains, slate mountains 101 and snowy mountains”. The same source also mentions a commentary to the rGyud bzhi written by dPal spungs dbon Karma bstan ’dzin ’phrin las rab rgyas where it is stated that “As with the thang sman, they are medicines that do not grow in high areas and grow in flatlands like tig ta and ba sha ka .” Tig ta ( Swertia chirayita)102 mostly grows on the southern slopes of the Himalayan Range between 1,000 and 2,500 metres and ba sha ka ( Adhatoda vasica) 103 thrives until 1,500 metres for example in India and in the Chinese province of Yunnan. The term thang is here employed with a sense that is opposite to the one of the term mtho sar and indicates relatively low and low altitude mountains areas. The two above definitions are similar to the ones given by our informants: the thang sman category consists of medicinal plants that do not thrive over high mountains and plateaus, but in low flatlands and in low and relatively low mountain areas. Therefore the translation “plateau medicines” of the expression thang sman given by some authors 104 does not seem to be very accurate because the term plateau may connot e either the entire Tibetan plateau or the high-cold flatlands of Tibet. According to practitioners and written sources, the herbaceous medicines ( sngo sman) and not the medicines of the plains (thang sman) thrive in these areas. De’u dmar dge bshes 105 has described the medicines of the plains according to their morphological and biological features: “ Thang sman represent the plants whose underground organs are developed and whose aerial organs grow each year as the ones of woody plants, but which, except fo r the underground organs, perish in winter as the plants of the sngo type, and therefore are replaced each year. For example ma nu ( Inula racemosa )106, lcum ( Rheum palmatum ) 107, and according to The Four Tantras , the main thang sman are: tig ta ( Swertia chirayita) and ba sha ka ( Adhatoda vasica ). Their underground organs have the essential nature of woody plants ( shing), their stalks the one of the ldum type, their leaves and flowers the “green and tender” ( sngo ) one of herbaceous plants.” 108 According to my fieldwork data and the botanical identifications of modern Tibetan materia medica109 , the underground organs of the majority of thang sman are stout and thick, just as stated in the definition and in line with the examples proposed by De’u dmar dge bshes.

76 TIBET JOURNAL In the definition above, the three expressions shing, ldum and sngo are employed to describe the essential nature ( rang bzhin) of the three different organs of plants belonging to the thang sman group and they clearly point out to different morphological traits. The only difficulty consists in the interpretation of the term ldum110 which indicates the features of stalks that are neither like the ones of woody plants ( shing) nor as the ones of green-tender herbaceous plants ( sngo). The examination of features and vegetative cycle of the plants taken as examp le by De’u dmar dge bshes may help us to ascertain to which kind of plant and plant traits the term ldum refers. Inula racemosa and Rheum palmatum are herbaceous plants that have a stout herbaceous stalk. The Indian tig ta111 seems, according to De’u dmar dge bshes 112, a small woody plant ( shing phran). Actually it is a robust herbaceous plant. Interestingly some practitioners from Litang designate ldum the stalk of some types of rhubarbs as lcum ( Rheum palmatum ) and chu skyur ( Rheum alexandrae ) in the same way as in the example proposed by the author of the Shel phreng. According to the informants, these two plants have a hard-rigid ( ’khregs pa) green stalk, which is endowed neither with an essential nature of sngo type nor of shing type. Ba sha ka ( Adhatoda vasica ) is a woody plant, according to the Shel phreng 113. It should therefore not be included in the thang sman category also because its aerial organs survive in winter. Yet this plant, being imported from the hot regions of India, Nepal, and China and sold on local markets, might have not been observed directly on the fiel d by Tibetan doctors who therefore do not know its vegetative cycle and have only seen stems and branches. In this reference some traditional doctors from Baragaon and Dharamsala have stated that some medicines of the plains may have a woody stem, but that it dries up at the beginning of the cold season. I will now examine the meaning of the term ldum bu which, according to the medical dictionary gSo ba rig pa’i tshig mdzod g.yu thog dgongs rgyan, is the following: “name of the herbaceous plants ( sngo) that, as re ral114 , dwa ba ( Arisaema spp) , and snya lo (Polygonum polystachyum )115, are not cultivated plants, naturally grown green grass ( rtswa) and flowers planted in a garden, but that grow together with these.” 116 The same source also mentions an almost identical definition ascribed to De’u dmar dge bshes 117: “ lDum bu are not cultivated plants, green grass and garden flowers, but the name of the herbaceous plants that grow together with these.” The three plants taken as examples in the above definitions are included in the category thang sman in the Shel phreng118. They exhibit morphological and ecological features that correspond to the ones described by De’u dmar dge bshes for the thang sman. Re ral , a stout plant having robust underground organs, and dwa ba with tuberous roots mostly grow in forests. sNya lo is a shrubby herbaceous plant which thrives between 2,000 and 4,000 metres. We may therefore put forward that the plants designated ldum mainly include herbaceous plants having robust underground organs and\or stout herbaceous stems. Only in some cases they are tiny shrubs. Thus thang medicines are also named ldum medicines because they may exhibit the above morphological features. This assumption is supported by the data reported by informants and written sources which attribute the category of herbaceous medicines ( sngo sman) a


few distinctive morphological and ecological features opposite to the ones of thang sman. Actually the majority of practitioners from different regions associate the expression sngo sman to medicinal herbaceous plants that are tiny, tender, that have small roots and grow mostly on the mountains ( ri la). De’u dmar dge bshes corroborates these statem ents when in the Shel phreng 119 writes that “the sngo [sman] are a type of herbaceous plants that have a type of tiny underground organs.” The analysis of the botanical identification of the plants belonging to this category, for example in the materia medica of Karma chos ’phel 120 , has shown that most botanical s pecies consist of tiny herbaceous plants with slender underground organs. In the same treatise 121 it is affirmed that sngo sman are plants which grow anew each year but the plant s included in the thang sman category also share this feature. Thus the parameters of distinction between the categories thang sman and sngo sman may be the following: as concerns the underground organs, the size is tiny and slender in the ngo sman and big and robust in the thang sman; as concerns the stem, it is thin and green-tender in the former, stout and hardrigid in the latter; as concerns the environment of growth, the sngo sman thrive on high mountains and plateaus and the thang sman at lower altitude. According to some traditional doctors from Baragaon all these parameters need not to be present at the same time. After examining the plants included in the two categories it seems that morphological features, in p articular underground organ size, are more important than the environmental ones in defining the medicines of the thang sman category. For example, chu rtsa is a stout herbaceous plant with a thick root, which grows at high altitude (4,100-5,200 m.). According to the descriptions given in The Crystal Rosary most of the sngo sman (nearly 90%) and the majority (roughl y 75%) of thang sman come from Tibetan regions. These data are corroborated by the modern materia medica of Karma chos ’phel 122 that presents the plant botanical identifications. According to it, the 68.75% of the thang sman come directly from proper Tibetan plateau areas while the 18.75 % from the Tibetan regions called rong , which are relatively low forested river valleys. The 12.5% come from abroad, particularly from the sub-tropical and tropical regions of India, Nepal, and China. As to the sngo sman medicines, 78.41% come from proper Tibetan plateau regions, 15.41% from rong areas, and 6.18% from sub-tropical and tropical regions. THE CROP MEDICINES Several Tibetan pharmacopoeias as the Shel phreng123 describe a category including some vegetables and cereals and give it the name of lo tog gi sman, “crop medicines”, among which we find ’bras ( Oriza sativa), sre da ( Avena sativa), rgya sran (Vicia faba ), yungs dkar ( Brassica alba ), la phug ( Raphanus sativus), and a sho pa tra ( Zea mays ) 124 . This group is not described in The Four Tantras , where edible plants are dealt with in the three chapters devoted to dietetics 125 . In a modern Tibetan pharmacopoeia 126 this category is designated ’bru’i sman, “grain medicines”. Although the meaning of the term ’bru is “a grain of anything” 127 , vegetables such as turnips ( nyung ma, Brassica rapa) 128 and radish ( la phug) are included in it.

78 TIBET JOURNAL THE TYPES Each medicinal substance, notwithstanding the category to which it belongs, may exhibit some types ( rigs). Relatively detailed descriptions of them are presented in the Vaidurya sngon po 129 and, furnishing interesting information as concerns plant morphological and ecological features, in the Shel phreng. Modern Tibetan medical texts give in-dept h descriptions of the different plant types as well, most of which are based on th e above classical treatises. The plant classification in types as reported in writt en sources is probably the most common categorisation, which however may not be accepted by all practitioners. Since Tibetan medicine is practised over a huge area through out several countries 130 , its materia medica may show differences according to local vegetation, traditions, and foreign influences. All these factors may affect plant traditional identificati on and classification as our field data have shown. Thus Tibetan materia medica, as Tibetan medicine in general, is not to be considered as standard and static both in time and space, but as a tradition that has been constantly evolving. Plant types are usually differentiated and categorized on the basis of a small number of features, whose recognition may be crucial becaus e each plant type may have peculiar therapeutic properties, a different time and method of gathering, drying, and a dissimilar use. Some plant types may belong to different plant forms 131 as in the case of khyung sder , a woody plant that has two herbaceous types: sngo khyung sder dkar po , and sngo khyung sder smug po 132. Here follow the most frequent classification criteria. Some plant may be categorised on the basis of thei r therapeutic properties in three (or two) types. In this case the following determinants are added to the name of the plant: mchog, “superior”, which indicates the type having the best therapeutic properties; ’bring, “intermediate”, which specifies intermediate therapeutic properties; dman , “inferior”, designating the types having weak potency 133 . Several types of well-known medicinal plants are categorized according to the above criterion as below: hong len mchog ( Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora )134 , hong len dman pa ( Lagotis glauca) 135 ; klu bdud rdo rje mchog ( Codonopsis mollis ) 136 , klu bdud rdo rje dman pa ( Ad en op ho ra liliifolia)137 ; ug chos mchog ( Incarvillea grandiflora) 138 , ug chos dman pa ( Incarvillea arguta )139; spra thog ( Leontopodium dedekensii ) and spra ga dman pa ( Gnaphalium strackeyi )140 . I met a traditional doctor from Litang that was used to distinguishin g subtypes (or varieties) of a plant type on the basis of the same criterion, each subtype having different therapeutic properties determined by the features of its environment of growth. This practical classification has been worked out by the practitioner for the area where he carries out the plant gathering. This is the case of the well-known medicinal plant bong nga that consists of four types141 : amongst these, the type named bong nga nag po ( Aconitum spp .), “black bong nga”, is a plant that has cold potency ( nus pa bsil ). Three subtypes of it are distinguished by the informant, each one having a different potency in relation to altitude and aspect 142 : bong nag143 mchog, “superior bong nag ”, which thrives at high altitude on the shady side of the mountains and whose cold potency is particularly strong; bong nag ’bring, “intermediate bong


nag ”, which also grows on shady mountainsides, but at lower altitude, and that is why its potency is less strong; bong nag dman , “inferior bong nag”, which thrives on the sunny mountainsides. In this case the power of the sun decreases the cold potency of the plan t, which is gathered only in case of lack in the other sub-types. The flower colour is a parameter frequently employed to distinguish and categorise the different types of a plant, for example, as concerns shang shang dril bu , “bell of shang shang” 144 , a plant that belongs to the herbaceous medicines ( sngo sman). Traditional doctors from different regions describe several types (they all belong to the botanical genus Primula) of this medicinal plant, which are distinguished from their flower colour. A practitioner from Baragaon recognizes three types: shang dril ser po (“yellow shang dril”, Primula sikkimensis), shang dril dkar po (“white shang dril”, P. atrodentata) and shang dril smug po (“purple-brown shang dril ”, P. atrodentata ) 145 . Practitioners from Litang County distinguish the following types: shang dril ser po (P. sikkimensis), shang dril smug po (Primula sp.) and shang dril dmar po (“red shang dril”, P. secundiflora ). A Tibetan doctor from Khyungpo (east Tibet) has reported that there are five types of this plant: shang dril dkar po, shang dril dmar po, shang dril ser po ( P. sikkimensis ), shang dril smug po, and shang dril nag po (“black shang dril, P. atrodentata). The informant has affirmed that the designation shang dril nag po, only used in Khyungpo and in few other Tibetan regions, is a synonym for the more common shang dril sngon po, “blue shang dril”. The name shang dril nag po is not mentioned in the classical and modern pharmacopoeias examined. Similarly, traditional doctors from the region of Dolpo use the expression shang dril sngon po as a synonym of shang dril nag po (Primula macrophylla)146 , thus corroborating the information reported by the informant from Khyungpo. De’u dmar dge bshes 147 describes three different classifications: 1) in three types: dmar po, dkar po , ser po ; 2) in four types: dkar po , dmar po, sngon po, ser po; 3) in four types: dkar po, dmar po, smug po148 , ser po. In the last classification model the author presents the classification parameters: the principal is the flower colour, but it is also stated that the red and the yellow types thrive on wet soils ( chu las skye , “to be born from water”) whereas white and purple-brown types “grow on dry soils” ( skam sar skye ). The disparities between the classifications reported can be explained referring to changing ecological conditions and local traditions in the different Himalayan and Tibetan regions. Some classifications are devised according to the size of the plant or of some of its organs. In this case the determ inant chen (big) may be added to the big type and the determinant chung (small) to the small type. For example, thar nu includes two types that exhibit s imilar morphological features and that are classified on the basis of the si ze of some of their organs: thar chen, “big thar nu” ( Euphorbia wallichii ), has larger and thicker leaves and a stouter stalk than the type named thar chung, “small thar nu” ( Euphorbia longifolia)149. Three types of star bu ( Hippophae spp.) are distinguished according to their height: star bu gnam star , star bu bar star , star bu sa star . For each type a determinant which points out to the height of the plant is employed: gnam,

80 TIBET JOURNAL “sky”, bar “intermediate space”, and sa , “ground”. The first designates the highest type, the last the lowest one 150 . Feminine (mo ), masculine ( pho ) and, if necessary, hermaphrodite ( ma ning) types of a plant may be distingu ished in Tibetan medicine. The classification is usually worked out on the basis of the following parameters: plant general aspect, size of the entire plant or of one of its organs (usually flowers), other minute morphological features. Plant size is the most frequent parameter of classification: masculine types usually have a bi g size while feminine ones are small. Hermaphrodite types may exhibit intermed iate size between masculine and feminine plants or simultaneous masculine and feminine features. This classification may also imply some inferences on the modalities of administration of each type. For example in the case of me tog glang sna 151 masculine plants ( pho glang , Pedicularis integrifolia) have to be administered to feminine patients and feminine plants ( mo glang , Pedicularis anas)152 to male patients whereas hermaphrodite plants ( ma ning glang ) may be administered to both. Some plants are separated into types according to their environment of growth. Medicinal plant types may thrive in the meadows ( spang), between rocks ( brag ), and in forests ( nags ). A traditional doctor from Baragaon categorises three types of mtshe ldum: brag mtshe, spang mtshe, and chu (water) mtshe, the last type thrives near streams and on wet groun ds 153 . A few plants are separated into two types: the former, designated g.yung (domestic), usually grows in areas that are not located at high altitude as in forested valleys ( rong) and near villages and sometimes even in house gardens (ldum ra); the latter, named rgod (wild), usually thrives on the mountains ( ri la ) at high altitude ( sa cha mtho po ) where the climate is harsh 154. For example, De’u dmar dge bshes 155 describes two types of dwa ba: the type designated dwa rgod grows on the mountains, the one named dwa g.yung thrives in the cultivated fields. The classification may depend on the medical traditions Byang and Zur . At the end of the XV century two schools of Tibetan medicine were established by two famous traditional doctors: Byang pa, descendant of the king of Minyak (a region located in eastern Tibet), Se’u rgyal po, and Zur mkhar ba mNyam nyid rdo rje. The former established the Byang lugs medical tradition, the latter the Zur lugs one. These traditions, which exhibit little differences 156 , formally survived until the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682) in the seventeenth century. Some practitioners have stated that they may follow one of the two medical schools in the case of the classification and identification of certain medicinal plants. For example according to two informants from Khyungpo and Baragaon there is a type of dug mo nyung ( Ho la rrhena antidysenterica ) designated sngo dug mo nyung (Cynanchum vincetoxicum ) 157 that has been categorized and identified by the Byang school. Similarly they have affirmed that the identification of ut pal sngon po differs in relation to Byang and Zur schools: the former recognises it as an aster ( Aster tricephalus) 158 , the latter as a blue poppy ( Meconopsis spp.). The majority of practitioners over Tibetan regions adhere to the identification of the Zur tradition.


CONCLUSION The classification of medicinal plants dealt with in this article is constant among traditional doctors from different Tibetan regions and almost corresponds to the one described on classical texts of Tibetan materia medica. Yet I emphasise the existence of a significant disparity of knowledge owing to the recent modern standardisation of Tibetan medicine. Many practitioners practising in dispensaries and clinics which depend on important medical institutes and who do not carry out any more the gathering of medicinal plants and do not make the remedies have an imprecise knowledge of the materia medica, of its classification and identification and of the criteria of attribution of curative properties to substances. Only a moderate number of informants, particularly independent practitioners, have a deep knowledge of medicinal plants and their use, based on a detailed knowledge of medical text s, an education with a learned master, and a great field experience. The recent introduction under Chinese influence of a new terminology and the attempt of devising a new classification reflecting the one of modern sci ence so far has had a slight impact on traditional classification. Few medicinal substances have been shifted from one category to another owing either to their importance in Chinese medicine or to the attempt of reallocating them according to the classification of modern science. The classification of medicinal plants in typ es, although based on the same criteria such as plant morphological traits, place of growth, and quality, may vary significantly according to climatic conditions, local traditions and medical schools. That is why the same Tibetan plant designation may correspond to different botanical species. The peculiar botanical and medical knowledge of independent practitioners, in particular of the ones of family lineage, might disappear in the near future because of the standardisation and modernisation of Tibetan medicine. Notes 1. 2.

And probably to a lesser extent also by the pharmacopoeia of Chinese medicine. The data have been obtained during a research project on the ethnobotany of Tibetan speaking populations, undertaken by the author from 1998 to 2002 in different regions of the Tibetan cultural area: the Litang County (Sichuan, China), the region of Baragaon (Mustang District, Central Nepal), Dhorpatan (Baglung District, Central Nepal), and Ladakh (Jammu & Kashmir, India). Medicinal plant specimens gathered on the field have been identified in collaboration with professor J. F. Dobremez (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, Université de Savoie, France) and have been deposited at the Herbarium of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris, France. Classical texts of Tibetan medicine and some traditional and modern treatises of Tibetan materia medica have been employed to analyse medicinal plant classification: “The Four Tantras” (rGyud bzhi), the fundamental text of Tibetan medicine (g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992), probably composed between the VIII and the XII century; its famous commentary “The Blue Beryl” ( Vaidurya sngon po), written by the Regent sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho (1982) in the XVII century; “ The Crystal Block ” (Shel gong) and the commentary to it “ The Crystal Rosary” (Shel phreng) (De’u dmar dge bshes bsTan ’dzin phun tshogs, 1994), two of the most important classical texts of Tibetan materia medica , both written in the first half of the XVIII century; two modern Tibetan pharmacopoeias published at Lhasa (Karma chos ’phel,

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3. 4.

5.

6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16.

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

1993) and Chamdo (dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998). I am grateful to the Museum of Archaeology of the University of Cambridge (Freder ick Williamson Memorial Fund) and Padma A. G. (Switzerland) for supporting part of the fieldwork. Proper Tibetan spellings are given according to the Wylie (1959) system of transliteration (minus the hyphen in between syllables). The term “potency” (nus pa) points out to the action that a substance may originate by means of its features and qualities. In Tibetan medicine this expression designates both particular qualities of medicinal substances, which constitute their therapeutic properties (the eight nus pa), and their therapeutic effect (Boesi, 2004: 48-50). From the ethnobiological perspective the so-called plant “types” (rigs) correspond here to the taxa designated by Berlin (1992: 22) “specific”, and “varietal”. Although the meaning of the term rigs may be “type”, “class”, “category”, and “kind”, it is mainly used by Tibetan practitioners to indicate plant types and varieties. They usually share their primary name (Ibidem: 27) (also designated “basic name” according to Conklin, 1954) and are differentiated by adding a specific (or two in the case of varieties) determinant. Cardi, 2004. Meyer, 1983: 71. The commonly employed expression sman , “medicine”, designates all substances that have therapeutic properties and includes both medicinal plants and the other medicinal substances of mineral and animal origin. This term also indicates medicinal preparations. Also written rtsi’i sman. sMan gyi nus pa bstan pa / , “Explanation of the medicine potency”. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, bShad pa’i rgyud (Explanatory Tantra), Chapter 20: 75. Ibidem: 68, 70. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982, Commentary to the Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud kyi rnam bshad), Chapter 20: 262. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 180-255, 305-395. Ibidem: 255-304. Over the Tibetan cultural regions, thang phrom exhibits some types that correspond to several species of the botanical family of Solanaceae. For example, according to my field data from the Litang County the white type ( thang phrom dkar po) corresponds to Hyoscyamus niger whereas the black type (thang phrom nag po) corresponds to Anisodus tanguticus. The botanical identifications presented in this article are mainly the ones reported in modern Tibetan materia medica and the ones related to the specimens gathered on the field by the author. I would like to point out that, because the botanical identification of Tibetan materia medica may vary according to several factors as explained in the article, the identification presented may represent only one of the possible botanical species to which a Tibetan designation corresponds. Specimen gathered in the region of Baragaon. Specimen gathered in the region of Dhorpatan. The same botanical identification is mentioned in the two modern pharmacopoeias used as reference (see note 4). g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 396-409. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho: 1982, Commentary to the Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud kyi rnam bshad), Chapter 20: 322. Parfionovich et al., 1992: 73. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20: 68.


24. See the section devoted to essence medicines for the identification of these medicinal substances according to modern science. 25. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 66. Parmelia tinctorum is a lichen that grows in crust like form on rocks and trees. 26. This category includes mineral substances such as hematite, calcite, and a few fossils. 27. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 144. 28. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20: 67. 29. This category consists of two groups of substances of mineral origin: natural (rang byung pa, “self originated”) and non-natural (las kyi bcos bas gtsang par byas pa , “that have been purified with an artifical intervention”). 30. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 66. 31. Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 303. 32. Another suitable translation of the expression rtsi sman may be “nectarous medicines” as proposed by Parfionovich et al. (1992: 63). 33. The musk deer is well-known because of his musk pod, a small sac (6 cm. long) situated in the inguinal region. The glands inside the pod produce the musk, a substance with a very strong scent that is secreted by the males during the rut season. Several species of musk deer exists over Tibetan regions: Moschus sifanicus lives in alpine areas, Moschus berezovskii in subalpine regions (Schaller G., personal communication, 2001) whilst Moschus chrysogaster is common in Himalayan regions. In the region of Khams (east Tibet) I have observed Tibetan people trying to sell the musk to Tibetan medical institutes as the one in Dar rtse mdo, and to traders of medicinal plants. 34. According to the recent pharmacopoeias edited at Lhasa and Chamdo, this substance corresponds to the bile of Selenarctos thibetanus. Karma chos ’phel, 1992: 19; dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 104. 35. Some informants from Ladakh affirm that this drug is an animal substance coming from the excreta of a bra (Ochotona spp.). 36. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20: 68. 37. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 154-155. 38. The meaning of the expressions thang and sngo will be examined in the section devoted to thang sman and sngo sman. 39. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982, Commentary to the Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud kyi rnam bshad), Chapter 20: 262. 40. According to dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1998: 96-112), cu gang corresponds to silica secretion from the stem of Schizostachyum chinense and Bambusa textilis ; gur gum to Crocus sativus; sug smel to Amomum compactum and to Elettaria cardamomum ; dzwa ti to Myristica fragrans ; li shi to Eugenia aromatica; ka ko la to Amomum tsao and to A. subulatum. According to Karma chos ’phel (1992: 5-16), cu gang corresponds to silica secretion from the stem of Schizostachyum chinense; gur gum corresponds to Crocus sativus (kha che gur gum); sug smel to Elettaria cardamomum ; dzwa ti to Myristica fragrans ; li shi to Eugenia caryophyllata ; ka ko la to Amomum tsao and to A. subulatum. 41. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 154-179. 42. According to dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1998: 97-98) and Karma chos ’phel (1993: 3) it corresponds to Dryobalanops aromatica, Blumea balsamifera, and Cinammomum camphora. 43. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 326. 44. The Tibetan expression utpala is the transliteration of the Sanskrit word utpala that points out to the blue lotus. Some plants thriving in Tibetan regions are the substitutes

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45. 46. 47. 48.

49. 50. 51. 52.

53. 54. 55. 56.

57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72.

73. 74. 75. 76.

for plants that once were imported from India. Some of them have maintained their original Sanskrit designation as in this case. See Sharma et al., 1993: 430-431; Nadkarni, 1999: 859-860. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 326. ’Jam dpal rdo rje, 1971: folio 173. “All Tibetans believe that during winter the dbyar rtswa dgun ’bu, “summer-grass winter-worm”, lives as a worm and that, after a metamorphosis occurring at the beginning of spring, it changes into a kind of grass ( rtswa).” Boesi, 2003: 32. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 109. Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 177. ’Jam dpal rdo rje, 1971: folio 168. To my knowledge, the oldest treatise of Tibetan medicine where dbyar rtswa dgun ’bu is mentioned is the Bye ba ring bsrel (Relics Empowered by Millions of Oral Instructions), composed in the XV century by Zur mkhar mNyam nyid rdo r je (14391475) (Zur mkhar mNyam nyid rdo rje, 1985) (Acknowledgment to Olaf Czaja for indicating me this). Chandra Das, 1992: 1010. Meyer, 1983: 171. The translation of the term rtsi sman in this text is “Exudates and secretions”. ’Jam dpal rdo rje, 1971: 6. The potency (nus pa) of some drugs is determined by the presence and strength of their fragrance. This property is designated dri’i nus pa “the potency of fragrance”. The presence of scent is also a crucial parameter for the attribution of curative properties in the case of some plants included in other categories. For example, tsan dan dmar po (Pterocarpus santalinus) and tsan dan dkar po ( Santalum album) that belong to the medicines coming from woody plants ( shing sman) and spang spos ( Nardostachys grandiflora ) that is included in the category of herbaceous medicines (sngo sman). De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 154-179. Kunsang, 1996. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 96. Ibidem. Ibidem: 112. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 410. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20: 73. Ibidem: 68. See the next section: ldum bu thang sman, ldum sman. Literally “new born”. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 180, 250. The author employs the term tshi ba as synonym of thang chu. In the Shel phreng (Ibidem) the group including plant skins is named pags pa, the one including branches yal phran and the one of plant exudates tshi ba thang chu. Ibidem: 10. Ibidem: 180. Ibidem: 245. I point out that De’u dmar dge bshes (1994: 226, 248) describes two types of se ba: a wild type, se rgod , and a domestic one se g.yung, which are mainly distinguished according to morphological features. Ibidem: 215. Ibidem: 226. Ibidem: 248. Ibidem: 227.


77. Ibidem: 247. 78. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982, Commentary to the Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud kyi rnam bshad), chapter 20: 262. 79. For the botanical identification of the three last plants see dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1988: 148, 149, 164. 80. For the botanical identification of the three last plants see Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 23-27. 81. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 74-75. 82. For example, khyi shing ( Lonicera thibetica ); dzo mo shing (Caragana ericacea); sur dkar ( Rhododendron sp. ), sur nag ( Rhododendron sp.); skyer pa ( Berberis sp.); spen nag ( Dasiphora fruticosa ). 83. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1988: 119. 84. Differently, according to the Shel phreng (De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 278), khyung sder belongs to the category of thang sman (medicines of the plains), which, as it will be shown in the next section, includes the herbaceous plants and a few tiny woody plants. 85. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1988: 119. 86. Ibidem. 87. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20: 68. 88. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 15. 89. Ibidem: 72-75, 255. 90. It is quite difficult to work out an appropriate translation in English of the Tibetan term ldum according to its use in Tibetan medicine. 91. Thang zhes pa dang ldum bu ni don gcig /. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 75. 92. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20: 68. 93. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 255. 94. Ibidem: 75. 95. I point out to dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1998). 96. Chandra Das, 1992: 568; Krang dbyi sun, 1998: 1140. 97. The term thang (soup) comes in this case from Chinese language and, in particular, from the thang preparations of Chinese medicine. 98. As far as the category thang sman is concerned Meyer maintains: “Il ne s’agit pas de “médecine préparée par décoction à partir de différentes parties de plantes” comme on le trouve dans la table des matières de “An Illustrated Tibeto-Mongolian Materia Medica of Ayurveda” [’Jam dpal rdo rje, 1971], mais du nom générique d’un groupe de drogues végétales qui ne préjuge pas de leur technique de préparation. A l’école de médecine de Dharamsala, le terme thang sman est interprété comme “médecines de plaine”. En réalité ce groupe contient des plantes aux habitats très divers et non limités aux plaines” (Meyer, 1983: 171). The same incorrect interpretation of the expression thang sman occurring in the edition of the materia medica of ’Jam dpal rdo rje has also been put forward by Dash (1994: XXIV). 99. Tibetan practitioners also employ the term snyoms po to designate the nature of a medicinal plant when it is neither hot nor cold. 100. rDza ri g.ya’ ri gangs ri lta bu mtho sar skyes pa ma yin par bde thang du skye ba’i sman gyi rigs ming ste / . Byangs pa ’Phrin las, 1983: 216. The same definition is proposed in the dictionary Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo (Krang dbyi sun , 1998: 1142-1143). 101. Most educated and non-educated informants from different regions have affirmed that the expression g.ya’ ri connotes the mountains whose ground consists of many flat stones (rdo leb) and earth ( sa) and where to slide is easy. The dictionary Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo (Krang dbyi sun , 1998: 2617) proposes the following definition

86 TIBET JOURNAL for the term g.ya’ ri: “mountains that consists of small flat stones and of stones of bluish colour”. 102. Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 132. 103. Ibidem: 143. The latest Latin binomial of this plant is Justicia adhatoda (Hara and Williams, 1979: 141). It is a woody plant imported from sub-tropical regions of India and Nepal. Yet there is also a type of this plant directly gathered in Tibetan regions, which is considered inferior (dman ) as its quality is concerned. Three practitioners from Khyungbo, Baragaon, and Litang designate this plant sngo ba sha ka , “herbaceous ba sha ka”. Its botanical identification corresponds at Dhorpatan to Corydalis longipes, a herbaceous plant. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1998: 142) mentions a type named ldum ba sha ka, whose botanical identification correspond to Corydalis impatiens. 104. See for example, Parfionovich et al., 1992: 63. 105. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 75. 106. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 260; Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 145. 107. Botanical identification of the specimen gathered by the author in the Litang County. According to dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1998: 198) lcum corresponds to Rheum officinale . 108. rTsa ba rgyas shing lo sdong sogs lo rer shing ltar skye yang dgun nas rtsa ba ma gtogs sngo ltar rgas nas lo re bzhin brje bas ma nu dang lcum lta bu’i rigs la / rgyud las / thang gi gtso bo tig ta ba sha ka / gsungs pas rtsa ba shing la sdong po ldum lo me sngo’i rang bzhin can…/ . De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 75. 109. Karma chos ’phel, 1993; dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998. 110. The term ldum may be generally employed in the common language with a sense similar to the one of the term sngo. Le dictionary Tshig mdzod chen mo (Krang dbyi sun, 1998 : 1454) proposes the following definition: “general term equivalent to sngo.” 111. In Tibetan materia medica several type of tig ta are described. The standard tig ta also called rgya tig (rgya gar gyi tig ta, “Indian tig ta”) is the one which mainly thrives to the south of the Himalayan chain. This plant has been identified as Swertia chirayita (dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 205; Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 132). 112. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 255. 113. Ibidem: 258. 114. Some types of re ral (or ldum bu re ral) have been described by my informants and in written sources. For example, De’u dmar dge bshes (1994: 276) states that it may be classified in three types: 1) rgyal po (king) re ral, 2) blon po (minister) re ral, 3) btsun mo (queen) re ral. He also quotes a text ( ‘khrung dpe) where three types of this drug are distinguished according to their place of growth: ldum bu re ral, be ljang re ral, and g.yu ’brug ’khyil ba. Most informants report the latter classification. In modern Tibetan materia medica botanical identification of this plant may vary: according to dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1998: 223) rgyal po re ral corresponds to Drynaria sinica, be ljang re ral to D. propinqua , and g.yu ’brug ’khyil ba to Polystichum squarrosum. According to Karma chos ‘phel (1993: 184-186) the above drugs respectively correspond to Polistychum squarrosum, Drynaria baronii , and D. propinqua. According to the same author (1993: 187-189), blon po re ral is a synonym for brag spos ( Lepisorus waltonii ), btsun mo re ral corresponds to Aleuritopteris argentea or it is a synonym for brag skya ha po ( Corallodiscus kingianus). 115. I have collected this plant in the Litang County. Its botanical identification corresponds to the one reported in the materia medica of dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1988: 203) and Karma chos ’phel (1993: 201). 116. Byangs pa ’phrin las, 1983: 277. So nam byas pa’i lo thog dang / rang bzhin skyes pa’i rtswa ljang / ldum rar btsugs pa’i me tog bcas ma yin pa de dag dang mnyam du skyes pa’i re ral dang / dwa ba / snya lo lta bu sngo’i ming ste / . 117. Ibidem. lDum bu lo thog rtswa ljang dang / ldum ra’i me tog ma yin pa’i / de dag mnyam skyes sngo yi ming / . The dictionary quotes as source of this definition a


medical text composed by De’u dmar dge bshes: gSo rig skor gyi ming tshig nyer mkho’i don gsal. 118. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 276, 283, 284. 119. Ibidem: 75. sNgo ni rtsa ba phra ba’i rigs kyi rtswa’i rigs so / . 120. Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 255-473. We have chosen this text because it is the only modern pharmacopoeia that presents the drug botanical identification and maintains the correct traditional classification in categories. 121. Ibidem: 1993: 255. 122. Karma chos ’phel, 1993. 123. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 458. The complete name is zhing gi lo tog las byung ba’i sman. 124. As far as the botanical identification of these plants is concerned, see Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 474-491. 125. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapters 16, 17, 18. 126. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 323-331. 127. Chandra Das, 1992: 931. 128. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 325. According to Karma chos ’phel (1993: 487) this plant corresponds to Raphanus sp. 129. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982, Commentary to the Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud kyi rnam bshad), Chapter 20: 249-350. 130. Tibetan medicine is practised over a vast area which covers all the regions inhabited by populations of Tibetan language and culture and other areas: the northern states of India (Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and Sikkim); Bhutan; a large part of the northern regions of Nepal; the following Chinese Provinces: Tibetan Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan; Mongolia; Buryat (Russia); and other many countries where Tibetans have settled. 131. As Berlin (1992: 166-167) reports “...such broadly inclusive classes [plant forms] generally occur as the first major groupings within each ethnobiologica l classification kingdom, forming a contrastive group of a small number of taxa of plants and animals...While some groupings correspond rather closely to recognized scientific higher-order taxa, most life-form taxa do not reflect biologically natural classes of organisms....In the plant world, the focus of major differences based on stem habit, probably one of the primary perceptual features leading to the recognition of the most common major life-form taxa found in folk systems of ethnobiological classification (e.g. “tree”, “vine”, “herbaceous plant”), leads to grouping that often violate natural biological taxa at the family level”. Tibetan people recognize five or four plant forms, listed according to two different models. 1) The five plant forms are mushrooms (sha mo), grasses (rtswa), flowers (me tog), woody plants (shing sdong), and woody climbers ( ’khri shing). 2) In the second model plant forms consist of four taxa: mushrooms (sha mo), herbaceous plants (rtswa), woody plants (shing sdong), and woody climbers (’khri shing). In this model the categories rtswa (herbs) and me tog (flowers) of the first model are included in a single taxon named rtswa (Boesi, 2005: 45-46). 132. See the section devoted to shing sman for the identification of these two drugs according to modern botany. 133. Sometimes, in particular on written sources, the following determinants are also employed: rab “excellent”, bzang “good”; dma’ “inferior”, ngan “bad”. 134. Karma chos ’phel, 1993: 255. The specimen gathered in the region of Baragaon corresponds to the same botanical species. 135. Ibidem: 257. 136. Ibidem: 396. 137. Ibidem: 398.

88 TIBET JOURNAL 138. Specimen gathered in the Litang County. 139. Specimen gathered in the region of Baragaon. 140. The two last specimens have been gathered in the Litang County. 141. The four types are the following: black ( bong nga nag po), white ( bong nga dkar po), red (bong nga dmar po), and yellow (bong nga ser po). 142. As it is described in the rGyud bzhi (g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992, Explanatory Tantra (bShad pa’i rgyud), Chapter 20: 65): “the snowy mountain and the ’bigs byed mountain, having [respectively] the power of the moon and of the sun, possess a power which becomes increasingly cold or hot”. In particular, the hot (tsha) power (stobs) of the sun dominates on the sunny slopes ( nyin), whilst the cold ( bsil ) power of the moon prevails on the shady ones (srib ). 143. Abbreviation of bong nga nag po. 144. “Shang shang”: a mythological bird similar to a Garuda. 145. Primula atrodentata has flowers whose colour may vary from purple to mauve-blue or white. In this case, the two types “white” and “purple-brown” correspond to the same botanical species. 146. Lama, Ghimire, Thomas, 2001: 106. 147. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 338-339. 148. De’u dmar dge bshes also states that the expressions shang dril smug po and shang dril sngon po are synonyms. Thus the two classifications that differentiate four types are equivalent. 149. The botanical identification of the two types refers to the specimens that have been gathered in the region of Dhorpatan. 150. As far as the three types of star bu are concerned, it is difficult to find the exact correspondence between their Tibetan designations and the botanical species. The data given by the informants are often inconsistent. The cause of these differences is determined by the difference of height that this plan ts may attain in ecological settings that are sometimes contrasting. In particular, several informants have pointed out to Hippophae rhamnoides subsp. turkestanica both as star bu sa star and star bu bar star in the Indian region of Ladakh. The same appellations might be valid with H. salicifolia whose size may also vary in relation to climatic conditions. It might also be suggested that the latter plant, attaining nearly the height of 5 metres in very favourable ecological conditions, is also designated star bu gnam star , as it has been shown with the Nepalese regions of Dolpo (Lama, Ghimire, Thomas, 2001: 79). The type star bu gnam star is usually described by the informants as a woody plant of big size thriving at relatively low altitude in the so-called rong forested deep valleys. In a recent Tibetan pharmacopoeia (dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 131) star bu gnam star is identified as Hippophae rhamnoides and star bu bar star as Hippophae neurocarpa. According to my fieldwork data, in the region of Baragaon the type named star bu sa star corresponds to H. tibetana . The same identification is given in the two above quoted texts. 151. Me tog glang sna includes several types belonging to the botanical genus Pedicularis. 152. I have gathered these two medicinal plants in the Litang County. 153. Brag mtshe ( Ephedra gerardiana ) is the type observed in the region of Baragaon. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje (1998: 269) describes three types of this plant two of which correspond to Ephedra : mtshe ldum ( E. equisetina ) and spang mtshe (“meadow mtshe”) ( E. gerardiana , E. minuta ). Yet the third type, named chu mtshe (“water mtshe”), corresponds to a species ( Equisetum diffusum ) that belongs to a different botanical division and interestingly has different healing properties from the other two. 154. The two determinants do not always imply this difference of growing area as in the case of se rgod and se g.yung, as shown in the section devoted to describing medicines coming from woody plants ( shing sman).


155. De’u dmar dge bshes, 1994: 283-284. Dwa ba dag la rigs gnyis te / ri las skyes pa dwa rgod yin / zhing las skyes pa dwa g.yung te / . 156. The difference concerns the localisation of some vital points, the identification of some drugs and the preparation of some formulas. Meyer (1983: 81) affirms that these differences also reflect dissimilar ecological and epidemiological conditions. 157. Holarrhena antidysenterica is a plant that thrives in the low regions of India, Nepal and China. (dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998: 219). In the same text (ibidem) the botanical identification of sngo dug mo nyung corresponds to Cynanchum vincetoxicum. Also the specimen sngo dug mo nyung collected in Litang County corresponds to the genus Cynanchum and is the Tibetan substitute to H. antidysenterica. 158. Specimen gathered in the region of Dhorpatan.

References Berlin B., 1992. Ethnobiological classification . Princeton University Press, Princeton. Boesi A., 2003. The dByar rtswa dgun ’bu (Cordyceps sinensis Berk.): An Important Trade Item for the Tibetan Population of the Li thang District, Sichuan Province, China. The Tibet Journal, 28 (3): 29-42. Boesi A., 2004. Le savoir botanique des Tibétains: perception, classification et exploitation des plantes sauvages. Thèse de Doctorat, Unité d’Anthropologie et Adaptabilité Biologique, UMR 6578, CNRS-Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille. Unpublished Boesi A., 2005. Plant knowledge among Tibetan populations. In A. Boesi, F. Cardi Wildlife and plants in traditional and modern Tibet: conceptions, exploitation, and conservation , Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano , 33 (1): 33-48. Byangs pa ’phrin las, 1983. gSo ba rig pa’i tshig mdzod g.yu thog dgongs rgyan. Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing. Cardi F., 2004. De l’approvisionnement des substances médicinales à la production des médicaments: l’évolution contemporaine de la pharmacopée tibétaine. Thèse de Doctorat, Unité d’Anthropologie et Adaptabilité Biologique, UMR 6578, CNRSUniversité de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille. Unpublished Conklin H. C., 1954. The relation of Hanunóo culture to the plant world. Thesis Anthropology , Yale University, USA. Das C., 1992. A Tibetan-English Dictionary. Book Faith India , Delhi. Dash B., 1994. Pharmacopoeia of Tibetan Medicine. Sri Satguru Publication, Delhi. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982. gSo ba rig pa’i bstan bcos sman bla’i dgongs rgyan rgyud bzhi’i gsal byed be daura sngon po’i malila ka. Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa (this text is known as Vaidurya sngon po). De’u dmar dge bshes bsTan ’dzin phun tshogs, 1994. Shel gong shel phreng. Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute, Dharamsala. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998. ’Khrungs dpe dri med shel gyi me long. Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing. Hara H., Williams L.H.J., 1979. An Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal. Trustees of British Museum (Natural History), London. ’Jam dpal rdo rje, 1971. An Illustrated Tibeto-Mongolian Materia Medica of Ayurveda . Lokesh Chandra (ed.), International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi. Karma chos ’phel, 1993. bDud rtsi sman gyi ’khrungs dpe legs bshad nor bu’i phreng mdzes. Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa. Krang dbyi sun (ed.), 1998. Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo. Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing.

90 TIBET JOURNAL Kunsang E. P., 1996. The Dharma Dictionary. Tibetan-English Dictionary of Buddhist Teachings & Practice. Rangjung Yeshe Translations & Publications, KathmanduBoulder. Lama Y.C., Ghimire S.K., Thomas Y.A., 2001. Medicinal Plants of Dolpo. Amchis’ Knowledge and Conservation. People and Plants Initiative, WWF Nepal Program, Kathmandu. Meyer F., 1983. Gso-ba rig-pa, Le système médical tibétain. C.N.R.S., Paris. Nadkarni K. M. (ed.), 1999. Indian Materia Medica . Popular Prakashan, Bombay. Parfionovitch Y., Gyurme D., Meyer F., 1992. Tibetan medical paintings, illustrations of the Blue Beryl of Sangye Gyamtso. Serindia Publications, London. Sharma B. D., Balakrishnan N. P., Rao R.R., and Hajra P.K., 1993. Flora of India. Volume 1. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. Wylie T. V., 1959. A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2: 261-67. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992. bDud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud . Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa (This text is commonly known as “rGyud bzhi”, “ The Four Tantras”). Zur mkhar ba mNyam nyid rdo rje, 1985. Bye ba ring bsrel. Tibet House, Delhi.

Principles and methods of assembling Tibetan medicaments Francesca Cardi INTRODUCTION According to the Tibetan science of healing ( gso ba rig pa)1 medicaments, along with diet and behaviour, play a relevant role in the cure of illnesses. Tibetan medicaments are nowadays employed in all Tibetan cultural regions and in many other countries where Tibetan medicine has spread. Notwithstanding the general interest of scholars, the public and pharmaceutical industry for traditional medicines and natural products, limited information is at present available on Tibetan pharmacology and on the medical practice that relates to medicament formulation and fabrication. Notably scientific studies aimed at understanding the nature and the functioning of Tibetan medicaments are rare. The extension of the area of study and the variability of the medical practice do not facilitate the task of scientists wishing to study these topics. In Tibetan medicine the term sman2 exhibits a few different meanings. It is commonly employed to designate any medicinal substance independently from its nature, medicinal preparations and, more in general, any other type of remedy. According to traditional doctors, the term sman points out to any substance that cures ( phen pa) and is beneficial to health and is given to the patient to relieve his sufferings. Thus it is opposed to whatever agent causing harm ( gnod pa) to the body. It is worth noting that the expression sman connotes a broader meaning amongst the Tibetan practitioners who, keeping on to practise this discipline according to the tradition, see medicine as strictly connected to the Buddhist doctrine and may also use religious rituals as remedies. According to the rGyud bzhi3, there are four types of therapeutic antagonists ( gnyen po): behaviour (spyod lam), diet ( zas tshul), medicaments ( sman), and external therapy (dpyad ), which includes treatments such as moxibustion ( me btsa’), bloodletting (gtar ), and fomentations ( lums). In the same text 4 medications are divided according to their potency into two groups of designated “pacificators” ( zhi pa) and “evacuators” ( sbyang ba). The former includes all medicinal preparations (pills, powders, decoctions, …) that will be described further on in this article, the latter includes purges ( bshal sman), emetics (skyugs sman), nasal medications ( sna sman), strong enemata ( ni ru ha) and mild enemata ( ’jam rtsi). Medicaments are prepared by mixing the different types of medicinal agents (of mineral, plant and animal origin) that compose Tibetan materia medica. Although they are mainly collected over the Tibetan plateau and Himalayan regions, several of them come from the tropical and sub-tropical regions of India, Nepal, and China. Tibetan traditional doctors reckon that any substance in the world, independently from its nature and origin, has the property of alleviating illnesses. According to the elemental theory of the matter 5, one of the main principles of the Tibetan medical science, all substances of the universe, either sentient or non-sentient, are composed of five fundamental elements, Earth ( sa), Water ( chu), Fire ( me), Wind ( rlung) and Space (nam mkha’), which are responsible of all their features and qualities. Particu larly the elemental constitution of a substance is connected to its property of curing a disease. Indeed Tibetan pharmacology exhibits sophisticated criteria of attribution of therapeutic properties to medicinal substances, which are based on the above theory.

92 THE TIBET JOURNAL The task of medicaments consists in maintaining and restoring the equilibrium within the body and between the body and the outer world. In Tibetan medicine great emphasis is attributed to medicament property of regulating the humoural 6 equilibrium through the intrinsic qualities of medicinal agents. According to Tibetan practitioners, medicinal substances are seldom effective when used alone and the best therapeutic efficacy is obtained by mixing several of them. However this process should not be seen as the simple combination of the ingredient s according to analogous pharmacological properties. A significant aspect of the fabrication consists in modulating the action and effectiveness of medicinal agents by adjusting their amounts and/or by adding other medicinal substances. The compounding of medicines is therefore a complex multi-step process carried out according to several criteria and usually based on a pre-existing therapeutic model. The result of the combination is a formula including different kinds of ingredients whose properties are variable owing to the necessity of coordinating the therapeutic action, equilibrating possible side effects, and rendering the medicine suitable to the patient. It is worth noting that, according to most practitioners, all treatments should be prescribed and even formulated, when possible, ad personam7. This article aims at examining medicaments with particular reference to the following points: the evaluation of the different types of medicaments and of the criteria upon which their assembling is based, the procedure of mixing the ingredients, and the functional groups of a medicinal formula. After assessing the general structure of medicaments, I evaluate their fabrication methods and their traditional utilisation. The second part of the article is devoted to examining the formulati on process. I have also tried to work out a medicament model that helps to explain the principles upon which the organisation of formula ingredients is based. The fieldwork has been carried out with traditional doctors from different Tibetan cultural regions and in particular with independent 8 practitioners who actually prepare medicaments9. The Four Tantras, its famous commentary The Blue Beryl, some modern formularies and pharmacopoeias 10 are the main reference sources that have been employed. As concerns the results, I would like to point out that the classification and role of the functional groups that compose medicaments, which have been dealt with in the section “The ingredient organisation”, originate from the examination of a relatively limited number of formulas, when compared to the many existing ones. Therefore from the examination of broader data other inferences and outcomes might arise. GENERAL FEATURES OF MEDICAMENTS Tibetan medicaments are described in different ways such as on the basis of their general features, method of preparation, main components, therapeuti c properties and administration. The enumeration and description of the medicament types proposed by Tibetan medical texts present some discrepancies. According to the rGyud bzhi11 and to its commentary Vaidurya sngon po12, there are ten different categories of compound medicines (sman sbyor gyi rigs): pills ( ril bu), powders ( phye ma), decoctions ( thang), concentrated medicines of type A 13 (lde gu), medicinal wines ( sman chang), medicinal butters (sman mar ), concentrated medicines of type B ( khan da), medicinal ashes ( thal sman), precious pills ( rin chen ril bu)14, and medicines from herbs ( sngo sman). Yet some recent medical publications describe fewer types. For example the volume edited

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by bSam gten15 does not mention medicinal ashes and medicinal wines, and precious medicines are dealt with in the section devoted to classifying preparation s on the basis of potency. A few modern formularies 16 mention only three-four types of preparations: pills, decoctions, powders, and concentrated medicines of type B. In The Four Tantras the description of the general therapeutic activity of each medicament type is provided 17. Thang, phye ma, ril bu, lde gu, and sman mar are general treatments for both hot and cold diseases; khan da, thal sman, and sman chang are respectively recommended for hot, cold and wind diseases. The remaining types of medicaments, rin po che and sngo sbyor , are cited in the rGyud bzhi as the “famous ones” (grags pa), owing to their efficacy in curing different kinds of diseases, including particular types as the ones caused by demons and malevolent spirits. As far as the category sngo sbyor (preparation of herbs) is concerned, it exclusively consists of herbaceous medicines ( sngo sman)18. Yet most informants have quoted the term sngo sbyor as not really indicating a type of medicament although it is ment ioned in the rGyud bzhi amongst the different categories of compound medicines. Few medicaments at present employed include herbaceous medicines only, which are usually mixed with other types of medicinal substances. In the rGyud bzhi and in the Vaidurya sngon po it is stated that the sngo sbyor is used when an easy-to-prepare medicament is needed and that this preparation is accessible to anyone, made of cheap ingredients, and easy to get. The sngo sbyor is ideally opposed to precious medicaments ( rin po che), which mainly wealthy people can afford. Literary sources also describe medicaments according to their specific potency ( nus pa) and the illnesses cured. The rGyud bzhi19 classifies illnesses in 404 different types. They are also separated into several groups according to different criteria. For example male (skyes pa nad ), women ( bud med nad ), and children ( byis pa nad ) diseases, geriatric diseases ( rgas pa nad ), humoural ( rlung, mkhris pa, bad kan ), poisoning (dug nad ), and infections ( rims nad ). Diseases are also classed according to the anatomical part where they manifest: for example upper body diseas es ( lus stod nad ), head diseases ( mgo nad ), liver diseases ( mchin pa’i nad ), heart diseases ( snying gi nad ), lungs diseases ( glo ba’i nad ). However informants have affirmed that disease categories may be reduced to 20-30 general types. Traditional doctors often employ the following two general categorisations. The former separates medicaments according to their hot or cold properties: hot medici nes cure cold diseases ( grang ba’i nad ) whereas cold medicines cure hot ones ( tsha ba’i nad ). The latter differentiates two categories: medicaments that cure chronic diseases (rnying nad ) and medicaments that cure acute diseases ( gsar nad ). According to several practitioners, the capacity of curing chronic diseases represents one of the most important features of Tibetan medicine. ACTION AND USE OF MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS In the introduction I have mentioned medicaments according to informants and medical literature. However only some of them are commonly employed by traditional doctors whereas the use of others is rare or has been apparently abandoned. The most commonly used medicaments are pills ( ril bu), powders ( phye ma), decoctions ( thang), medicinal ashes ( thal sman), and concentrated medicines of type B ( khan da). Why other medicaments are less employed? Which are the criteria of selection? Traditional doctors chose a specific therapy after attentively examining each case and notably taking into consideration several factors such as medicament potency and

94 THE TIBET JOURNAL efficacy, target type, patient condition, diet, habits, and local climate. Some aspects mainly related to manufacture and practical use of medicaments are also considered, for example the availability of the ingredients both in the wild and on the markets, their cost, the feasibility and the fabrication expenses of the medicine: some substances for example need an expensive purification process. Important issues are also how the medicine meets the patients’ preference, the results obtained during the therapy, and the possibility of easily managing the medicine as far as its administration and durability are concerned. In addition, when medicament action produces contraindications, they have to be administered to patients with particular attention. The choice of producing medicaments may also be influenced by local traditions and environmental conditions. For example cauterisation is frequently used by some doctors from the region of Ladakh and of the Litang County owing to the scarcity of medicinal substances in the area (Ladakh) and to local medical traditi ons (Ladakh and Litang). Medicinal pills and powders are the medicament most frequently employed by Tibetan traditional doctors. Both are described in medical texts and modern formularies as two distinct types of preparations, each one with its specific formulas. Yet, owing to the analogous therapeutic use and rather similar composition of some pill and powder formulas, the choice to fabricate one or the other depends on practical reasons. Interestingly, I have observed a few practitioners from Litang preparing a medicinal powder according to a pill formula. Some explained that they acted in this way to save time. Others alleged reasons related to pill potency, effectiveness, facility of being administrated, digested and assimilated, and in particular to the possible interference with the functions performed by the so-called “fire-heat of the stomach” ( pho ba’i me drod )20. The evaluation of these factors may lead practitioners to administer a formula in a different form from the standard one. According to most practi tioners, pills have a rough (rtsub)21 and direct ( rno) action on the body, which may represent a hindrance during some treatments. A too powerful and incisive action may have an effect on the whole body and particularly on the digestive system. That is why some doctors may chose not to process the finely grinded ingredients into a pill but prefer to administer them as a powder, claiming that in this way the medicine potency is less aggressive, its action is smooth ( ’jam) and it is more easily assimilated. Other informants affirm that when the ingredients are not finely grinded, medicinal powder nature is rough and they can be harmful to the body and particularly to the stomach. Decoctions (thang) are commonly administered to patients. Informants have reported that they are employed to cure various diseases, that their administration is easy, and that they do not interfere with the stomach functions having a gentle ( ’jam) nature. Decoctions are described according to their general action which is usually rapid ( myur ) and direct ( rno). Their classification is worked out according to the disease cured and to the specific action performed. Some decoctions collect ( sdud ) the disease in a certain part of the body clearly defining the target. Others have the property of ripening ( smin) the disease, which arises and clearly manifests its symptoms. Others have the property of dissociating (’byed ), destroying the disease with an action similar to breaking a rock into several pieces. Basically these three functions recall the natural disease progression : arising, development and withdrawal. Thus different thang may be used in succession during the medical treatment. Some medicaments have as specific use, for example medicinal ashes ( thal sman) and medicinal concentrates of type B ( khan da).


Medicinal ashes are prescribed to cure cold diseases, particularly of the digestive system, and to alleviate stomach pain. Disorders of the digestive system are quite frequent among local populations. They mainly originate from inappropriate diet and bad hygienic conditions, but are also caused by the extreme climate of these regions. Traditional doctors commonly respond to this necessity with two or three ready-to-use medicinal ashes preparations in their pharmacy. Khan da medications present some peculiarities. They are usually not administered solely to the patient, but they are mixed with other ingredients to fabricate a pill or a medicinal powder. In this case khan da is considered as a single ingredient and is added to a formula as other medicinal agents. Several medicinal recipes require to add medicinal substances that have undergone this processing. Khan da is also used as a diet complement and general tonic. Although my informant from Dhorpatan sometimes employed them, medicinal butters (sman mar ) and medicinal wines ( sman chang) are less used than all other preparations. Medicinal butters are generally prescribed to cure Wind imbalances, and in particular to stimulate sensory organs ( dbang po) and increase body vigour ( lus stobs). They are also employed as a topical treatment for skin diseases, in particular infections and insect bites. In this case a little quantity of old butter is mixed with a medicinal powd er to produce a cream that is applied to the skin. The administration of medicinal wines is particularly rigorous and usually connected to Wind diseases 22. This medicine cannot be administered to anyone owing to its important side effects. Another type of medicament that is nowadays rarely employed is the concentrate lde gu, prescribed to eradicate several forms of chronic diseases of Wind, Phlegm and Bile and in particular chronic fever ( rnying tshad ). The occasional utilisation seems to be related to the difficult fabrication procedure and specific features of this preparation. Practitioners have stated that this concentrate has an unpleasant taste and is therefore scarcely appreciated by the patients who often prefer not to assume it. Precious pills (rin chen ril bu) represent a case on its own. As I have reported in the above section, this medicament is renowned for its efficacy against a great number of complex illnesses (serious and compound diseases). The potency of the rin chen ril bu is linked to the presence of ingredients that belong to the precious medicines ( rin po che’i sman ), which are seen as exceptionally powerful both on the basis of pharmacological criteria and religious beliefs. Actually the administration of these remedies is frequently associated with religious rituals 23. Precious pills are employed to cure many different diseases and are commonly classified according to their specific target, function, and group of patients. For example, a precious pill is beneficial to elderly people, another cures eye diseases, and another has the properties of rejuvenating and giving longevity. It is commonly believed that precious pills are useful to revitalise and regenerate the body and produce long-lasting results. Despite their therapeutic relevance, precious pills are often omitted from the list that has been reported by the informants firstly because they are considered as belonging to the pill category and their fabrication process is in part analogous. Yet at present independent practitioners rarely manufacture precious pills because they include several expensive ingredients such as precious and semi-precious stones. In addition the fabrication process is often very complex, long and expensive, and some ingredients may need to be purified before the utilisation. The informants cons ider precious pills a high quality medicament.

96 THE TIBET JOURNAL Nowadays precious pills are industrially produced by the major medical centres in Tibetan Chinese Provinces, India and Nepal. I have noticed that only 5-6 types of these preparations are actually fabricated. Likewise other types of medicaments, they are traded in different regions and sold in pharmacies and dispensaries. Generally independent doctors purchase precious pills in the factories in order to sell them to patients in their own villages. Nevertheless in several Tibetan regions, owing to their high price, doctors moderately prescribe this medicament. THE MANUFACTURE OF MEDICINES The manufacturing process consists of several phases. Some are similar for every type of medicament whereas others are exclusive. The formulation, the collection of the ingredients, their drying, processing, and mixing are the main phases of the preparation for all types of medicaments. The collection and the drying are notably performed under strict guidelines. For example medicinal plants must be gathered according to the features of their growing site (including soil, aspect, altitude, presence of other plants, man and animals) and the functional time to exploit the substance. Plant processing is related to the part collected (such as roots, leaves, and flowers) and to the specific therapeutic use. For some medicinal substances such as poisonous medicinal plants (for example bong nga nag po, Aconitum spp.) and mineral substances (for example dngul chu, mercury) the manufacture includes a detoxification process which is peculiar for each case and may consists in discarding useless parts, thoroughly cleaning the drug and/or properly processing it (through physical and chemical treatment). The next phase of the manufacture consists in grinding and mixing the ingredients in order to produce the powder which is processed into different types of medicaments. Regarding the crushing process, the methods used are mainly mechanical. A mortar and a pestle or a little mill are used mainly by independent practitioners while in big medical centres modern machineries are diffused 24. The grade of refinement of the powder may vary according to the type of medicament. When medicinal pills are fabricated, the ingredients are commonly grinded into a fine powder. Differently, decoctions and medicinal powders are prepared from a roughly powdered mixture. The fabrication process goes on differently according to the type of medicament. Here follows its description for the most common of them. Medicinal powders and pills have a similar preparation method. The ingredients of plant origin are grinded together and the powder obtained is repeatedly sieved unt il the right consistency is obtained. The other ingredients are separately crushed. As far as phye ma is concerned, the refinement of the powder is sometimes adjusted according to the patient and his/her health, on the assumptio n that refined powders are assimilated more easily than rough ones although their action is also more incisive. As concerns pills, once all ingredients have been mixed and grinded, the powder has to be cooked in hot water (the time of cooking and the amount of water are variable) until a kind of paste is formed. At the end a supplementary substance is usually added to the recipe: the so-called “Horse of the medicine” ( sman rta)25, described as helper and vehicle for the medicine. Its aim consists in facilitating the amalgamation of the ingredients and the absorption of the medicine. Yet the Horse is not completely neutral to the action of the formula collaborating to its pharmacological activity. Tibetan pills are traditionally prepared by hand. They have a round shape, sometimes irregul ar, and hard texture, their colour may vary from grey to black and from reddish-brown to dark-brown. Size, varying approximately from 0,5 to 1 cm in diameter, normally depends


on potency. Thus pills whose potency is strong usually have a small size. They are dried over a tissue for several days (the exposition to the light is variable) and finally polished by rolling them over a cloth. As concerns pill dimensions, a few informants describe three categories that are associated with the size of some objects. The smallest pills are comparable to the excrements of the pica 26 (a bra). The medium size pills correspond to peas ( sran ma) and the biggest are like the head of femur ( ser ba rus). Pill size is also related to the presence of toxic ingredients. Small pills are less tolerated than medium size ones while bigger pills usually do not contain any potentially toxic substance. To conclude with this type of preparation, it is important to recall some more features that make pills the favourite medicament to traditional doctors: they are easy to administer, the dosage is set and their potency lasts more time than the one of other medicament types. As most informants have stated, pills may be utilised up to one or two years after their fabrication. Patients also prefer to take pills than other preparatio ns. Less durable than pills as far as their potency is concerned, medicinal powders must be carefully stored in a dry container and kept away from sunlight. Practitioners calculate the dosage with the aid of a spoon and the medicament is given to th e patients in small plastic bags or wrapped in a piece of paper. A label describing dosage and time of administration is usually inserted in the packet. Drawings are often used for uneducated patients. The procedure employed to prepare decoctions ( thang) is simple. Drugs are first roughly grinded and then mixed with water. After boiling the solution for a few minutes, drug deposits are discarded and the liquid left is drunk. The temperature to serve decoctions is regulated according to the type of disease to be cured. Particularly decoctions are administered hot against cold diseases and lukewarm against hot ones. Practitioners give decoctions to the patients as a powder. The patient has to boil it in water by himself according to the doctor’s instructions. Medicinal ashes ( thal sman) have the aspect of a grey and fine powder. They are obtained through the incineration of several medicinal substances, among which mineral ones are often included. Once separately crashed and reduced in size, the ingredients are mixed and accurately grinded. They are afterwards dropped in a large metal container that is hermetically covered and placed directly over the fire. The process consists in a slow consumption of the drugs by the action of the fire. The doctor periodically monitors the process to attain the right degree of incineration. Medicinal butters ( sman mar ) are obtained by mixing butter with several ingredients, mostly of plant origin. The result is a medicine which has the potency of herbs and butter at the same time. Two different medicinal butters are prepared. One is prescribed to cure cold diseases, the other to cure hot ones. The preparation process consists in moderately crushing the drugs and in pouring abundant water on them. The solution is boiled and during the cooking, whose time may vary according to the recipe, water is refilled several times. At the end of the cooking the solution is filt ered and some butter is added. The mixture is heated again over the fire. According to informants, when butter is not available, a different substance with similar qualities such as oil or fat may be used. The final product is a solid and mouldable paste that is prescribed in small doses similar to pills. Likewise other types of medicaments, medicinal butters are preserved in a dry and non-aerated place because humidity and air modify their properties.

98 THE TIBET JOURNAL The khan da or concentrate of type A is fabricated only with medicinal agents of plant origin. Instead of grinding them more or less finely as in previous recipes, plants are in this case cut in small pieces. In the different regions where the fieldwork has been carried out khan da are always prepared with one ingredient only. These preparations are obtained by boiling the drug in water for long time to concentrate the solution, thus the cooking process may last hours or days. During the process solid residues are constantly eliminated from the solution, which slowly changes its colour and consistency. When cooled off, the solution becomes solid. Some types of drugs, especially fruits and berries, undergo a preliminary process before the heating. They are pressed and squashed mechanically and/or by hand several times in order to collect their juice, which is later filtered. That is for example the case of star bu khan da, concentrated of seabuckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides subs. turkestanica) that is fabricated in Ladakh as well as in other Tibetan regions. The preparation is employed either alone or as an ingredient of other medicaments. THERAPY AND MEDICAMENTS Traditional doctors evaluate the quality of medicaments from the observation of their effectiveness when administered to patients. An important aspect regards the rapidity of the therapeutic action¯ medicament effectiveness is usually inversely proportional to its rapidity¯ and its suitability to each target. As reported in the section devoted to describing their general features, some medicaments, such as pills, have a more direct and incisive action than others, for example butter preparations and decoctions. Practitioners also consider the way medicines affect the body, the patient general health and how they interfere with the digestive process and with the stomach power. The presence of side effects is frequently regarded as an indicator of low quality. According to practitioners, the tolerance of the patient to the treatment is also related, besides potency, to the method of processing drugs during the different phases of the fabrication (crushing, cooking, drying) and to the way a medicine is conserved. However, the suitability of a medicine can be completely assessed only by matching it with the patient, his general health state, age, behaviour and gender. Patient diet and behaviour are seen as crucial factors during remedy administration because they may be either supporters of or antagonists to a disease. Informants have also stated that patients’ condition should be constantly monitored during the treatment, which may be modified if necessary. I would like to point out that some traditional doctors from different regions, in particular those in contact with foreigners interested in holistic medical systems and natural remedies, have affirmed that all Tibetan medicaments are side effects free. Yet this assertion has been probably made with the intention of increasing the reputation of Tibetan remedies. The therapy commonly includes different types of medicaments and treatments. It starts for example with a decoction, continues with a powder medicine and eventually with a pill. Some medicaments, such as thang, are often insufficient to completely eradicate a disease. In this case a supplementary treatment is required and anot her type of medicament (for example ril bu or phye ma ) is administered. Precious pills are prescribed for chronic and severe disease conditions and as a general panacea as well, but their high cost limits their use among the population. According to Tibetan medical theory, external treatments such as moxibustion, bloodletting and cauterisation have to be used only after pharmacological therapy.


Actually treatment have to be administered starting with the mildest ones and, only if really necessary, the strongest ones should be employed. In the rGyud bzhi 27 moxibustion, bloodletting and cauterisation are included among the so-called sbyang ba remedies, “those that remove”, which are opposed to the pacifying or zhi pa (such as pills and decoctions) remedies. Due to the possible risks of employing the sbyang ba treatments, their utilisation also depends on the patient condition. Yet in different regions such as the Litang County and Ladakh I have observed traditional doctors frequently administering external treatments instead of pharmacological ones and sometimes using them at the beginning of the therapy. The majority of doctors are aware of the risks that these therapies imply. However, they have good experience and familiarity with these techniques 28. When I enquired the informants about the recurrent utilisation of external treatments, some replied that one of the reasons of this habit is that pharmacological treatments take time to give a response and patients are often on the move. Nomads, who are regular patients of traditional doctors, often undertake long trips in order to be visited and cured, but they cannot settle in towns for long time. In some remote areas, such as in Ladakhi Changthang, the trend, as reported above, seems to be also linked to the scarcity of medicinal substances. FORMULATION AND FORMULAS The fabrication of remedies is often linked to education, economic, environmental and personal motivations that lead several practitioners to exclusively carry out the diagnosis and the distribution29 but not the manufacture of medicines, which are bought in medical centres. However a number of doctors, notably independent doctors that belong to a family lineage and have studied medicine with several masters, are still involved in the production of medicines. During my field research I have considered whether they also carry out medicine formulation. Most traditional Tibetan doctors who produce medicines on their own are nowadays rarely involved in their formulation and carry out only the assemblage of the ingredients. Only few learned doctors who have good knowledge of pharmacological theories are able, if necessary, to devise new medicinal formulas but they are not really familiar with this undertaking. The fabrication of medicines is commonly carried out in all the regions visited by taking as a reference the formulas reported in specific texts. 30 The formularies describe ingredients, their amounts, medicament pharmacological properties and dosage, but the procedures to make them are concise or omitted. Practitioners often know recipes by heart and they may not need to consult written sources. In addition, some formulas are passed down from master to disciple only through medical lineage and are not found in texts. Owing to the great extension of the area over which Tibetan medicine is practised, modifications and adaptations of medicinal formulas according to cultural and environmental conditions have occurred throughout the centuries. Medical schools, such as the major Byang lugs and Zur lugs from the XIV to the XVI Century, and local traditions have aroused, each one with possible peculiar identification of certain components of the materia medica, procedure of compounding remedies that may include substitutes and/or different ingredients. In the last few decades the Tibetan medical tradition has spread in many countries such as India, Europe and USA. Medical

100 THE TIBET JOURNAL education is provided by employing classical and modern medical texts and formularies31, which have been updated or published anew and include old and revisited formulas. The research also consisted in examining types and general features of form ulas that are commonly used by traditional doctors practising in different regions. Comparable data have been collected in medical centres and dispensaries. According to field data, three groups of medicinal preparations may be differentiated: -The first group consists of medicines having a simple formula that includes 3 to 10 ingredients. Powders and decoctions are recurrent. For example the preparation of Li shi sum thang (decoction 3 of Eugenia caryophyllata) that contains three ingredients only and is employed to cure hot diseases of the spleen ( mcher tshad ); another example is Ma nu bzhi thang (decoction 4 of Inula racemosa), which includes four ingredients and cures infectious diseases of hot type ( rims tshad ). -The second group consists of medicines with a substantial number of ingredients. It represents the most common type of medicament utilised by practitioners. Many pills are included in it. The ingredient number spans from 11 up to 25. For example th e two pills Tig ta nyer lnga (Swertia chyrayita 25), which is employed to cure Bile diseases (mkhris nad ), and Ga bur nyer lnga ( Cinnamomum camphora 25), which cures infectious diseases of hot type ( rims tshad ). -The third group of medicines consists of formulas with more than 30 ingredients. Some of them have up to eighty different substances. Precious pills ( rin chen ril bu) are included in this group. Medicaments that are most commonly found in clinics and dispensaries usually include an important number of ingredients. Yet those that contain more than 10 ingredients are difficult to fabricate for independent traditional doctors, especially when considering that several medicinal substances are often lacking. According to practitioners the complexity of a formula usually guarantees its therapeutic effect. Notably they affirm that to adjust and improve medicine action and effectiveness the adding of several ingredients is often required. Yet a formula having numerous ingredients that are not properly combined will not be effective. The Tibetan pharmacological theory corroborates this assessment by saying that the potency of medicinal preparations ( sman sbyor gyi nus pa ) is stronger than the one of simple substances. 32 An informant from the region of Chamdo has explained this concept in a typical metaphorical way: “as a corps composed by a few soldiers has poor chances of winning against a numerous enemy, a big division has more chances to beat the enemy and succeed.” The big division of soldiers represents the medicine in its complexity which fights against the disease. 33 In contrast with the trend in most of the areas visited, few doctors sometimes prefer to employ medicaments that consists of three to five ingredients. I have observed this practice particularly in Ladakh where it seems to be linked to regional and familial traditions. I point out that this difference does not imply a lack of knowledge because practitioners are generally able to fabricate and use more elaborated medicines too. Sometimes the choice to fabricate simple medicines is influenced by the availabili ty of medicinal substances in the region as well as to practical problems related to their supplying. Yet as concerns the concept of medicinal preparation, all informants agree on mixing several ingredients to form a therapeutic unit within which every ingredient contributes with its potency.

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In the following section I will focus on the methods of mixing the ingredients and on the theory upon which the internal organisation of a medicine is based. I will also try to delineate medicament general structure by describing the functional units that compose it. THE INGREDIENT ORGANISATION The internal organisation system of medicaments is not a usual topic of conversation among traditional doctors who have little familiarity with the compounding of medicaments. In fact they tend to manufacture medicines quite mechanically according to recipes and methods of drug processing and do not consider pharmacological parameters such as taste and potency. Moreover, as I have pointed out in a previous section, a relevant number of doctors met in the different regions neither carry out the formulation of medicines nor their fabrication. I would like to stress that none of the informants has deliberately explained the criteria upon which the medicament assemblage is based. Only few and highly learned practitioners who are also skilled at teaching have collaborated and helped me to outline a general model of medicament and to define the fundamentals of its synthesis. This medicament model only helps in the comprehension of the formulation criteria, it is not employed by practitioners during the fabrication of remedies, it cannot be applied to all medicaments and may vary according to doctor’s education and experience. The results obtained are also based on the translation of a short fragment of the rGyud bzhi and its commentary Vaidurya sngon po, but in particular arise from the analysis of some formulas. 34 a) The general structure of medicaments I would like to point out that fundamental medical texts such as the rGyud bzhi35 do not give in-depth explanations of medicament structure and compounding, and of the significance of ingredient subdivisions. The method of assembling medicinal substances is illustrated in the chapter of The Blue Beryl on medicinal herbs preparations ( sngo sbyor )36. However the application of a similar model to different types of medicaments is not clearly stated and this subject is not mentioned any further in the text. As reported by several informants, to prepare a medicine firstly consists in coordinating the activity of all ingredients. In a formula several substances are therefore combined in small Units or groups of ingredients. The action of the medicine results from the sum of the actions exerted by the different Units, whose function s are always coordinated on the basis of a specific therapeutic goal. Each Unit contains substances that usually produce similar or correlated therapeutic effects towards a specific target. Unit ingredients may also direct their action on several targets and carry out different tasks. The targets can be connected in physiological terms or to disease progression. The study of the formulas in collaboration with Tibetan doctors has shown the existence of a hierarchical organisation of the ingredients and more precisely of the different Units that compose the medicament. The following designations are used to identify the groups of substances included in the medicine: rgyal po (King) , rgyal mo (Queen) , blon po (Minister) , and dmag mi (Soldiers). The last Unit is also designated mi dmangs and ’bangs (Servants). The utilisation of these expressions is helpful to describe the Unit function and significance and it emphasises the predominance of certain groups on the others.

102 THE TIBET JOURNAL The King’s potency and therapeutic action usually coincide with the principal function of the preparation. This Unit is commonly composed of a single and occasionally of two or three substances. As concerns the function of the Queen, it normally consists in assisting and emphasising the one of the King. Yet the Queen may be absent when the King’s therapeutic properties are strong enough to counteract the disease. The Queen is often composed of one, two or three substances that work in synergy having the same therapeutic properties and action. Although the Queen’s function is commonly similar or strictly related to the King’s one, it may sometimes be directed towards another therapeutic target in a different part of the body. Another task of the Queen may consist in alleviating secondary symptoms. Differently the Minister often consists of several substances which perform multiple tasks and its function does not usually correspond to the one of the King. Actually the designation Minister connotes a unit that, although subordinate to the King, performs its action quite independently from it, for example curing collateral symptoms and enhancing body health (by acting on the three humours). The three Units described to this point represent the crucial components of most formulas. Yet also the other substances that are added are absolutely important and compulsory for remedy effectiveness. The next Unit is named, as shown above, either Soldiers or Servants (both designations are equally employed). It includes several medicinal substances and represents the majority of formula components. Its task is considered complementary to the one of the main Units, particularly as far as counteracting side effects is concerned. Practitioners have frequently omitted to described Soldiers in detail because the group is composed of a relevant number of substances which perform various functions and focus on many targets. Ingredients with similar therapeutic properties work in collaboration by joining their potency to cure different aspects and symptoms of the disease. In this case several substances work on the same organ or the same part o f the body producing a massive action. Yet all Soldiers’ action must be synergetic and well coordinated. Units differ in structure and way of functioning. The King and the Queen (and seldom the Minister) commonly consist of a single ingredient and sometimes of few ingredients that share a similar potency and therapeutic properties. Differently Soldiers (always) and Minister (often) consist of many ingredients that operate in teamwork. The ingredients do not necessarily perform the same functions, but their overall action is correlated. It is worth noting that, according to the complexity of the formula, some medicaments do not include all the Units above described. The description of a medicinal formula is not complete without mentioning the last category of ingredients: medicinal Horse ( rta sman). It consists of one substance whose action is not properly therapeutic but supportive. Its aim is to convey the medicine throughout the body and to help the assimilation. Yet the task of the horse is not completely independent from the therapeutic action of the medicine and its choice is commonly related to medicament nature (hot or cold), to the disease cured and, if necessary, to the specific type of preparation. This substance should not negatively affect medicine therapeutic action as well. The Horse is selected according to the humour imbalance: molasses ( bu ram) is used to cure cold Wind ( grang rlung) diseases; sugar (ka ra)37 to cure Bile (especially khrag mkhris pa, Bile and blood) diseases, which are hot; honey ( sbrang rtsi) is mainly utilised for Phlegm ( Bad kan) and chu ser 38 diseases.


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Hot and cold water, according to the disease cured, are considered good substitutes for the above substances. It is interesting to observe that the author of the rGyud bzhi describes the three Horses after enumerating the categories of the materia medica39. Yet their task is not explained as well as the one of the other Units. Medicaments frequently include other fixed groups of ingredients which are integrated in the Units, in particular among Minister and Soldiers. I have designated them “functional groups”. They will be dealt with further on in this section. Neither Units nor functional groups are reported in the formularies except for the Horse that is mentioned at the end of the formula ingredient list. b) The compounding of the ingredients. A few general guidelines and principles allow the practitioner to appropriately mix the ingredients. Ingredients are mixed according to their taste ( ro), post-digestive taste ( zhu rjes )40 and potency ( nus pa)41, the fundamental parameters of Tibetan pharmacology, which indicate specific therapeutic properties. The key steps of the sman sbyor ba’i thab, “the way of mixing medicinal substances”, are the nus sbyor and the ro sbyor , the combination of potencies and tastes. Both parameters are used to characterise medicinal substances, which present at least one of the six basic tastes ( mngar mo, sweet; kha ba, astringent; tsha ba, hot; lan tshwa ba, salty; skyur mo, sour; bska ba, bitter) and one of the eight potencies ( lci, heavy; snum, oily; bsil, cool; rtul, blunt; yang, light; rtsub, rough; tsha, hot; rno, sharp). Tastes may be combined in pairs, triplets, quartets for a total of 63 different combinations ( ro sdebs). It is therefore possible to fabricate a medicine that presents specific tastes and post-digestive tastes, and whose potency can be easily calculated on the basis of the potencies of single ingredients. Similar potencies are summed up while opposite potencies annul each other, for example hot ( tsha) and cold (grang). An important aspect of the compounding process is named ’jam btsal ba, “to make smooth”. It consists in moderating and harmonizing the action of the ingredients and implies the adding of medicinal agents that present smooth ( ’jam po) qualities to the formula. The term “smooth” does not refer to the substance physical features but t o the action produced on the medicine. An ideal medicament has to be both effective and gentle (not rough) on the organism and should not engender over-sensitivity and/or side effects. The procedure of assembling the ingredients in a “smooth way” is carried out according to different methods. In a first case one or more medicinal agent s are added to the formula to support the therapeutic action on an organ or a part of the body that are affected by the disease. This process, which is called kha ’dzin byed pa (to assist, to govern), is employed in the case of hot/cold/lung diseases and also diseases such as chu ser and infections ( gnyan srin). Among the organs that may be assisted there are the five solid organs ( don lnga)42; the six hollow organs ( snod drug)43, the five sensory organs (dbang po lnga)44, and the blood ( khrag). The presence of functional groups (introduced in this section) is strictly connected to this phase of the processing. Practitioners identify several functional groups 45 which are usually composed of three-six medicinal agents. Their therapeutic action may be either specific or directed towards different targets.

104 THE TIBET JOURNAL Here follows the most common among them: ’bras bu gsum, “the three fruits”, which includes the following three medicinal substances: a ru ra (Terminalia chebula) , ba ru ra (Terminalia bellerica) , and skyu ru ra (Phyllantus emblica). The task of “the three fruits” is to equilibrate the three humours. It is carried out by the simultaneous activity of the three components, which consists in curing Phlegm, Bile, Wind and blood diseases. This group is recurrent in several formulas 46 and the informants have judged it very positively in terms of therapeutic effectiveness. As concerns the five vital organs, the following six substances called bzang po drug, “the six excellent ones” are added to support their function: dzwa ti ( Myristica fragrans) for heart, cu gang ( Bambusa textilis ) for lung, gur gum (Crocus sativus) for liver, sug smel ( Elettaria cardamomum) for kidney, and ka ko la ( Amomum subulatum) for spleen. The function of blood vessels and nerves is supported by using li shi ( Eugenia aromatica). To support the action of the medicine while curing the organs of sense mdung rtse smug po (Goethitum) is added for sight; ru rta ( Jurinea souliei/Saussurea yakla) and a ru ra (Terminalia chebula ) for hearing; sug pa ( Melandrium glandulosum/ Silene sp.) for smell; dbang po lag pa (Gymnadenia latifolia) and sle tres (Tinospora cordifolia) for the limbs; sbal nag lce (frog tongue) and spyang ki lce (wolf tongue) for taste. To direct the action of the medicine against chu ser diseases three medicinal substances are added: so ma ra dza ( Abelmoschus moschatus), thal ka rdo rje (Cassia tora) and phur dkar ( Micromeria barosma). These three medicinal plants are named chu ser sman gsum (the three medicines for chu ser ). In the case of infectious diseases gla rtsi (musk from Moschus spp.) and gu gul (Commiphora mukul) are added. It is also relevant to point out that the mixing of numerous medicinal agents may generate a medicine that is not harmonious and whose action causes imbalances in the bodily equilibrium thus producing side effects. They manifest as the alteration and weakening of the general condition of the body, as an imbalance of the humour Wind, vital breath, stomach power, body strength and temperature or as disorders of the seven constituents of the body 47. According to practitioners side effects are caused for example by herbaceous medicines 48. This leads to a third method of combining the ingredients, named gnyen po (antagonist), whose function is to counteract/moderate the potency of the medicine, increase its smoothness and thus enhance its therapeutic action. In this case a new ingredient, an antagonist, is added to the formula. For example, according to the nature of side effects, the adding of the following ingredients is suggested: old molasses ( bu rnying) and meat ( sha) to control Wind imbalances; pi pi ling (Piper longum) and se ’bru (Punica granatum) to increase stomach heat; a ru ra (Terminalia chebula) to increase body power. These three substances are commonly mixed all together in several formulas. CONCLUSION Field data have shown that in Tibetan therapy the role of medicinal preparations is important. Except for few regional/local cases, medicaments are in general homogenously employed in all the different regions visited. Among the different types of medicaments described, some (such as pills, powders, and decoctions) are commonly employed by independent practitioners while others (such as concentrate of type A, butter medicines, and medicinal wines) are nowadays less recurring.


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Tibetan formulas exhibit a complex internal organisation and include a relevant number of ingredients of different origin whose assemblage is based on defined criteria. In particular I have identified two types of ingredient groups: “Units” and “functional groups”, which have particular functions and are responsible of medicament therapeutic properties. Although pharmacological principles should be taken into account during medicament formulation, doctors’ activity is often limited to the simple application of pre-existing formulas that are known by heart or listed in the formularies. The comparison of the knowledge of practitioners from different regions has shown that a limited number of doctors are skilled in the formulation while many do not distinguish the role of the different groups of ingredients and are not able to describe neither the method of compounding nor the general pharmacological features of the medicines. Only few erudite masters are acquainted with the procedure of assembli ng the drugs and can explain how the ingredients of the formula are organised. This seems to be also related to the evolution of the medical knowledge. In several modern medical schools (in R.P.C. and in India) the training has been simplified. Many new doctors are not familiar with the manufacture of medicaments owing to the standardisation and industrialisation of drug processing, and to the specialisation of practitioners in different medical professions. Some disparities in the utilisation of medicaments are probably also connected to these recent transformations of Tibetan medicine To conclude I point out that the practice of independent traditional doctors is hindered by several factors such as the high cost of drugs, their availability, and the competition of big medical centres that produce medicines by employing highly productive and sophisticated industrial methods. Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7.

Tibetan terms are given according to the Wylie (1959) system of transliteration (minus the hyphen in between syllables). Kunsang (1996) proposes the following meaning for the term sman: herbal, medicine, remedy. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992. Chapter 21, II Tantra: 77. Ibidem. This cosmological theory of Indian origin arrived in Tibet through Buddhism and its related disciplines such as medicine from t he VII century onwards. The three humours, Wind (rlung), Bile (mkhris pa) and Phlegm (bad kan), are responsible of the functions of the body and, when balanced, they determine and sustain its health. Their functions are explained in terms of intrinsic qualities such as hot, cold, heavy, light, sharp, and blunt, all determined by their elemental composition. Among them the hot and the cold qualities are the most i mportant. So far, the Bile is hot, the Phlegm is cold and the Wind is either hot or cold. The humour increases in the body when one of its qualities meets an identical quality either in the environment or i n the season or in man behaviour and diet. On the contrary, the humour is decreased when one of its qualities meets an opposite one. Humours may increase or decrease also when influenced by evil spirits and by the karma related to past lives. When a humour, influenced by the above conditions, is not any more balanced, a disease arises. Illnesses are also caused by the simultaneous imbalance of two or three humours. Besides medicaments practitioners frequently prescribe a specific diet and recommend an appropriate behaviour.

106 THE TIBET JOURNAL 8.

9.

10.

11. 12. 13.

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22. 23.

24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

The research has also concerned the medical centres of different Tibetan regions. Nevertheless, the results reported in this article mainly relate to the practice of independent doctors and not of the ones that operate in those institutions. The data have been obtained during a research project conducted by the author from 1998 to 2002 in different Tibetan regions: the Litang County (Sichuan, China), the region of Baragaon (Mustang District, Central Nepal), Dhorpatan (Baglung District, Central Nepal), and Ladakh (Jammu & Kashmir, India). Medicinal plant samples gathered on the field have been identified and have been deposited at the Herbarium of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris, France. I would like to thank professor J. F. Dobremez (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, Université de Savoie, France) for collaborating in the identification of some specimens from Nepal. Participant observation and open-ended conversations have been mostly used as methods of investigation. Karma chos ’phel, 1993; dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998. The medicinal substance identification according to modern science presented in this article has been made, besides referring to the specimes collected during fieldwork, on the basis of these texts. A description of medicaments is presented in the rGyud bzhi (g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992: 572-608) in the 3 - 12 Chapters of the Fourth Tantra. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982. IV Tantra, Chapter 3-12: 1235-1304. In the case of concentrated medicines, lde gu and khan da, the letters A and B have been added to differentiate the two types of medicaments. The attribution of these designations is a personal choice and they do not appear in the literature. This category of medicines is quoted in the rGyud bzhi with the name of rin po che (the precious). Informants usually designate this category rin chen ril bu (precious pills). bSam gten, 1987. For example, sMan sbyor legs bsgrigs yang gsal sgron me zhes bya ba bzhugs so (Thub pa tshe ring , 1992). g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992, IV Tantra, Chapters 3 – 12: 572-608. The term sngo sman is used to designate both a category of medicinal substances (herbaceous medicines) and a category of medicinal preparations (medicines from herbs). g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992, II Tantra, Chapter 12: 46. The fire heat of the stomach or digestive fire heat (me drod ) is located in the stomach and is responsible of food digestion. It also plays a relevant task as far as metabolic transformations are concerned, being at the origin of the metabolic chain that produces the seven bodily tissues. The term rtsub connotes a medicine which has a strong and heavy action. A type of disease that is cured with medicinal wine is for example the irritability of aged people. Notwithstanding the recent transformations of Tibetan medicine, the practice of traditional doctors is commonly connected to Buddhist religious concepts. The accomplishment of several tasks, as medicament manufacture, may be associated with rituals, gestures, and prayers. It is worth noting that some learned practitioners criticise the remedies manufactured with the aid of new machines in the modern institutes. They affirm that the procedure is not the most appropriate to get powerful medicines and that modern technology may negatively affect medicament potency. See also the section “The ingredient organisation”, where the three types of medicinal horse are described in detail. The pica is a rodent (Ochotona spp.) that lives in Himalayan regions and Tibet. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992, II Tantra, Chapter 21: 77. Cauterisation and bloodletting have to be administered exclusively to cure particular types of diseases, otherwise serious side effects may arise. See Cardi, 2005: 21-29. bSam gten, 1987; Thub pa tshe ring, 1992.


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31. Among these: sMan sbyor legs bsgrigs yang gsal sgron me zhes bya ba bzhugs so (Thub pa tshe ring , 1992), gSo rig zin tig gces bsdus, (Yon tan rgya mtsho , 1976), and rGyal yons bod lugs gso rig ’bring rim slob gran’i tshod blta’i slob deb, (bSam gten , 1987). 32. According to the rGyud bzhi, potency prevails over taste, post-digestive taste prevails over potency, and medicaments (sman sbyor ) overcome all of them. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992. Second Tantra, Chapter 20: 76-77. 33. As it will be shown further on in the article, similar metaphorical correspondences as the one reported to describe the therapeutic effect of the medicine, are also employed to connote the hierarchical organisation of the ingredients of the formula. See the section: “The ingredient organisation”. 34. The formulas that have been employed to delineate a general model of medicament are reported in my Ph. D. dissertation where I have described several of them in detail and explained the role of each ingredient. See Cardi, 2004: 303-320. 35. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992. II Tantra, Chapter 21: 76-77. 36. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982. IV Tantra, Chapter 12: 1295-1304.. 37. In Tibetan medicine Sugar is employed in several forms and types. Among them, there are for example phye ma ka ra and shel ka ra, respectively sugar powder and crystal sugar. 38. Chu ser diseases (“yellow water”) are “characterised by small, flat pimples, itching, swelling of various parts of the body, dark and rough skin, loss of hair and eyebrows.” (Drungtso & Drungtso, 2005: 135) Chu ser diseases consist of several types of health problems often connected to the accumulation of interstitial and synovial liquids in several parts of the body. 39. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po , 1992, Second Tantra, Chapter 20: 75. 40. The three post-digestive tastes arise after the digestion of a substance and depend on its taste. Particularly, the post-digestion of sweet and salty tastes is sweet, the post-digestion of sour is sour. The post-digestion of bitter, hot, and astringent is bitter. 41. The term “potency” (nus pa) points out to the action that a substance originates through its features and qualities. In Tibetan medicine this expression designates both therapeutic properties or qualities (the eight nus pa) of medicinal substances and their therapeutic effect. 42. The five solid organs are: the heart (snying), the lungs (glo ba), the liver (mchin pa), the kidney (mkhal ma ), and the spleen (mcher pa). 43. The six hollow organs are: the stomach ( pho ba ), the gall-bladder (mkhris pa), the small intestine (rgyu ma), the large intestine (long ga), the urinary bladder (lgang ba), and the reproductive fluids (bsam se’u). 44. The five organs of sense are: eyes (mig ), rna ba (ears), sna (nose), lus (body), lce (lingua). 45. In this section I have described some of the existing functional groups used in medicament formulation. 46. See Cardi, 2004: 228-263. 47. The seven constituents of the body are: nourishment (dangs ma), blood (khrag), flesh (sha), fat (tshil), bones (rus), marrow (rkang), and regenerative essence/fluids (khu ba). 48. Medicinal substances that compose the Tibetan materia medica are separated into several categories. Among these, plants categories are devised on the basis of the following criteria: plant morphological, biological, ecological features, and therapeutic properties. Herbaceous medicines are included in the categories of the materia medica named thang sman (medicines of the plains) and sngo sman (herbaceous medicines) (De’u dmar dge bshes bstan ’dzin phun tshogs, 1994: 74-75). It is worth noting that a modern trend consists in grouping together thang sman, and sngo sman. Nowadays several practitioners and modern texts include them in a single group named sngo ldum sman. See Cardi, 2004: 31-75.

108 THE TIBET JOURNAL Bibliography Boesi A., Cardi F., 2006. Tibetan Herbal Medicine: Classification and Utilization of Natural Products Used as Materia Medica in Tibetan Traditional Medicine. Herbalgram (in press). Cardi F., 2004. De l’approvisionnement des substances médicinales à la production des médicaments : l’évolution contemporaine de la pharmacopée tibétaine. Thèse de Doctorat, Unité d’Anthropologie et Adaptabilité Biologique, UMR 6578, CNRS-Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille . Unpublished Cardi F. 2005. Evolution of Tibetan medical knowledge in the socio-economic context: the exploitation of medicinal plants among traditional doctors. In: A. Boesi & F. Cardi (eds.). Wildlife and plants in traditional and modern Tibet: conceptions, exploitation, and conservation. Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano , 33 (1): 19-32. sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1982. gSo ba rig pa’i bstan bcos sman bla’i dgongs rgyan rgyud bzhi’i gsal byed be daura sngon po’i malila ka. Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa (this text is known as Vaidurya sngon po). De’u dmar dge bshes bstan ’dzin phun tshogs, 1994. Shel gong shel phreng. Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute, Dharamsala. Drungtso & Drungtso, 2005. Tibetan-English Dictionary of Tibetan Medicine and Astrology. Drungtso Publication: 135. dGa’ ba’i rdo rje, 1998. ’Khrungs dpe dri med shel gyi me long. Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing. Karma chos ’phel, 1993. bDud rtsi sman gyi ’khrungs dpe legs bshad nor bu’i phreng mdzes. Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa. Kunsang E. P., 1996. The Dharma Dictionary. Tibetan-English Dictionary of Buddhist Teachings & Practice. Rangjung Yeshe Translations & Publications, Kathmandu-Boulder. bSam gten, 1987. rGyal yongs bod lugs gso rig ’bring rim slob grwa’i tshod blta’i slob deb. mTsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang. Thub pa tshe ring, 1992. sMan sbyor legs bsgrigs yang gsal sgron me zhes bya ba bzhugs so. dkon mchog ’phrin las. Kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang. Wylie T. V., 1959. A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2: 261-67. Yon tan rgya mtsho, 1976. gSo rig zin tig gces bsdus . mTsho sngon mi dmangs dpe skrun khang. g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po, 1992. bDud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud. Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa (This text is commonly known as “rGyud bzhi”, “The Four Tantras”).

Nyes pa: A brief review of its English translation* Yonten Gyatso Actually there is not much room left to discuss about how to translate the term nyes pa1 into English, as it has already been translated as humor and has become a standard at least in terms of current translation practice. Everyone¯ including Tibetan doctors and scholars, seems to follow the trend. It may, however, be wrong to assume that these doctors and scholars, by mere subscribing to this translation practice, actually do or do not agree with the equivalence of the two terms. There are factors other than one’s intellectual conviction, which are based on practicality and convenience that decide the choice of terms in their translation or discourse. There is also a section of Tibetan-Tibetan doctors, who seem to be uncomfortable with the idea of translating important terms such as nyes pa, rlung, mkhris pa, bad kan etc. into English. They are skeptical and find it hard to believe that English words such as humor can convey faithfully all the meanings of its Tibetan original. The opinions of this group, however, are not articulated into any formal means of expression, their concern is genuine and therefore needs to be addressed. So, on the issue of translation of nyes pa as humor, we have on the one hand a popular trend that everyone follows for one reason or the other and on the other a lingering question of whether the translation is appropriate or not. And the fact that it has not been addressed adequately as it deserves, it is important to examine if this translation is actually faithful or not. Let us start this examination by trying to trace how this trend actually came about. The earliest publication known, to me at least, in the Western language dealing with Tibetan medicine is the article written in English by Alexander Csoma de Körös (1790-1842), which appeared in 1835 in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 2 The article is a translation of manuscript prepared for the author by a “Lama” introducing Tibetan medicine by enumerating the content of rGyud bzhi, the fundamental text for Tibetan medicine. 3 In that article the Tibetan term nyes pa is translated as humor which makes this article, according to my knowledge, the first to use the English term humor for nyes pa.4 Since there is no additional note or remark by the author regarding the use of the term humor, it is not explicitly clear as to why and on what basis he chose to use this term, which is a technical term with specific meaning embedded in it in old Western medicine as is the term nyes pa in Tibetan medicine. It makes one wonder why didn’t he, being the first to translate the term nyes pa into English, opt for a more cautious and culture- sensitive approach, such as: transliteration, literal translation, or use the Ayurvedic term dor a from which the Tibetan term was originally translated literally.

*

This paper was prepared to be presented at the Second International Congress on Tibetan Medicine held in 2003 in DC, where the author was initially invited. The invitation was later withdrawn due to some budgetary problem. I sincerely thank my wife, Kathy Rugh, with whose full support I have been able to engage in research and writing.

110 TIBET JOURNAL Perhaps the answer lies in the qualification of the author to translate Tibetan medicine. It is very unlikely, as can be seen from the depth of the article prepared for him by the lama, that he was exposed to all the complexities of the meaning of this Tibetan technical term nyes pa, at least at the time of translation. Moreover, Csoma de Körös, although unquestionably a great scholar in the vast field of Tibetological studies, was strictly speaking, a non-specialist as far as Tibetan medicine is concerned. So, at this point we can say on the basis of above information that the Tibetan medical term nyes pa was first translated by a Tibetologist, who is not a specialist in Tibetan medicine, and whose translation approach for this particular term seems to be one of matching words from one culture with the other on the basis of resemblance. Whether the two terms resemble enough to qualify to represent one another, or whether “humor” is a good translation or mistranslation, is a different question but obviously an important issue to resolve. But in the meantime, to trace the evolution of this translation trend, it is important to recognize the fact that despite the accuracy and validity of his translation, the English term humor served as an easy way to render the Tibetan term nyes pa especially during 19th and early 20th century when the access to Tibetan medical knowledge was very limited. Besides, it is an impressively attractive rendering coming from a well-respected scholar. So it has been adopted by all the scholars and translators, many of whom were Tibetologists rather than Tibetan medical specialists, and Tibetan medicine was not their primary focus in their writings. But repeated use and increasing number of people who use the term humor for Tibetan nyes pa have gradually set the trend that is now transformed into what is considered as standard translation. So, in my view, this translation trend is very much a result based primarily on popular use. Before we move on to the issue of translation, I would like to discuss briefly about my earlier comment on Csoma de Körös’s translation approach. His approach of matching word from one culture with another on the basis of resembl ance should be seen from the point of view of what I call primitive notion of translation where immediate goal of presenting a text from one language into another is the only purpose of translation. In this type of translation, translator’s search for equivalents (words that match) in the target language becomes the only technique to fulfill its only purpose¯ to replace the source language. This primitive notion of translation ignores other issues and concerns. To hold such a notion for translation is understandable and natural, especially in the early period of translation when translation of any field (Tibetan medicine in this case) is still in the process of development, because the very notion we just described is actually what the word translation literally means. However, this notion does not hold good for long. Because as soon as more and more information emerge upon closer look at the cultures and other specifics of both the source and the target languages, it becomes clear that terminologies, especially t hose representing ideas, have developed in their own cultural environments, and therefore there is no overlapping equivalent words of such kind between two independently developed cultures. So, people who are involved in translation of ancient traditional medical literatures have come to realize that assigning English equivalent terms is not always the justifiable thing to do in translation. They found out that techniques such as literal translation and even not translating in some cases are more justifiable approach. 5 In other words, translation should be seen as a mean rather than a purpose. Translation

NYES PA: A BRIEF REVIEW ... 111

is used to serve its purpose, which is to transfer or convey knowledge from one language to another. Now let us turn to the question of whether the term humor is appropriate or not for Tibetan nyes pa. In order to examine the appropriateness of this translation we have to find out how accurate or faithful is this term humor as translation for nyes pa. In the case of this particular term, given the approach of its first translator and the fact that both the terms are technical terms in their own medical traditions with their own technical meanings in their respective systems, this would mean to measure how much do the two terms resemble each other. So, let us first try to see what each term means in their respective systems and then try to find out if they resemble. The term humor of ancient and medieval Western medicine means fluid or moisture, and is derived from the Latin word humor and khymos (English derivative chyme) of Greek. 6 In ancient and medieval Western medicine there are four humors. They are: blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm, also true to the literal meaning of the term, as they are all considered as fluids. Whereas the Tibetan term nyes pa literally means fault, defect, punishment and bad. The term nyes pa that we find in Tibetan medical texts in connection with its three referents, rlung (wind), mkhris pa (bile), and bad kan (phlegm), is a medical term, and should be treated so. In other words, nyes pa, as a medical term, denotes the three referents. Therefore the medical term nyes pa is a collective name or term for rlung, mkhris pa and bad kan. Medical meaning of nyes pa should therefore be sought from the meanings of the three referents it stands for, and the meanings of which are wide in range and multi-faceted. So, according to various data in rGyud bzhi, the diverse meanings of nyes pa as a medical term can be classified into four: 1) disease, 2) cause of disease, 3) force or energy with physiological functions, 4) gross and subtle component of our body. According to Tibetan medicine, the disturbed state of three nyes pas manifest themselves as diseases, thus portraying the phenomenon of disease as a fault or defect in undisturbed or balanced state of nyes pa. Therefore in this metaphor, the vernacular nyes pa connotes the first medical meaning, disease, of the technical nyes pa. However, the other three meanings do not have any link to the literary meaning of nyes pa. So, nyes pa is both a vernacular and a technical term with two very distinct sets of meanings. It should also be mentioned that there are instances even in rGyud bzhi where nyes pa is used as a vernacular word with its literal meaning fault or defect, and with no medical connotation. 7 Now, do the two terms (nyes pa and humor) resemble each other? I think the answer is yes¯ and no. Yes, because they do resemble each other in some sense, albeit in a very general way. Both are necessary components present in our bodies, as well as potential causes of disease. They both mean disease (at least nyes pa does). These two general resemblances, although not many, are significant as they are the main meanings associated with the two terms. No, because we do not find any more resemblance apart from the two already mentioned. Furthermore the ones that resemble at the general level show differences at specific level. For example, humor has four referents where as nyes pa has three, and all four humors are considered as fluids where as three nyes pas are not. Since the publication of Csoma de Körös’s article in 1835, a fairly significant number of books and articles on Tibetan medicine have been published in different languages. 8 As far as I know, there is no single paper devoted to discuss the issue of translation

112 TIBET JOURNAL of nyes pa and its three referents, although these are some of the most important terms in Tibetan medicine. A very few scholars have touched on this issue with some details in their writings, and among them the most notable ones are: Claus Vogel, 9 Marianne Winder 10 and Fernand Meyer.11 On the meaning of nyes pa as a technical term, Claus Vogel, in his classic work of translation and critical comparative study of a portion of a major medical text, remarks that in medical literature nyes pa denotes “a morbific agent not necessarily defective itself”¯ and therefore he thinks nyes pa can “conveniently” be called humor.12 Marianne Winder is of the notion that “the three, wind, bile and phlegm, are necessary in the body. They are causes of diseases only when they are unbalanced.” 13 She differentiates the meanings of humor and nyes pa by accurately pointing out that the English term humor, having a meaning of fluid or moisture, does not fit the Tibetan term nyes pa.14 However, she thinks the two terms can be made comparable despite their difference “if we take ‘humours’ not in the literal sense of ‘fluid’ but rather in a metaphorical one for a substance permeating many parts of the body, a case can be made out for it.” 15 Similarly, regarding the meaning of nyes pa, Fernand Meyer explains that “the three humours confer life and health as long as they remain in a reciprocal equilibrium. But they are equally the primary causes of pathological phenomena when this equilibrium is upset by various kinds of secondary causes.” 16 But according to him, unlike Marianne Winder, three nyes pas “are indeed the humoural fluids¯ in the ancient Western sense of this word [humor]”¯ and because of which he says “it is proper to translate these terms literally by wind or pneuma, bile and phlegm.” 17 I agree¯ it is proper, as long as they are considered as literal translation, to translate the three nyes pas literally by the English words wind, bile and phlegm. But translation of term nyes pa is different, because nyes pa and humor have different literal meanings, as we already discussed, and whether the two should be considered as having same metaphorical meanings in their respective medical traditions as medical terms is a question we are trying to answer. Judging by the statements cited above, our three authors seem to seek to justify the translation of nyes pa into English word humor, and in doing so they all use basically the same point. The one based on one of those two general resemblances that both the terms mean bodily component that has potential to cause disease. It is also apparent from their writings that they all have the same notion that nyes pa means a bodily component necessary in our body with the potential to cause diseases. This notion is selective and therefore an incomplete picture, for it does not portray all the meanings. It must be pointed out here that the other general resemblance between the two terms, that they also mean disease is, however, not stated in the statements of our three authors. However, in saying so, an explanatory note may be required for Claus Vogel’s statement concerning his notion of nyes pa. The expression “not necessarily defective itself [ nyes pa]” in Claus Vogel’s remark implies that it is, however, possible to be defective. But whether he recognizes this possible defective humor as a disease and therefore considers it as a meaning of nyes pa or not is not clear. So, in any case, his remark, which lacks explicit expression of this particular notion, shows that he does not consider disease as an important meaning of nyes pa worth mentioning as one of its meanings. Is it because this meaning is not there in the English humor which somehow influenced our authors to ignore this meaning in nyes pa as well? I am not an expert


in ancient and medieval Western medicine to say whether or not humor has this meaning like Tibetan nyes pa clearly does in Tibetan medicine, nor do I have any easy access to resources for a comprehensive research into the matter. I presume on the basis of nyes pa in Tibetan medicine that that meaning is contextual, inherent and implied, and therefore to be understood because of the fact that English humor denotes its four referents, namely: blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm. Interestingly, trained in Tibetan medicine and an expert in the field, Dr. Pasang Yonten Arya in his book on Tibetan medical history has a section on the relation between Tibet and Persia (ta zig) in which he discusses about Greek medicine. 18 In that discussion he calls blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm of ancient Western medicine¯ diseases (nad ).19 If the English humor does have the meaning, disease, then it immediately raises the question¯ why didn’t they include this meaning in their notion of nyes pa, and use it as another resemblance to justify the translation? It seems like such a strong point to miss on their part to enhance their argument. But if we look, a little bit more carefully, at their notions of nyes pa and how they are perceived, as can be determined from the already mentioned explanations provided by Marianne Winder and Fernand Meyer, it is almost clear that they wou ld not have included that meaning or the point anyway. They did not miss to include it in their notion. The sense of disease as a meaning of nyes pa is not there in their understanding of the term, because they failed to exactly understand the notion of nyes pa as presented in Tibetan medical literatures, particularly rGyud bzhi. Marianne Winder’s explanation that three nyes pas “are causes of diseases only when they are unbalanced, that is, when there is too much or too little of any of them compared with the other two,” 20 and Fernand Meyer’s “they [three nyes pas] are equally the primary causes of pathological phenomena when this equilibrium is upset by various kinds of secondary causes: climate, environment, conduct, nutrition, trauma and demons,”21 are fundamentally wrong according to Tibetan medicine. It is clearly stated in rGyud bzhi that three nyes pas “are causes of disease when they are in the state of balance. But when disturbed and rendered imbalance they are the characteristic entities of diseases, for they harm and bring sufferings to body and life.” 22 This important statement makes a few things clear. First of all it makes clear that nyes pa does have the meaning, disease, apart from its well-recognized meaning, cause of diseases. Secondly it clarifies that unbalanced state of nyes pa is the state where nyes pa has passed its state of being a potential cause of disease and transformed into a disease state or entity. Thus the notion that nyes pa is a cause of disease when unbalanced is wrong. Besides this there are many other instances in rGyud bzhi as well as other medical texts where nyes pa and its three referents clearly mean disease. Here are a few simple and clear examples from rGyud bzhi: These precious gems cure 404 diseases resulting from wind disease, bile disease, phlegm disease, diseases of combination of two nyes pas and diseases of combination of all the three nyes pas. 23 The first [of 15 divisions], which is the division of the treatment of three nyes pas.24 Diseases, physical constituents and waste products are three components.25

114 TIBET JOURNAL If the English humor of ancient and medieval Western medicine does not have the sense of disease as its meaning, then the resemblance between the two terms, humor and nyes pa, drops down to only one. Is this one resemblance enough to claim that the two terms are equivalent or same in meaning, although the Tibetan term nyes pa, as explained earlier, has multitude of meanings? I think the resemblance is very small and general to consider them having the same meaning. The theory of nyes pa in Tibetan medicine is taken from Indian Ayurvedic medicine. As said earlier, the term nyes pa is a direct literal translation of Ayurvedic term dor a. It is in this connection that we should be interested to look into the translation issues of dor a. Generally speaking, dor a and its three referents va ta, pitta and kapha are considered as terms that are too complex to faithfully translate into English¯ that is as humor, wind, bile and phlegm respectively. This view is firmly held and defended by Indian Ayurvedic doctors and scholars themselves and is reflected in their writings in English where the terms are always left untranslated. Whereas most of the Western scholars (usually non-practitioners) of Ayurvedic medicine seem to end up in compromise and translate these terms into English. As a result, unlike in the case of Tibetan medicine, there are two translation trends, one that does not tolerate the English words or equivalents and another that prefers to use the so-called English equivalents. 26 Upon examination, the arguments put forward by Indian Ayurvedic doctors and scholars reveal that issue of translation of dor a is two-fold: translation of dor a itself and the names of its three referents. While taking issues with both, their arguments mostly overlook the issue of dor a and direct towards the translation issues of the three referents. Therefore I do not want to go any further into this matter in order to focus on our concern, which is the issue of translation of nyes pa and, in that respect, of its Ayurvedic corresponding term dor a. Moreover, we are also more interested in the second trend where dor a is translated into English term humor, and examine the arguments put forward by those who follow this trend, and compare with those put forward for nyes pa. As such, I think Francis Zimmermann’s symposium paper 27 is a fine specimen representing that second trend, because he is a Western scholar highly regarded for his knowledge in Ayurvedic medicine. And the subject of his paper is on the difficulties of editing and translating Indian medical text in which he discusses among other things the problems and issues relating to the translation of the word dor a. In his discussion, while agreeing to the common view that in translation, words like dor a are difficult terminological problems to solve, he goes on to try to solve the problem¯ by seeking justification for translating dor a as humor, firstly because he thinks the two words are conceptually equivalent. So, quite naturally his approach is one where he compares the conceptual meanings or meanings represented by dor a as a technical term with the meanings of this Greek medical term humor. Regarding dor a as a medical term in Ayurvedic medicine, Francis Zimmermann says that it is “to designate the fixed set of three entities (conventionally underst ood as [va ta] wind, [ pitta] bile, and [kapha] phlegm), that are organic flows, or fluids, and pathogenic factors at the same time.” 28 In other words he is saying that dor a denotes three entities it represents which is so true but that also means its meanings should also be sought from them as I mentioned earlier in the case of nyes pa. So when he says that the three entities are organic flows and pathogenic factors at the same time, he is leaving out a rather ignored but an important meaning of dor a namely, disease,


or disorder, which is very much a part of dor a’s technical or medical meaning. He is of course aware of this meaning in dor a as can be seen in his statement that “humors as “peccant,” “morbific entities,” which can only be the case in a limited number of occurrences.” 29 Whether this meaning occurs in a limited case or not is secondary, subjective and highly arguable. I think it is wrong and harmful to delete this meaning on the basis of such an opinion. It only helps to show the author’s overzealous endeavor to justify the translation of dor a by trimming the original meaning to fit or match the definition of its proposed English equivalent¯ humor. His other justification comes from his view that “untranslated words are illusory metaphors in a translation”, and by that, he means that words like dor a, and ch’i of Chinese medicine, “when left untranslated, will adorn our translations with a tinge of exciting but delusive mystery, or exoticism” which he says is “unjustified.” 30 This may very well be true, and I can imagine people, especially those who are new to the subject, getting illusory impressions. But such impressions are just an initial experience that everybody goes through as a part of initiation into any new sphere of knowledge. Mistaken notions and impressions at this initial stage are not permanent, and it is the duty of responsible translators and teachers to clarify the matter by providing necessary information in the form of notes, explanations and other details. Use of foreign terms in, for example, English-language literature is nothing strange. Many Sanskrit words that have no equivalent terms in English, matching their conceptual meanings, have always been left untranslated, and many of them have now been adopted as loan words and can be found even in mainstream English dictionaries. 31 Given the fact that such conceptual terms are so vulnerable to conceptual corruption in the course of interpretation and in translation, leaving them untranslated is a safe approach in the absence of accurate translation. Speaking of conceptual corruption, we have already discussed how the concepts of nyes pa and dor a are being perceived and portrayed by the above mentioned authors in order to justify the translation, and also discussed whether their perceptions and portrayals are accurate or not. Another such example where the concepts of nyes pa and dor a are misinterpreted is when they flatly declare that three nyes pas and dor as are fluids as three humors are in ancient Western medicine. For example, Fernand Meyer says that “these [three nyes pas] are indeed the humoural fluids¯ in the ancient Western sense of this word.” 32 According to Tibetan medicine, this is not true. The theory of three nyes pas in Tibetan medicine is a welldeveloped theory with sophistication of its own. If we are supposed to classify the nyes pas into solid, liquid /fluid and gas, a classificatory notion compatible to modern sciences, there is no way we can do that definitively. I think it is like trying to answer a wrong question. Characteristic properties of solid, liquid and gas are there in three nyes pas but they are found so haphazardly among them and their various aspects that it is not possible to have a clear-cut classification on the basis of these characteristics. It is too simplistic and radical to say that the three nyes pas are fluids. So, as much as nyes pa and humor resemble in some general sense, perhaps just in one general sense if English humor does not have the meaning of disease, they also are different in many more ways. Why, then, are the two considered equivalent? We have already discussed this question with reference to its translation in Csoma de Körös’s article. We have also touched on the resemblances that we found and their significance, but what is also significant that I would like to point out is the type and nature of diseases refer to by these two terms, and the concept of bodies associated

116 TIBET JOURNAL with them. The diseases and the bodies they refer to are conceptually very different from the modern medical science. Perhaps it is this resemblance in being different from modern medical science and belonging to the category of old and non-Modern scientific medicine which might have set the stage for scholars and translators to compare as if they are comparable. Because there is a general tendency to view, perceive and categorize medical systems of pre-modern medical science as being similar, despite significant differences amongst them. So, the very idea of trying to compare the two systems in the hope of finding parallels may have been done with some degree of this mentality, consciously or subconsciously. If there is any valid justification for translating the Tibetan term nyes pa into English as humor, it would be on the ground that its use has now been so widespread that it has assumed the position of English equivalent of nyes pa, and that it seems to be relatively the closest resemblance one can find between the two different cultures. So, if we accept humor as a valid translation for Tibetan nyes pa which we do in one way or the other, we might as well do it to honor, Csoma de Körös, who is the first person to translate this term as humor, and whose article on Tibetan medicine marked the beginning of Tibetan medical study in the West or in fact beyond the traditional geographical boundaries of Tibetan medicine. Finally, whether the term humor is an accurate translation, or it is an inadequate one where the translators could not appreciate the essential details of the term nyes pa in Tibetan medicine. Or whether it is a popular trend followed by everyone. Or whether it is a translation whose validity scholars think can be justified on the ground that the two terms, nyes pa and humor, mean the same; although they are, as demonstrated before, not same in many ways. Or whether or not we should use it for Tibetan nyes pa in our translations. Of all these ideas and opinions, whichever we may want to follow for whatever reason that we may or may not have, it is important and also imperative to look as fairly and fully as possible into the meanings the respective terms carry, so that the meanings underlying the words remain intact.

Notes 1. This Tibetan term is profusely mentioned throughout this paper because it is the subject of discussion. So to help ease interested readers, who may not be so familiar with reading Tibetan transliteration form, to pronounce this Tibetan word and familiarize saying it while reading the article, its phonetic transliteration¯ nyepa¯ is provided here. 2. Alexander Csoma de Körös: “Analysis of a Tibetan Medical Work”, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1835, 4, pp. 47-65 3. Ibid., p. 47 4. Ibid., p. 49 5. Paul U. Unschuld (ed.), Approache s to traditional Chinese Medica l Litera ture: Proceedings of an International Symposium on Translation Methodologies and Terminologies (Unschuld 1989 in subsequent references), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1989 6. Marianne Winder, “Tibetan medicine compared with Ancient and Medieval Western medicine”, (Winder 1981 in subsequent references) Bulletin of Tibetology, 1981, No. 1, Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, Sikkim, p. 6 7. For example, in the 2nd chapter of rTsa rgyud (Root Tantra), the first part of rGyud bzhi, we find: snyoms par zhugs ma thak tu thugs ka nas ’od zer kha dog brgya stong du ma phyogs bcur ’phros pas phyogs bcu’i ’gro ba sems can thams cad kyi sems kyi nyes pa’i skyon bsal /. The line translates as: “As soon as [the sage Rig pa’i ye shes, the mind


emanation of medicine Buddha] sat into meditation, from his heart emitted rays with hundreds and thousands of different colors towards the ten directions which dispelled the faults of the minds of all the sentient beings in the ten directions”. In this line the term nyes pa means fault or defect. The faults or defects of mind (sems kyi nyes pa) referring to the three mental poisons (nyon mongs dug gsum) arising from ignorance as taught in Buddhism. See bDud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud (rGyud bzhi 1984 in subsequent references), Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute, Dharamsala, 1984, p. 18. 8. For a comprehensive list of mostly western language publications, see: Jürgen C. Aschoff, Annotated Bibliography of Tibetan Medicine (1789-1995), Fabri Verlag, Ulm; Garuda Verleg, Dietikon, 1996. 9. Claus Vogel, trans. and ed., Vagbhata’s Artaogahp dayasamhit a: The first five chapters of its Tibetan version (Vogel 1965 in subsequent references), Franz Steiner Verleg, Wiesbaden, 1965. 10. Winder 1981. pp. 5-22. This is perhaps the only article that has dealt with the comparison between nyes pa and humor in greatest detail, comparatively. 11. Yuri Parfionovitch, Fernand Meyer and Gyurme Dorje, Tibetan Medical Paintings (Parfionovitch 1992 in subsequent references), Serindia Publications, London, vol I, 1992 12. Vogel 1965, p. 51 remarks. 13. Winder 1981, p. 5. 14. Ibid., p. 6 15. Ibid., p. 6. 16. Parfionovitch 1992, p. 4. 17. Ibid., p. 4. 18. Menrampa Pasang Yonten, Bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i lo rgyus kyi bang mdzod g.yu thog bla ma dran pa’i pho nya, Yuthok Institute of Tibetan Medicine, Leh, Ladakh, 1998. See pp. 8-22 about Greek Medicine in imperial period Tibet. 19. Ibid., p. 12. His note (see ibid p.12 note 17) shows that he is citing the information from his source: Charles Singer, A history of anatomy and physiology from the Greeks to Harvey, Dover Publication inc., New York, 1957, pp. 10-12. 20. Winder 1981, pp 5-6 21. Parfionovitch 1992, p. 4 22. This is a translation of the Tibetan original lines from the 8th chapter of bShad rgyud (Explanatory Tantra), the Second part of rGyud bzhi. It goes like this: rnam par ma gyur nad kyi rgyur ’gyur la / rnam ’gyur ma snyoms nad kyi ngo bo yin / lus dang srog la gnod cing gdung bas so /. See rGyud bzhi 1984, p. 51. 23. Translation of the Tibetan original from the 1st chapter of rTsa rgyud . It goes: nor bu rin po che des ni rlung gi nad dang mkhris pa’i nad dang bad kan gyi nad dang ldan pa’i nad dang ’dus pa’i nad las gyur pa’i nad bzhi rgya rtsa bzhi sel bar byed pa / See Ibid., p. 15 24. Translation of the Tibetan original from the 2nd chapter of rTsa rgyud : dang po nyes gsum gso ba’i skabs / See ibid., p. 19 25. Translation of the Tibetan original from the 3rd chapter of rTsa rgyud : nad dang lus zungs dri ma rnam pa gsum / See Ibid., p. 23. Diseases here refer to three nyes pas. Even though it is rather unsuitably odd and arguably a mistake to use the word disease (nad ) in this particular context, when the discussion concerns healthy body, but what is important, however, is that it gives us a sense that sense of disease in the meaning of nyes pa was prevalent as it is now, may be enough so to cause to treat the two words nyes pa and nad as interchangeable by the Tibetan author which is why it is cited here as an example. 26. In a discussion dealing with translation trends in Tibetan medicine in general, and of the term in question in particular, Vaidya Baghwan Dash must be mentioned because of the sheer number of his translation of Tibetan medical literatures into English, which is till date the largest by a single translator. However, his translations do not become particularly

118 TIBET JOURNAL noteworthy in our current discussion about the translation issues of nyes pa, because he simply uses the Sanskrit term dor a instead of supposed English equivalent “humor” to translate the Tibetan terms nyes pa in his every work of translation and more importantly without any explanation as to why he does so. Moreover, his way of translation does not enjoy any following to be considered as a significant trend. 27. Francis Zimmermann, “Terminological problems in the process of editing and translating Sanskrit medical texts” (Zimmermann 1989 in subsequent references), in Unschuld 1989, pp. 141-151 28. Zimmermann 1989, p. 145 29. Ibid., p. 146 30. Ibid., p. 146 31. Such as: karma, nirvana, tantra, yoga. 32. Parfionovitch 1992, p. 4.

“An excellent measure”: the battle against smallpox in Tibet, 1904-471 Alex McKay INTRODUCTION

The elimination of smallpox as an active disease has probably been the greatest medical triumph in human history in terms of lives saved. Notably, it was achieved with the development of a cure that did not generate resistant strains of the disease, as has the invention of antibiotics. Victory over smallpox required a long series of regional campaigns and in this essay I will describe the preliminary battles fought against smallpox in Tibet during the British colonial period. In conclusion, the analysis of this process will be located in the wider field of the medical history of the world-wide war against smallpox. In pre-colonial Asia, variolation against smallpox was known in both Chinese and Indic cultures, 2 and it was also known to the Tibetans in various forms. Ahmad Shah, an Indian Christian who lived in Ladakh, reported that “The scab of the small-pox is dried and swallowed” 3; Sarat Chandra Das, who travelled to Lhasa in 1881, reported that “the lymph taken from an infected child and mixed with camphor was inhaled though the nostril.” 4 But given that Tibet’s highest authorities, the Dalai and Panchen Lamas (who presumably received the highest standard of indigenous medical treatment) were among those who had, historically, suffered or died of the disease, 5 the efficacy of these methods must be in doubt. Throughout recorded history, smallpox epidemics had regularly devastated Tibet, where the crowded conditions in monasteries and urban centres favoured the rapid spread of the disease. It appears that once smal lpox manifested, the Tibetans had little treatment for it beyond isolation; Shah describes how: When, however, anyone is afflicted with it, whoever it may be even a dear parent, the person is removed to a deserted place and left with food and water to recover or die there…..When an epidemic breaks out they adopt a singular expedient to prevent one village from taking the infection to another. This is nothing less than to pile up thorns and thorny bushes on all paths … which lead from one village to the other [to keep away the “devils”].6

Earlier, the Jesuit Desideri, writing in the 18th century, recorded that Every ten or twelve years an epidemic of smallpox carries off many people. It is so deadly because anyone showing symptoms of the malady is driven out of his house into the country, where under a tent, exposed to the bitter cold and the bad weather he is shunned by all save perhaps some relation who has had smallpox.7

Although the understanding of the disease had a spiritual dimension, the Tibetans do not appear to have considered smallpox as a manifestation of the divine in the sense that it was regarded in parts of eastern Indi a where the smallpox deity Shitala was worshipped. Thus, as the prevention of smallpox through the biomedical system of vaccination became a possibility, Tibetans must have seemed likely to welcome the elimination of smallpox without reservation. Yet, for a number of reasons as

120 TIBET JOURNAL will be seen, it took a decade or more for the vaccination process to gain general acceptance there. THE IMPERIAL MEDICAL PROJECT

Here I shall briefly digress to set these events in their wider context. Throughout the 19th century, the British empire had gradually expanded until it shared more than 2000 miles of its northern border with the Tibetan state, then under the ultimate authority of the Chinese emperor. The general expansionist tendencies of the British empire, the increasing weakness of the Chinese empire, and what the British saw as an increasing threat from the rapidly growing Russian empire, meant that the imperial Government of India was increasingly drawn towards involvement in Tibetan affairs. 8 While the Tibetans sought to isolate themselves from the growing power to the south¯ rejecting any diplomatic communications with the British¯ agents of the Government of India set about compiling information on Tibet and, in 1903-04, despatched an armed mission under the diplomatic command of Colonel Francis Younghusband. The imperial mission fought its way to Lhasa and forced the Tibetan Government to enter into treaty relations with Briti sh India. The Government of India then established permanent missions in Tibet and maintained a diplomatic presence there until Indian independence in 1947. Their aim was to exert an influence over the Tibetans in order to ensure the security of their northern frontier from Russian infiltration, and, in the usual imperial manner, medicine was used as a means to obtain the goodwill of the indigenous peoples. During the 19th century, when the British had introduced vaccination against smallpox into their Indian empire, the spread of its renown was stimulated by imperial agents such as Sarat Chandra Das. Chandra Das, the Bengali headmaster of the Bhutia Boarding school in Darjeeling, was a British intelligence agent who twice visited Shigatse and reached Lhasa in 1881. In Shigatse he cultivated the friendship of the Panchen Lama’s Prime Minister, who arranged for him to make a semi-clandestine visit to Lhasa. Smallpox was raging in Tibet at the time, fatally infecting the then Panchen Lama, and the Bengali’s host was keen to introduce vaccination. Chandra Das arranged for supplies of vaccine to be sent to Shigatse from India, but the batch was spoiled and after the Lhasa authorities discovered Chandra Das’s role, the Shigatse Prime Minister was executed for tr eason, ending this particular chapter of cross-border initiatives. 9 In India, however, the vaccination project was gradually achieving its clinical aims in regard to the eradication of smallpox. These aims were threatened, however, by external sources of the disease and it was recognized that the trade route from central Tibet to Sikkim and eastern India could as easily become a route for the passage of smallpox from Tibet to India. In 1900, following an outbreak of smallpox in Tibet that spread to the Chumbi Valley, the Government of India had closed the Jelap la route from Chumbi to India until “arrangements were made for vaccinating all those who crossed the border into Sikkim and every bale of wool was fumigated at Kalimpong as it arrived there in order to prevent the disease reaching India.” This caused “considerable loss and annoyance to traders,” with the annual crossborder trade declining by a third. 10 Given that trade was the most public rationale for the opening of Tibet, and that promoting the interests of local Indian crossborder traders was part of the strategy for ensuring the security of the frontier, it was important to avoid such disruptions.

THE BATTLE AGAINST SMALLPOX IN TIBET

... 121

When they established a position in Tibet, therefore, the British were keen to encourage smallpox vaccination there. A handful of Tibetans were vaccinated by the medical teams accompanying the Younghusband mission and soon after the British established their diplomatic outposts in Tibet, the Political Officer of Sikkim advised that “a proper and unified system of vaccination should be carried out all along this frontier as well as in Tibet and Bhutan.” 11 The multiple benefits of this were pointed out by the Director-General of the Indian Medical Service, who noted that Vaccination seems to be very desirable from a humanitarian point of view, and will in some degree protect our own territory from the introduction of smallpox. It is also a means of impressing the natives. 12

A “bridge-head” for vaccination at elite level in Tibet already existed in that most of the ruling elites in the British-controlled Himalayan regions had already accepted vaccination. The half-brother of the Maharajah of Sikkim, for example, was a British ally with estates in Tibet where he resided, and such individuals must have assisted in promoting an understanding of the benefits of vaccination to their Tibetan aristocratic associates. It appears that during and immediately after the Younghusband mission, only a handful of Tibetans were vaccinated. 13 But in May 1905, Steen firstly vaccinated the Tibetan servants and followers attached to the Gyantse Trade Agency and then instituted a vaccination campaign for local children. He recruited three “intelligent Tibetans” and instructed them in the necessary procedure, while approaching the Gyantse Jongpon [ rdzong dpon: District Administrator] and “all the leading men” to explain to them the benefits of vaccination. Steen later reported that they “were unanimous that it would be an excellent measure and all promised to assist in bringing children forward.” These “leading men …rendered great assistance” and by the end of 1905, 1,320 children in the Gyantse area had been vaccinated. 14 It is interesting that Steen was at pains to point out that No compulsion of any kind, it is needless to say, was resorted to. When the people saw that the application of the vaccine caused little or no discomfort and when they understood that the measure was intended to prevent small pox the children were brought forward quite voluntarily. 15

Given that obtaining the support of the indigenous elites was a crucial aspect of British political strategy in regard to the imposition of imperial authority, the most significant medical initiative of this period involved the Panchen Lama. As the focus of British Trade Agent Captain W.F.O’Connor’s attempts to obtain an alliance with the Tibetan authorities, the consent of the Panchen Lama to vaccination was critical. Late in 1905, O’Connor persuaded the Panchen Lama to visit India, and Tibetan tradition dictated that several hundred members of the Panchen’s court should accompany him on his tour. Before they departed in November 1905, the entire party of Tibetans, including the Panchen Lama himself, were vaccinated against smallpox. Steen accompanied the party to India, and on its return in February 1906, he escorted the Panchen back to Shigatse and remained there for a fortnight, presumably in case any diseases contacted in India should manifest during that period. That was a very real danger, among the many members of the Tibetan’s party who had

122 TIBET JOURNAL became ill on the journey to India was the Panchen Lama’s uncle, who died of malaria in Darjeeling. He had, however, failed to take the medicines provided by Steen and the Gyantse diary, in headmasterly tone, claims that “The Lama and other Tibetans thoroughly understand that his death was due to his neglect to follow Captain Steen’s advice, or to take European medicines.” 16 In a farewell conversation at an audience prior to his departure from Shigatse, Steen reported that the Panchen Lama “expressed a wish that I might introduce vaccination into Shigatse.” 17 (Steen may, however, have been following the common imperial practice of attributing to a local ruler an initiative favoured by the British.) CHINESE PROTESTS AND INDICATIONS OF TIBETAN RESISTANCE

By October 1906, when Steen left Tibet, the British vaccination project appeared to be developing well. The vaccination of the Panchen Lama was regarded as a clear signal that the Tibetans viewed the process fav ourably (and in later years the precedent was regularly cited as evidence of that). But British plans then suffered a serious setback. In occupying, but then withdrawing from Lhasa, the Brit ish had left a power vacuum in Tibet. Whitehall refused to allow the Government of Indi a to strengthen the British position there, and Russia had proved to have no power there at all. So with the Dalai Lama in exile and a politically weak Regent as the nominal head of the Tibetan state, the Chinese were able to fill the power vacuum. They considered Tibet to be a part of their Empire, and although by 1900 their position there had declined to the point where they lacked any real political power, their authority over Tibet was recognised by the British government and represented by diplomatic representatives¯ the Ambans¯ who were stationed in Lhasa. After the Younghusband mission withdrew, the Ambans slowly began to reassert their former power. As a part of their strategy, the Chinese sought to eliminate the British positions in Tibet, or at least to reduce them to a purely administrati ve function in regard to trade. Recognising the threat posed to their position by the growing alliance between the British and the Panchen Lama, the Chinese attempted to cut communications between the two parties, and isolate the Gyantse Trade Agency from any contact with the Tibetan elites. O’Connor had gone on leave after escorting the Panchen Lama in India, and his replacement, Lieutenant F.M. Bailey, while a highly promising officer and a veteran of the Younghusband mission, lacked diplomatic experience. China, meanwhile, had posted a skilled diplomat, Mr Gow, in Gyantse. Gow set about creating various difficulties for the British, demanding that they deal with the Tibetans only through him and, by 21 November 1906, Bailey was effectively isolated from all contacts with the Tibetans. Gow then filed a number of complaints against various British actions, and one of the more serious of these was the charge that British vaccination campaigns constituted interference in the internal administration of Tibet, which was forbidden under the terms of the AngloChinese Agreement of 1906. Gow also claimed that the British were making vaccination compulsory.18 British officials in India, temporarily bemused, checked with Bailey that vaccination was not compulsory, but were clearly uncertain as to whether the medical initiatives were technically in breach of their Agreement with China. When Gow asked Bailey “as a personal favour” to stop all vaccination until further orders


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were received, Bailey acquiesced, and the campaign was stopped, although no official orders were passed. 19 In April 1907, however, the imperial authorities in the north Indian town of Almora (who were probably unaware of the related events in central Tibet) received a request from the Jongpon and the “Head Lama” of Taklakot (Purang: in western Tibet near Gartok), for Indian vaccinators to visi t Taklakot to combat an outbreak of smallpox. The Tibetans shrewdly pointed out that the outbreak would affect cross-border trade in the region, and “expressed their willingness to pay all of the expenses of the vaccinators.” The Deputy Commissioner in Almora promptly sent two vaccinators to Taklakot, and then sought sanction from the Government of India. Government approved the action, noting that the “request on the part of the Tibetan authorities is very satisfactory, as it … shows they have a belief in our medical skill.”20 The vaccination of the Panchen Lama and his followers was cited as prior evidence of this, and the Indian Foreign Secretary observed that the Tibetans appear to realise fully the advantages of vaccination and this last incident confirms us in the opinion that Mr Gow’s action in stopping vaccination at Gyantse was entirely opposed to Tibetan sentiment in the matter. 21

Gow’s campaign to isolate the Gyantse Trade Agency ended with his transfer in mid-1907, and although from 16 July 1907 the British were again able to deal directly with the Tibetans, Gow’s actions had effectively established Chinese paramountcy there. But Bailey soon raised the issue of resuming vaccination in Gyantse with the local Tibetan Trade Agent, and two months later, no objections having been made by any party, the vaccination campaign resumed. Confirmat ion that the Chinese objections were part of a wider agenda and not actually aimed against vaccination came the following year, when China’s Amban in Lhasa was reported to have issued an order that all Tibetans should be vaccinated. 22 China’s support for vaccination in Tibet is evidence of the essential similarit y of British and Chinese aims in that region. Both sought to encourage the modernisation of Tibet under their influence. Although, as will be seen, China and the Government of India were to compete for a controlling influence over Tibet throughout the 1904-47 period, with China herself following the Western model of modernisation during this period, there was no dispute over the model of modernisation both parties sought to impose on Tibet. The dominant Western model of development included a state public health system, and so both China and Britain sought to develop public health structures within Tibet. But the prevailing tendencies of Tibetan government were anti-modernist for all but the decade from 1913-23, when there were cautious experiments with aspects of Western modernity. This meant that British and Chinese innovations in various areas, including medicine, met with conservative resistance from powerful elements within Tibetan society. As was characteristic of Tibetan government, the conservative tendency often mani fested in a failure to act, rather than in acts of active resistance of the type that are recognised in India. 23 The first manifestation of resistance indicated in the British sources occurs in the Gyantse dispensary report for the year ending 31 December 1910. 24 When the British resumed their vaccination programme in 1907, it was carried out by two Tibetans they had trained (although it is unclear if these were the same men trained by Steen). In the 1909-10 year this pair carried out 389 vaccinations, 25 and the

124 TIBET JOURNAL Gyantse Medical Officer confidently reported that the next outbreak of smallpox would demonstrate the efficacy of vaccination. 26 So it proved. In the following year there was an outbreak of smallpox which caused numerous deaths in Lhasa and Shigatse, but few in Gyantse. The number of vaccinations carried out that y ear leapt to 2,131, as might be expected. The Medical Officer’s report recorded that Many vaccinations were performed in the dispensary, when the outbreak was at its height locally. In addition to this, many Tibetans and Chinese officials and gentlemen got me to procure lymph for them on payment to be sent to all parts of the country. The people much appreciate the benefits of vaccination.27

But the report also noted that On arrival here I found the old vaccinators (2) had been demanding money to let the people escape vaccination. These men were dismissed. Only one suitable candidate presented himself for the post of vaccinator, and I regret to record his death while vaccinating at Shigatse during a serious outbreak there in December.28

Earlier indications that the vaccination campaign had not proceeded entirely smoothly may be detected, however. It is interesting that Steen found it necessary to emphasise the voluntary nature of the vaccination campaign a year before Chinese allegations to the contrary while the fact that the vaccinators were being bribed not to vaccinate people suggests that the Chinese allegation that some form of coercion was used in the process may not be entirely unfo unded. Of relevance in this regard is an obituary of Lieutenant-Colonel Kennedy, Gyantse Medical Officer in 190710 (which was apparently written by his Gyantse contemporary, F.M. Bailey). It notes that Kennedy “vaccinated a large number of the local inhabitants, at first by guile and persuasion, but later at their urgent request”. 29 The British sources do claim that Tibetans were keen to be vaccinated. Thus in reports around the time of this outbreak we read that the “Tibetans are very appreciative of the value of vaccination; during one month representatives from villages, many of them five days journey from Gyantse, came to hospital to say that smallpox was raging with them, and asking that the vaccinator be sent out”. 30 But a subsequent report clarified the nature of the Tibetans’ enthusiasm for vaccination. They were, it stated, “reluctant to undergo vaccination unless the disease is actually amongst them”. 31 THE TIBETAN ACCEPTANCE OF VACCINATION

Smallpox became, however, increasingly rare i n Gyantse, where large numbers of people had been vaccinated, and in the Chumbi Valley, where by 1911, the majority of the population had been vaccinated. 32 In Shigatse and Lhasa, however, and other parts of Tibet where vaccination had not been widely introduced, smallpox was still common. To those who had been vaccinated, the efficacy of the vaccine must have been empirically established, and Tibetan and Chinese officials were thus, as we have seen above, already requesting the British to provide them with lymph with which to institute their own vaccination programmes. One final indication that vaccination was becoming accepted by the Tibetans came in 1913, when a group of Nepalese vaccinators found it profitable enough to travel around vaccinating people for a small fee. 33 This demonstrates that a demand for vaccination did exist in Tibet. While there were cultural and traditional links


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between the Tibetans and the Nepalese, relations between the two countries were historically hostile and we cannot necessarily conclude, therefore, that the Nepalese were in any sense more welcome than the British Medical Officers. What was welcome was vaccination. Further indications of indigenous support for vaccination came in 1920-21, when Dr Kennedy, who accompanied Sir Charles Bell on his mission to Lhasa, established links with Men-tse-khang hospital. Kennedy had imported equipment for preparing calf lymph, and he presented this to “the Chief Tibetan “medico”, Men-tsiba Lama, whom I instructed … how to vaccinate a calf and [how] to collect and prepare the lymph in due course.” 34 In 1922, a case of smallpox occurred among the Tibetan troops in Gyantse and the garrison was subsequently vaccinated in its entirety, the first recorded case of the Tibetan state’s personnel being systematically vaccinated. 35 In 1925-26, when a smallpox epidemic broke out in central Tibet the British vaccination services were greatly in demand. Not only were 3,525 people vaccinated in Gyantse, a total probably larger than the population of the town itself at that time, 36 but it was noted that none of those previously vaccinated were among those who died there. The Tibetan state also signalled its acceptance of vaccination when they requested the Sub-Assistant Surgeon in Gyantse be sent to Shigats e, where he vaccinated a total of 1,379 people. In addition, the Tibetan government “and various influential officials”¯ by which was probably meant those favourable to the British¯ received free vaccine from the Government of India. 37 There are some indications of lingering resistance, however; Frank Ludlow, headmaster of the English school that existed in Gyantse from 1923-26, recorded in his diary the case of a woman with smallpox whose family were not vaccinated because their lamas had said that evil would result from it. 38 But in general the Tibetans had, by the mid-1920s if not earlier, accepted vaccination against small pox as a medical practice. It was noted that in this sense vaccinat ion was something of an exception; “Though other forms of European medical treatment are often looked on with suspicion, vaccination is greatly appreciated by Tibetans of all classes.” 39 It is notable that the Tibetan state’s adoption of vaccination appears to have come at a time when the confrontation between tradition and modernity was reaching a climax. The strengthening of the Tibetan military forces and the introduction of a police force in Lhasa had bought to a head tensions within society, including monastic concerns over the increasing allocation of economic resources to those new secular power sources. After a crisis in 1924, the Tibetan state turned away from modernity,40 yet against the prevailing tendencies of the era, this medical aspect of modernity was eagerly embraced. By the 1930s, references to smallpox in the British records are devoid of any indications of resis tance, and demonstrate an increasingly wide distribution of lymph from the British to outlying areas of Tibet such as Poyul and Kham. 41 During the final decade of the British presence in Tibet, tens of thousands of Tibetans were vaccinated annually at the IMS dispensaries. With virtually the entire population of Gyantse and the Chumbi Valley having been vaccinated by the 1940s, 42 smallpox was effectively eliminated from central Tibet, saving countless lives. While in humanitarian terms this was unquestionably a biomedical triumph, it does not seem to have been celebrated as such by the IMS officers, for whom it was rather just one step towards the Tibetan’s acceptance of the entire biomedical system.

126 TIBET JOURNAL Nor did the later IMS officers even appear to h ave recognised the fact that they had achieved the original aim of virtually eliminating the likelihood of smallpox spreading down the trade route into India. By the late 1940s the possibility of eliminating smallpox worldwide was recognised, and its eradication from (central) Tibet had become merely a small step towards that ultimate aim. CONCLUSIONS

In retrospect, the Tibetan reception of vaccination represents not simply a wider example of biomedical lineal triumph, but rather an interesting example of the gradual assimilation of a particular medical practice into the indigenous understanding. Within a decade or two of its introduction the acceptance of vaccination had been signaled by both the Tibetan state and by Tibetan individuals of all classes despite continuing resistance to other aspects of biomedicine. While variolation was apparently not unknown to the Tibetans, and may therefore have paved the way for acceptance of the technique of vaccination, this does not necessarily follow. The Tibetan precursors of surgical procedures did not lead to similar unqualified acceptance of British surgical methods and particularly when we consider that the vaccination technique was both bodily invas ive and scarring, it is difficult to account for this acceptance other than as a consequence of vaccination’s empirically demonstratable efficacy. This provides a contrast with the situation in India, where the efficacy of vaccination had not prevented continuing resistance. One reason for this was that the Tibetans did not have the caste, gender, and purity concerns that strengthened resistance to smallpox vaccination in India. In contrast to her Hindu or Muslim counterpart in India, for example, an aristocratic Tibetan woman would have had no particular cultural objections to a male medical practitioner of lower social status being in close contact with her and introducing an animal-based serum into her body. Perhaps most crucially, however, resistance in the sense that it occu rred in India did not arise due to the absence from Tibet of a specific “nationalist agenda”, such as that represented by the Congress Party’s drive for an independent India. While Indian nationalism was a recognised and increasingly powerful force by the beginning of the 20th century, it has become clear that Tibet at that time was largely lacking in a sense of nationalism in the sense of identification with a “Nationstate” on the Western model. Tibetans undoubtedly had a sense of shared identity as a group speaking Tibetan, eating tsampa, enjoying cultural expressions such as the Gesar of Ling saga, etc. That identity enjoyed a close, though no t unproblematic, association with Buddhism, and was often expressed, particularly at the elite level of state rhetoric, in those terms. These shared understandings had persisted over time, and a sense of “proto-nationalism” can be traced to at least the 14/15th centuries. 43 Tibet, lacked, however the association of that identity with a state possessing fixed borders and central authority over foreign relations, use of force and so on. Tibetan identity in that period was primarily local or regional, rather than national, and no one body or territory commanded the loyal ty of all of the Tibetan-speaking peoples. In recognition of this, the British explicitly sought to stimulate the growth of national feeling in Tibet, as a means of strengthening the Tibetan state. But in many senses Tibetan nationalism fully emerged only in the post-1950 period, in response to the communist Chinese take-over.


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Tibet was not, in the period 1904-47, under the undisputed control of any outside power and it was effectively independent from 1913-47. Biomedicine was not, therefore, a system imposed on a subject nation by its colonial masters, as it was in India, and in the absence of any “national” feeling, nationalist resistance did not arise. Certainly the dominant tendency was for the Tibetans to regard the British¯ and British initiated elements of modernity¯ as a potential threat to their social system, and there is very little evidence indeed of any internal challenges to the Tibetan system, suggesting a certain unity of comparative satisfact ion with the system as it existed. Biomedicine was clearly a foreign system and was not therefore, regarded without some doubt and suspicion, but this derived from cultural, rather than nationalist concerns in the sense that we understand nationalism in the West today,44 and the efficacy of vaccination overcame these cultural objections. In the wider context, a study of the actions of the IMS officers in Tibet illustrates the necessity of seeing imperialism, and the actions of the colonial state, not as a monolithic process, but as one in which different layers of imperial authority were in constant negotiation. Issues were debated within the imperial system in the context of prevailing and competing ideologies, practices, and social and scientific understandings, as well as as a result of the ambitions of, and relations between, individual colonial officers. The British Government, the Government of India, provincial and district authorities, as well as the diplomatic representatives in India’s “Princely” and neighbouring states all formulated and implemented policies, and while the formulation of policies was often bitterly fought out, the implem entation was often piece-meal and subject to numerous other factors, not least financial restrictions. Of almost equal importance is the fact that policies were negotiated at every level of imperial authority with local and regional power structures, social groups, and organic cultures. The simplistic domination-resistance model is as redundant in analysis of Tibetan medical history as it has been shown to be in the works of scholars such as Clive Dewey in regard to Indian agricultural statistics and my colleague Sanjoy Bhattacharya’s work on both censorship and medicine in Indian history. 45 Notes 1. A version of this paper, entitled ‘Guarding the Borders; the battle against smallpox on the Indo-Tibetan frontier’, was delivered at the ‘Medicine at the Border’ conference; University of Sydney, July 2004; my thanks are due to Alison Bashford, the conference organiser, for this opportun ity. This paper is part of a wider stud y of the introduction of biomedicine (the allopathic, or “Western” medical system) into the Indo-Tibetan Himalayas, funded by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL (London). 2. Dunn, F.L. ‘Traditional Asian Medicine and Cosmopolitan Medicine as Adaptive Systems’, in Leslie, C. (ed.) Asian Medical Systems: A Comparative Study , Delhi 1998. (first published, 1977), pp.133-58 quoting Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization , 1954, p.58. 3. Ahmad Shah, Four Years in Tibet , New Delhi, 1991 (1st pub. 1906) p.61. 4. Sarat Chandra Das, Lhasa and Central Tibet , Delhi, 1988 (first published 1902), p.257. 5. For example, during the late 19th century the Thirteenth Dalai Lama survived smallpox, but the Fifth Panchen Lama died of the disease in 1882. 6. Ahmad Shah, op cit .

128 TIBET JOURNAL 7. Filippi, Filippo de, An Account of Tibet. The travels of Ippolito Desideri of Pistoia, S.J., 1712-1727 , London, 1932, p.87. But smallpox may also have been one condition for which hospitalisation became known in Tibetan society. Chinese records indicate that ‘In 1794, the Talé [Dalai] lama, under orders from the Emperor, erected special hospitals for small-pox patients, in which they were supplied with food and every necessary, and which were under the care of a special officer.’ Rockhill, W.W., Tibet: A Geographical, Ethnographical and Historical Sketch, Derived from Chinese Sources, 1891, p.235, quoting from the Hsi Ts’ang fu, p.28. 8. See McKay, A.C., ‘19th century British expansion on the Indo-Tibetan Frontier: A Forward Perspective’ in The Tibet Journal, XXV111.4, 2003, pp.61-76. 9. See McKay, A.C., ‘The Drowning of Lama Sengchen Kyabying: A Preliminary Enquiry from British Sources’, in Tibet Past and Present: Tibetan Studies I. the Proceedings of the 9th International Seminar for Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000 , H. Blezer (Gen. Ed.), Brill, 2002, pp.263-80; Chandra Das provided numerous accounts of his journey; see for example Sarat Chandra Das, Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet , Delhi, 1902. 10. National Archives of India (Delhi) [hereafter NAI], Foreign Department [hereafter, FD], External B, May 1906, 156-15 8, J.C. White to India 5 February 1906: FD, External A, Sept. 1906, 40-46, J.C. White to India, 20 March 1906; 11. NAI, FD, Proceedings March 1905, Report of Captain H.J. Walton, Medical Officer Tibet Frontier Commission, 22 September 1904; NAI, FD, External A, Sept. 1906, 4046, J.C. White to India, 20 March 1906. 12. NAI, FD, External B May 1906, 156-158, file note by G. Bomford, 22 March 1906. 13. NAI, FD, Proceedings March 1905, Report of Captain H.J. Walton, Medical Officer, Tibet Frontier Commission, 22 September 1904. 14. Oriental and India Office Collection [hereafter, OIOC], MSS Eur F157- 304, Dispensary report for the year ending 31 December 1905, attached to Gyantse Report, October 1904 – 31 March 1906; NAI, FD, External B May 1906, 156-58, Steen to O’Connor, 14 December 1905. 15. OIOC, MSS Eur F157- 304b, Gyantse report, October 1904 – 31 March 1906. 16. NAI, FD, Secret E, May 1906, 47-76, Gyantse diary entry of 18 January 1906. 17. NAI, FD, Secret E, May 1906, 47-76, diary of Captain Steen at Shigatse, entry of 26 February 1906. 18. NAI, FD, Secret E, Feb.1907, 295-353, various correspondence, esp., Gow to Bailey, 4 December 1906. The correspondence indicates that Gow’s first action had been to deny transportation to the vaccinators some days previously. 19. NAI, FD, Secret E, Feb.1907, 295-353, Bailey to India, 6 December 1906; although the dispute between Gow and the British officials in Gyantse was often petty and personal, the usual diplomatic conventions were observed. Thus, even during the isolation of the Agency, Bailey sent a communication to Gow along with ‘an electric bell and two batteries, some Reuter’s telegrams and a goose, which I hope you will accept with my compliments’; NAI, FD, Secret E, Feb.1907, 295-353, Bailey to Gow, 22 November 1906. 20. NAI, FD, Secret E, June 1907, 375-389, J.M. Holmes, Govt., of United Provinces, to (Indian Foreign Minister) Sir Louis Dane, 25 April 1907; file note by R.E. Holland, Assist. Sect., Government of India Foreign Department, 29 April 1907. 21. NAI, FD, Secret E, June 1907, 375-389, Sir Louis Dane to India Office (London), 8 May 1907. 22. OIOC, L/P&S/7/220-1625, Gyantse Annual report 1907-08; NAI, FD, External B, June 1911, 289, file note by ‘T.W.’, 6 June 1911; NAI, FD, Secret E, February 1908, 467482, file note by E.H.S. Clarke, 26 November 1907. The Gyantse Trade Agent recorded that the Chinese were sending vaccinators to Lhasa, one of whom had already arrived although he had not begun work; NAI, FD, External B, October 1908, 194-216, Gyantse


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Agency diary entry, 10 September 1908. I have not located any further reference to them. 23. On resistance in India, see David Arnold, ‘Touching the body: perspectives on the Indian plague, 1896-1900’, in R.Guha, (ed.), Subaltern Studies V , Delhi, 1987, pp.5590. Arnold’s conclusions have been assumed by many to have Pan-Indian application, a claim Arnold has not, however, made. 24. OIOC, L/P&S/7/249-1151, dispensary report attached to Gyantse Annual report, 1910 – 11. 25. OIOC, L/P&S/7/241-1058, Gyantse Annual report, 1909 – 10. 26. OIOC, L/P&S/7/229-923, dispensary report attached to Gyantse Annual report, 1908 09. 27. OIOC, L/P&S/7/249-1151, Gyantse Annual report, 1910 – 11. 28. Ibid . 29. OIOC, MSS Eur F157-224a, published obituary (source unclear) contained in Kennedy to Bailey correspondence. Emphasis added. 30. OIOC, L/P&S/7/249-1151, dispensary report for the year ending 31 Dec. 1911. 31. OIOC, L/P&S/10/218-2396, dispensary report for the year ending 31 Dec. 1914. 32. OIOC, L/P&S/7/249-1151, Gyantse Annual report 1910–1911. No distinction is made in the British records between vaccination and revaccination. 33. OIOC, L/P&S/10/218-2396, dispensary report for the year ending 31 Dec. 1914. 34. OIOC, L/P&S/12/143-69, Kennedy report, 12 October 1921, forwarded in Bell to India, 5 December 1921. 35. OIOC, L/P&S/10/218-2120, Gyantse Annual report 1922–23. 36.Although no accurate figures are available, a population of 3,000 is a common contemporary estimate for Gyantse. 37. In the Gyantse Annual Reports for 1925 and 1926 (OIOC, L/P&S/12/4166-2080; L/ P&S/12/4166-3690), these officials are not identified, but the 1931 Gyantse Annual report (OIOC, L/P&S/12/4166-3129) identifies Tsarong Shape as one such individual, while the 1941 Gyantse Annual report (OIOC, L/P&S/12/4166-6895) mentions individuals including local Tibetan officials and landlords of Gy antse, along with Dzasa Lama, and the Jonpons of Shigatse and Serkya [sic : Sakya?] monastery, the latter sent through the Tibetan trade Agent in Gyantse. We may suspect that in recognis ing various individuals as well as the State government as equipped to distribute the lymph the British favoured their allies among the indigenous elites; certainly the British considered Tsarong and the Abbot of Sakya as favourable to them, on the latter, see the 1926 Gyantse Annual report ( op cit ), where the Sakya Rimpoche is described as having ‘charming manners’ and it is stated that he ‘asked to be vaccinated by the Agency Surgeon, and this was done’. 38. OIOC, MSS Eur D979, Ludlow diary entry, 31 March 1926. 39. OIOC, L/P&S/12/4166-1984, Yatung Annual report 1925-26. 40.See, on this period Melvyn Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State, Berkeley, 1989, pp.89-138. 41. OIOC, L/P&S/12/4166-2808, Gyantse Annual report, 1932-33. 42. OIOC, L/P&S/12/4166-3159, Gyantse Annual report, 1942-43: L/P&S/12/4166-3385, Yatung Annual report, 1942-43. 43. See, Dreyfus G, ‘Proto-Nationalism in Tibet’ in Kværne, P. (ed.), Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 6th International Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Fagernes 1992, Oslo (The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture), 1994, vol.1, pp.205-218. 44. This may, of course, represent further evidence that our understanding of nationalism needs significant revision from a less Eurocentric perspective!

130 TIBET JOURNAL 45. See Clive Dewey, ‘Patwari and Chaukidar: Subordinate Officials and the Reliability of India’s Agricultural Statistics’ in Dewey, C., & Hopkins, A.G. (eds.), The Imperial Impact; Studies in the Economic Histor y of Africa and India, London 1973; and Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Propaganda and Information in Eastern India, 1939-45: A Necessary Weapon of War , London, 2001.

Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo (1509-1579) on the Controversy of the Indian Origin of the rGyud bzhi Olaf Czaja

Since Karmay’s illuminating article, the Tibetan controversy regarding the origin of the famous rGyud bzhi had become also well-known to the Western audience. 1 Here it will be attempted to make some addition to this long standing discussion based on the view of Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo (Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo, 1509-1579), one of the main exponents of the zur lugs medical tradition. Recently some of his writings were published which allow a precious insight into this issue. This paper will give a short biography of him and outline his standpoint in this controversy. HIS BIOGRAPHY Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo was one of the most celebrated physicians of the 16th century. He was renowned for his erudition and his fervent endeavour to discuss controversial issues publicly. 2 He was born in 1509. The documents do not give the place of birth and the names of his parents. They also stay silent on what happened during the two first decades of his life. At first he bore the name Tshe brtan rgyal. When he was ordained by Karma ’phrin las pa (1456-1539), he received the name dPal ldan Don grub rnam rgyal. Later he was given the name Legs bshad ’tshol by the Eighth Karma pa Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507-1554). Still another name, Lodro Gyalpo, was given to him by the Zhva dmar ba.3 It is obvious that he was closely affiliated to the Karma pa school. Between 1532 and 1539 he studied at the Karma pa college for higher philosophical stud ies ( bshad grva) and became particularly well-versed in prosody and reasoning. 4 The former subject was taught to him by Rin chen bkra shis (b.15th cent.) alias sKyogs Lo tsa ba. It is not clearly stated in the sources, when he began to learn medicine. He was related to the celebrated physician Zurkharwa Nyamnyi Dorje (Zurkharwa mNyam nyid rdo rje, 1439-1475), who initiated a particular medical tradition known as zur lugs. Therefore one can assume that because of his family background Lodro Gyalpo had already a basic medical knowledge at an early age. 5 As already noted Lodro Gyalpo himself held the view that he was an reincarnation of Nyamnyi Dorje. He was assured in this by the Zhva dmar ba. 6 During his stay at the Karma pa monastic settlement, or perhaps at the end of it, he was urged by his lama to thoroughly study medicine. He composed his first dated work, a biography on Zurkharwa Nyamnyi Dorje, at Chos kyi sde gnyug, which belonged to the Sakyapa school, during the second half of the ninth month in 1539. 7 Then Lodro Gyalpo studied for three months with Glang phu Chos rje. 8 He was a pupil of Tsomed Khenchen (mTsho smad mkhan chen) who in turn had relied on Kong po Phrag dbon, a famous disciple of Nyamnyi Dorje. From Glang phu Chos rj e he received the initiation and the reading transmission of the g.Yu thog snying thig , and the reading transmission of the rGyud bzhi, Bye ba ring bsrel , Pad ma gces phreng , and bDud rtsi bum pa.9 This was followed by an extensive study with many famous doctors of his time regardless to which medical school they were affiliated. 10 Despite this he felt the necessity to search for the original writings of Yuthok Yonten

132 TIBET JOURNAL Gonpo and set off to his birth region at upper and lower Myang. 11 There his endeavours were crowned with success and he found the personal copies of the rGyud bzhi that had golden explanatory notes. 12 In the coming years he remained in this region and began to compose commentaries on the rGyud bzhi known as the Mes po’i zhal lung. In 1542 he completed his commentary on the rTsa rgyud, the first part of the rGyud bzhi.13 He was supported in this endeavour by Chos rgyal rGyal dbang rdo rje grags pa rgyal mtshan. Three years later, in 1545 he finished the commentary on the bShad rgyud in the vicinity of Pa snam Lhun grub rtse sponsored by the same patron. At the end of 1545 he was stricken with smallpox, but he recovered. The followin g year he seems to have stayed for a while at the so-called medical town of Sakya (Sa skya sman grong). There he met the provost ( zhal ngo ) of Brang ti, father and sons. 14 In about that time he also went to Lhasa. On a stone pillar, he put up his famous pamphlet containing questions about several medical issues. 15 In the same year of 1546 the famous Gra thang rGyud bzhi was carved in blockprints, based on a revision made by Lodro Gyalpo.16 Moreover at this time he went as an attendant of sGar chen to Zur phu.17 Of the following years nothing is recorded until the spring of 1554 when he met the famous ’Brug pa scholar Padma dkar po (1527-1592) in rGyal chen gling. 18 In 1566 he wrote a commentary on the first chapter of the Phyi ma rgyud that deals with pulse diagnosis.19 Obviously this work was planned to cover the entire Phyi ma rgyud but he did not succeed in this. During all this time the thoughts of Lodro Gyalpo revolved around the medical issues raised by him on the Lhasa pillar. Eventually in 1570 he wrote an treatise in which he gathered all questions and replies so far together with commentarial notes.20 Two years later in 1572 he composed a short treatise that investigates the origin of the rGyud bzhi. In 1573 he made a new edition of the Bye ba ring bsrel of Nyamnyi Dorje and wrote a table of contents for it. 21 In the last years of his life he began to compose a khog dbubs that remained unfinished probably because of his death. 22 The year when he passed away is not certain. 23 HIS TREATISE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE RGYUD BZHI As noted above, in 1572 he wrote his short treatise, “The Thorough Distinction (of) the Four Tantras (between) Authentic words and Treatise, The Torch that Dispels Darkness ( rGyud bzhi bka’ dang bstan bcos rnam par dbye ba mun sel sgron me ).24 This discussion whether the rGyud bzhi was expounded by Buddha or composed by a Tibetan author played out over centuries of Tibetan medical thinking. The earliest ‘medical history’ known to us, the Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba which had been written by Yuthok Yonten Gonpo and is preserved in the compilation called the ‘Eighteen Parts’ ( Cha lag bco brgyad ), had already dealt with this point. 25 Reviewing other medical histories it seems that it formed indeed an indispensible part of the medical discourse. 26 One gets the impression that, right from the beginning, medical writings concerning the rGyud bzhi had to takes sides in the discourse about whether it was the authentic words of Buddha, Indian works or medical compositions of indigenous origin. In this it shares this proceedure with textual sources of ritual or meditational purpose as well, but it appears that it centered on the rGyud bzhi insofar as medicine was concerned. Lodro Gyalpo was a fervent follower of the bka’ ma thesis. In his works he frequently expounded his view on this and he was lavish in his critique, which included wellfounded arguments and pedantic polemics, as well as crude insults. 27

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He structures his composition ‘The Torch that Dispels Darkness’ into three topics: (1) that explains the rGyud bzhi outwardly as the word ( bka’) of Buddha, (2) inwardly as a treatise ( bstan bcos) of a Pandita and (3) secretly as a Tibetan treatise. At the beginning Lodro Gyalpo gives an introduction on what words of Buddha and treatises are and ends this paragraph by a citation from the Prajnaparamita in Eight-Thousand Verses ( brGyad stong). This says that whatever the pious laymen of the Buddha say, talk, explain and teach is not in contradiction to the Dharmata ( chos nyid ). Also those who explain that Dharmata are not in contradiction to the Dharmata. This is in accord with the cause that Buddha expounded the Dharma. Then Lodro Gyalpo launches into the first topic. ON HOW THE BUDDHA EXPOUNDED THE RGYUD BZHI THE VIEW OF THE OTHERS THAT IS WRONG AND OBSTRUCTED Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo continues to say how it was expounded by Buddha. He states that what is explained by the rGyud bzhi’i rnam thar bka’ rgya ma is of special intent (dgongs pa can) and does not fit with the basic meaning ( don).28 Although in this very source it is maintained that it was taught at O rgyan, this is not to be understood as the true meaning ( don). There are no accounts that bring it together with reliable sources and trustworthy reasons but just accounts that take an unseen O rgyan as the basis, he explains. Then he introduces the different noti ons that exist regarding the place where this teaching was given. They are indeed abundant as the author himself sadly remarks. 29 In his opinion, these are not even as much as one single little hair related to reliable sources and reasons, epistomological explanations and reasoning. Then he starts to express what in his view sho uld be seen as truthful. THE OWN VIEW THAT IS CORRECT He begins this new paragraph by quoting the Bye brag tu bshad pa written by Vasubandhu. According to this work, Buddha stayed for four years in the Forest of Medicinal Herbs ( sman gyi nags su lo bzhi).30 Then he continues by saying that this forest or grove of medicinal herbs is the place where Buddha turned the wheel of the Four Noble Truths, his first authentic words. In the centre of this forest is a huge mountain with medicinal herbs. On the summit, there is a city of medical herbs called Pleasing to See (lTa sna sdug). Thus it is stated by the rTsa rgyud, the first part of the rGyud bzhi. On the four side of this very mountain are special herbs which are endowed with the power of sun and moon and are hot and cooling as indicated by their four names of these sides, namely Piercing (’Bigs byed), Aromatic (sPos ngad ldan), Having Snow (Gangs can) and Ma la ya. The intention of Lodro Gyalpo is appearantly twofold. He argues against O rgyan as the locality where the rGyud bzhi was taught and tries to relate the narration of the rGyud bzhi to authorative sources that are linked with Buddha. He continues by saying that in short the place as described by the rTsa rgyud is explained in the bShad rgyud. The mountain still exists nowadays but because the city was a magical creation, Rig pa’i ye shes together with a group of attendants withdrew their magical creation ( sprul ba bsdus pa) and the city does not exist anymore.31 Up to now there is an oral tradition among doctors ( lha rje) maintaining that this city exists but this is not reliable, according to Lodro Gyalpo.

134 TIBET JOURNAL At that place the one who expounded the tantras was the real Sakyamuni. It is the true and authentic word that was spoken by him, because Rig pa’i ye shes together with the four families and Yid las skyes had had a dialogue. Therefore these Rig pa’i ye shes are the true Buddha. 32 Perhaps it might be helpful to insert at this point the statement of someone who belongs to the opponent’s party in order to illustrate what their arguments were and to indicate the background of Lodro Gyalpo’s composition. One should refer to a contemporary of Lodro Gyalpo, namely the learned Kempa Tsewang (sKyem pa Tshe dbang, b.1514?). He is one of the few physicians who wrote commentaries on all four parts of the rGyud bzhi. His commentary on the Man ngag rgyud formed for a long while the best-known analysis of this third part. 33 He received his medical education from Kempa Tshe ’bum rdo rje, one of the four celebrated disciples of Zurkharwa Nyamnyi Dorje. Both doctors knew each other very well. In fact Lodro Gyalpo had written his first part of the Mes po’i zhal lung in 1542 at the behest of the Kempa Tsewang. 34 Later he was one of the doctors who sent replies to the questions that Lodro Gyalpo put up on a stone pillar at Lhasa. But obviously they did not agree on the Buddhist nature of the rGyud bzhi. Kempa Tsewang treats this issue from his point of view very briefly in his commentary on the rTsa rgyud composed in 1538. Here he rather straightforwardly disregards in seven arguments any claim that it could have been expounded by Buddha. 35 (1) According to him what the Medicine Buddha and his emanation Rig pa’i ye shes have expounded cannot be regarded as an authoritative text, because it is certain that for one teaching two teachers cannot emerge. (2) Moreover the medical city Pleasant to See and the groves of the mountain in all four directions are not mentioned in other sutras and tantras. Surely Kempa Tsewang was not the only one who held this argument. 36 (3) The following argument of Kempa Tsewang is that one cannot establish a correct ( rnam par dag) authoritative reading transmission and logic (lung rig) for the rGyud bzhi. (4) His next point focuses on the particular time when the rGyud bzhi have been taught and on the teachings itself. Kempa Tsewang states that because Buddha taught during his life-time, he let (his listeners) understand through the fourfold (turning of) the wheel in the mode of a teacher, each for one speech. In the colophon of the rGyud bzhi it is stated: (Buddha taught) the gSo dpyad ’bum pa’i rgyud to the group of gods (lha), the Tsa ra ka sde brgyad to the group of seers ( drang srong), the dBang phyug chen po’i skor to the group of non-Buddhists (mu stegs / phyi pa ) and the Rigs gsum mgon po’i skor to the group of Buddhists (nang pa).37

Kempa Tsewang continues to discuss this issue. (5) He says, if it is necessary to maintain the so-called tradition of drang srong as being the Tsa ra ka sde brgyad , then it is demonstrated that everything is compiled ( thams cad ’dus pa) in this gSo dpyad rgyud (i.e. the rGyud bzhi), because the Tsa ra ka sde brgyad is known to have been composed by the eight pupils of Indra ( brGya byin). Certainly this is a noteworthy point made by Kempa Tsewang. Indeed, if one follows the view of Buddha having expounded a drang srong-version of the rGyud bzhi, than one should expect that Tsa ra ka sde brgyad has not been compiled in the way which is widely accepted. 38 Untiringly Kempa Tsewang is pressing on this track of arguments. He states that if this is the case one has to consider the following scenarios. (6) He says that if it was taught after the main tenets of the four medical tradition (of gods and s o on) had been


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compiled, the rGyud bzhi would have become a treatise. If it was taught earlier, than it is necessary to assume that it was earlier than the gSo dpyad ’bum pa and the Tsa ra ka sde brgyad . Therefore one is not able to bring it in line with the attendant Ananda (’Khor Kun dga’ bo). 39 If it was expounded at the same time, it will become necessary to assure it as both the drang srong tradition and the tradition which states that everything was compiled ( thams cad ’dus pa). Then he criticizes the framework of the rGyud bzhi as contradictory. (7) The questioner is Yid las skyes pa (i.e. born from the heart,) who thoroughly examines the parts that are fully comprehended by others. The dharma that is condensed in Buddha through his heart vanishes, being his own mind-continuum ( rang rgyud ), and because he is born ( skyes pa) from (las) the heart ( yid ). Thus one regards him as ‘dead’ (nongs). If it is truly similar to the mode of a questioner, than he can not give an answer, in case one recognizes that he is dead. These are some of the arguments that followers of the bstan bcos thesis bring forth.40 Surely, Lodro Gyalpo was familiar with them. The second topic he deals with concerns the suggestion that it was composed by an Indian Pandit. EXPLAINING THE RGYUD BZHI INWARDLY AS A TREATISE OF A PANDIT Here he confines himself to a general exposition on what a treatise is. On the other hand he just enumerates the varying opinions on the authorship of the rGyud bzhi. For the first point, he refers to the rNam bshad rig pa, which distinguishes treatises as follows. There exist treatises without real meaning, with wrong meaning and with real meaning. The latter are valid ( tshad ) treatises. Then there are some that were written for selfish reasons, some that lack compassion and some that dispel suffering. The latter are correct ( yang dag) treatises. Furthermore one can find treatises that are mainly concerned with learning or with argumentation but also with realization ( sgrub). These treatises focusing on realization are correct and valid. The rGyud bzhi, however, is not a treatise that deals with realization. It is, however, a correct treatise that has true meaning and dispels suffering. Secondly Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo gives in a very condensed form all views that differ from the accepted authorship. Some maintain that it was composed by O rgyan Padmasambhava while some by O rgyan Padmasambhava, Kha che Zla dga’ and Vairocana together. There are also some who say that it was collectively written by Grva pa mNgon shes, dBus pa Dar rgyas and sTon chen dKon mchog skyabs at Tshar pa sna’i ri gdong in sKyid sman. Again some say that, immediately after Padmasambhava and Vairocana had translated it, it was hidden as treasure in a vase in a pillar at bSam yas. Afterwards Grva ba mNgon shes discovered it. Some say that it was not hidden as treasure. According to them, there exists a transmission line from Trisong Deutsen to the present kings of mNga’ ris. Lodro Gyalpo concludes this overview by dryly remarking that all these are assumptions which lack a proper understanding of the truth. He eventually gives his attention to the claim that it was composed by a Tibetan. EXPLAINING THE RGYUD BZHI SECRETLY AS ATIBETAN TREATISE He briefly lists those who hold this view and gives short quotations. Then he explains the main reasons for thinking of rGyud bzhi as a Tibetan treatise.

136 TIBET JOURNAL DIFFERING NOTIONS According to him, Bo dong Phyogs las rnam rgyal (1376-1451) wrote that he studied the rGyud bzhi, which was composed by a skilled Tibetan doctor. 41 Furthermore sTag tshang Lo tsa ba Shes rab rin chen (b.1405) said that, with regard to the diagnosis by means of taking the pulse and urine analysis there was no such explanation in India. It was made by a Tibetan doctor, a Bodhisattva. 42 Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo says that Pan chen Shakya mchog ldan (1428-1507) agrees with both, being of the opinion that it is a treatise composed by a Tibetan. 43 ON THE TIBETAN COMPOSER OF THE RGYUD BZHI Our author starts this passage by saying that there existed those who were known as the Nine Experts in Tibet ( Bod du mkhas pa mi dgu) and the Nine Personal Physicians of King Trisong Deutsen ( chos rgyal Khri srong lde’u btsan gyi bla sman mi dgu ).44 Those nine experts were the teachers of Zhang Ri bong gZi brjid ’bar and the pupils of A tsa ra Phyag rdum. 45 Among them was Yuthok rGya gar Badzra. His son is Yuthok Yonten Gonpo.46 Then Lodro Gyalpo explains how the name Yuthok originated. He tells that Yuthok rGya gar Badzra practised as the doctor of the sDug ’dre of rGya brag ka ba ’phrang who belonged to the ’Bre family of Myang stod, which had possession of the clans of ’Bre and Khyung. As a reward he obtained the corpse of a woman which was lavishly adorned with jewellery made of turquoises. When he spread this jewellery on the roof terrace to dry it, a shepherd and his children saw it from a nearby mountain. They thought that the roof was made of turquoise. Henceforth the family became known as ‘the one of the turquoise roof’ (g.Yu thog pa). 47 Then Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo continues to explain how Yuthok composed the rGyud bzhi. If one says that, because Yuthok took the authentic words of Buddha as the base, there can not be any mistakes at all, then one should explain it as follows. If it is not composed as though it were an authoritative text ( bka’), than it is hard to trust all those Tibetans who are wise, stupid and who are of medium intellect. If it is not composed as though it were an authoritative text in the face of those who do not investigate the meaning but just comprehend the words, than it is not just collected. Otherwise it is very clear that on the issue of medicinal tea ( na ja), porcelain ( dkar yol) and examination of pulse and urine ( rtsa chu brtag pa) it is a basic textual source of Chinese astrology ( nag rtsis kyi gzhung) and a Tibetan treatise like the one entitled the Singing of the Cuckoo ( Khu byug gi skad ’don).48 But it is necessary to recognize this mode of explanation that rGyud bzhi is arranged like authentic words. As the next step Lodro Gyalpo analyses the rGyud bzhi as a textual composition by traditional means of reasoning. 49 It is accomplished by a threefold approach consisting of (1) the intentional subject ( dgongs gzhi) (2) the necessity or motive for expounding it ( dgos) and (3) the criterion that conflicts with the real state of things ( dngos la gnod byed ).50 Regarding the intentional subject ( dgongs gzhi) Lodro Gyalpo writes that the birthplace of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo had the effect of hot and cooling and was endowed with the power of sun and moon. By this statement he brings it close to the description the city of lTa na sdug where the rGyud bzhi was taught. 51 The ensuing conversation between Rig pa’i ye shes and Yid las skyes as it is found in the rGyud bzhi corresponds to Yuthok Yonten Gonpo and his pupil Sum ston Ye shes gzungs. For this Lodro


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Gyalpo cited the rNam thar bKa’ rgya ma written by Ye shes gzungs that states: “I think that (my) bla ma is the true Rig pa’i ye shes. I am Yid las skyes.” 52 Therefore Yuthok Yonten Gonpo himself is Rig pa’i ye shes. Sum ston Ye shes gzungs is Yid las skyes. The motive (dgos pa) was that all people who have difficulties in being satisfied should be guided. The contradicting criterion ( dngos la gnod byed ) is that the city lTa na sdug and the mountains like Gangs can and ’Bigs byed are not real. One should imagine that their effective and beneficial qualities ( nus pa yon tan) are equal. As already mentioned, Lodro Gyalpo had already broached this question concerning the real state of the medical city lTa na sdug, holding the view that this very city does not exist anymore since it was a mere illusion ( sprul pa). By this he dismisses the criterion that would have been in conflict with the rGyud bzhi being the authentic word of Buddha. Therefore Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo is obviously a follower of the tradition that regards the rGyud bzhi as of Indian origin and ultimately expounded by Buddha. He clearly rejects all views that claim its author as Yuthok Yonten Gonpo. But he cannot refute all the arguments of his opponents who refer to passages and expressions that can hardly be of Indian origin. Nevertheless he attempts to solve contradictions in the rGyud bzhi by means of reasoning. From his point of view he affirmed the claim that the rGyud bzhi is bka’ instead of bstan bcos. This article could probably end here but there are some details which must be added. They can be gathered from the khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso. 53 At the end of the biographical sketch on Lodro Gyalpo, there is a list of his works. When it comes to the entry that concerns the present treatise, Sangye Gyatso gives a description that is undoubtedly a citation of the words of Lodro Gyalpo. 54 The passage that is slightly paraphrased here goes: With regard to removing contradictions of the ‘ rGyud bzhi (as) Authentic Text (and) Treatise.’ (rGyud bzhi bka’ bstan) there are successively former masters of scholars who regard (the rGyud bzhi) outwardly (as) an authentic text of Buddha, inwardly (as) a treatise of a Pandit and secretly (as) a Tibetan treatise. In particular there exist the remains from fragments of the sPyi don dngul dkar me long 55 of the rJe Dharmasvamin of my own family and commentaries on the rGyud bzhi as the Pod shal khra mo56 and so on. In the fragment of the dNgul dkar me long that did not come to my sight earlier it is that the unchanged (sor gnas) authentic words ( bka’) of the rGyud bzhi are (in fact a composition) fashioned inwardly as a tantra ( rgyud ) and in the writings of Bla rta Tshe dbang the Bai durya’i chu rgyun of Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho of Gro sa in ’Phan yul is criticized. Therefore I understood that even the Dharmasvamin Nyamnyi Dorje was in agreement with that thorough tradition and regarding the loud roar of disrespect in the very clear khog ’bugs of the teacher of my lama, Tsomed Khenchen. Sa skya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1252) wrote, “Those who go beyond modesty that is spoiled from the ground, carry their own bad rumours as response, some royal families of the country of Kan tsa, beat the drum of victory having killed the father ”, or in colloquial language (one says:) the head of one’s own medical tradition is crushed from inside of the helmet.57

This is his statement but what does it mean? Why does Lodro Gyalpo give such rather unexpected comments on his own treatise? For this it is most helpful to turn to the khog dbubs that Lodro Gyalpo had started to write but that he left unfinished. Here one gains an understanding as to what Lodro Gyalpo meant by this and it is unquestionably rather amazing. In short, he had completely changed sides. At the

138 TIBET JOURNAL end of his life he is of the opinion that Yuthok Yonten Gonpo had written the rGyud bzhi and any claim that it was expounded by Buddha is dismissed. He clearly writes that Yuthok had written the Lag len pod chung and the rGyud chung bdud rtsi snying po artificially designing it as it would have been composed by Kha che Zla dga’. Later he expanded them to his rGyud bzhi.58 For the sake of his pupils, in order to generate their devotion, he had composed it as though it were the authentic words (bka’) of Buddha. Lodro Gyalpo could not have been farther away from his previous convictions. Furthermore as already said Lodro Gyalpo had made fieldwork in Myang for his search of the rGyud bzhi and therefore it seems that he also came in contact with the descendants of Yuthok. According to Lodro Gyalpo those held believes that Yuthok became the personal physician of the kings of China and India and he passed away at the age of 74. Such notions are now seen by him in a rather unfavourable light. He says that for all such beliefs the writings of Yuthok are responsible, in which such legendary accounts are expressed. 59 Although Lodro Gyalpo had trusted these sources until the age of 63 or even later, by now he offers, however, a rather down-toearth evaluation of the scholarly activities of Yuthok, which has been stripped of any legends. Moreover other treatises written by later generation in support of the bka’ ma origin of the rGyud bzhi were all rejected by now. 60 One of the opinions he mentioned is of particular interest and should therefore be singled out. According to him there are some doctors who maintain that this was taught by the Medicine Buddha. The seers who put forward questions were embodiments of his body, speech, mind, qualities and deeds. Clearly, one doctor who had expressed such a view was Tsomed Khenchen. He was a teacher of Glang bu Chos rje who in turn taught Lodro Gyalpo. When Lodro Gyalpo refers rather sarcastically to the very illuminating ( shin tu gsal) khog ’bugs, he means ”The Khog bug of the Art of Healing, Fully Illuminated the Objects of Knowledge” ( gSo ba rig pa’i khog bug shes bya rab tu gsal ba ) and “The Khog ’bugs, the Mirror of Silver of Elegant Sayings” ( Khog ’bugs legs bshad dngul dkar me long).61 It is obvious that he had completely broken with Tsomed Khenchen, even though he was part of his teacher and pupil lineage. It must be that the fragments of the khog ’bugs of Nyamnyi Dorje let him understand that the latter did not belong to the party who regarded the rGyud bzhi as Buddha’s words. This was seemingly something that caused him serious trouble. In all his former scholarly compositions he had strongly emphasized the bka’ ma thesis. In the biography on Nyamnyi Dorje he duly reported that Yuthok Yonten Gonpo passed away in a mass of rainbow light. 62 In his Mes po’i zhal lung, e.g. his two commentaries of the rTsa rgyud and bShad rgyud written between 1542 and 1545, he firmly regarded the rGyud bzhi as bka’ ma and profoundly expressed this view. The pamphlet of the next year also dealt with this point. 63 In his commentary on the Phyi ma rgyud of which he just finished the first chapter on puls e diagnosis he takes this opinion as common sense and insults those who differ from this. 64 Six years later he had composed this very treatise that defends the bka’ ma thesis. Besides, he was a recognized reincarnation of Nyamnyi Dorje, the celebrated founder of the zur lugs tradition. For such a gifted logician as Lodro Gyalpo this was unquestionably a kind of challenge, that he differed in such an essential point from his former existence. At the same time one has to stress that obviously this was not the only reason, rather that he has been also affected by the arguments of Kempa


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Tsewang. It speaks for this fascinating and strong personality that he had chosen a way of completely reviewing his arguments and taking an entirely new stand instead of simply questioning the authenticity of the fragments and explaining away this troublesome issue as it can be found in intellectual history and in Tibetan as well. But what did Lodro Gyalpo mean by maintaining that Tsomed Khenchen had shown disrespect to his own tradition and had betrayed zur tradition? As is known, one of the teachers of Tsomed Khenchen was Phrag dbon bSod nams bkra shis, who was a personal disciple of Nyamnyi Dorje. 65 Unfortunately, until now none of the writings of Phrag dbon bSod nams bkra shis have come to light. Therefore we must rely on the khog ’bugs of mNga’ ris ’Tsho byed Chos skyong dpal bzang (b.1479). 66 With regard to the nature of the rGyud bzhi, he is of the opinion that it is a treatise composed by Yuthok. In his own words he found himself in agreement with scholars like Sakya sMan grong pa, Dvags po Pandita, and most significantly here, with Kong sman bSod nams bkra shis. 67 Based on this, one might conclude that Phrag dbon, alias Kong sman bSod nams bkra shis, one of the teachers of Tsomed Khenchen, was a follower of the bstan bcos thesis. Perhaps Lodro Gyalpo might have known this but, presumably, as long as he had not found a clear evidence of the hands of Nyamnyi Dorje, he preferred to follow the bka’ ma thesis, most likely also due to the writings of Tsomed Khenchen. The situation changed completely when the above-mentioned fragments fell into his hands. Now he accused Tsomed Khenchen of taking up a position that is entirely in contradiction to the zur tradition, as Lodro Gyalpo has suddenly realized. Certainly, he did not regard him as representing the zur school of medical thinking anymore. Instead of this he compares the views of Tsomed Khenchen as being similar to killing his own parents. Now the crisis Lodro Gyalpo underwent becomes clear. After he had written his treatise “The Thorough Distinction (of) the Four Tantras (between) Authentic Words and Treatise, The Torch that Dispels Darkness” ( rGyud bzhi bka’ dang bstan bcos rnam par dbye ba mun sel sgron me ) he had to experience that his torch was shedding darkness instead of dispelling it. The fragments of the khog ’bugs of his former existence, Nyamnyi Dorje, caused a sudden awakening on this. Tsomed Khenchen is made responsible for the formerly erroneous views of Lodro Gyalpo. 68 It would be of utmost interest to have now a closer look on the other part of the statement of Lodro Gyalpo which in the writings of Bla rta Tshe dbang the Bai durya’i chu rgyun of Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho of Gro sa is criticized. As has been outlined above Bla rta Tshe dbang alias Kempa Tsewang does not follow the bka’ ma thesis in his commentaries of the rGyud bzhi. But beyond this we do not know much about him and his views. It is known that Kempa Tsewang had composed a treatise entitled sPyi don legs bshad ’dod ’jo, because Sangye Gyatso refers to it at the end of his khog ’bugs.69 Here he reviews several treatises and shortly states what these have to say on the nature of the rGyud bzhi. For the work of Kempa Tsewang he notes that he regarded it as outward, inward and secret tantra ( rgyud ).70 Possibly Lodro Gyalpo had this outline in mind when he wrote his treatise but naturally it could be also the reverse, as we do not know the time of composition for Kempa Tsewang. Unfortunately concerning the Bai durya’i chu rgyun of Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho of Gro sa nothing substantial can be said. It is just clear that in this text the view is expressed that the rGyud bzhi was spoken at O rgyan during the middle turning of wheel of teachings but he did not regard it as a gter ma.71

140 TIBET JOURNAL This reorientation of Lodro Gyalpo marks a break in his life. How he had mastered it is surely noteworthy. His turn to the party that supported the thesis of the rGyud bzhi as an original Tibetan treatise had a strong influence on the zur tradition. According to the testimony of Sangye Gyatso, the works of this school which were composed later did follow Lodro Gyalpo’s convictions. His polemics against this clearly show that Lodro Gyalpo’s khog ’bugs, although unfinished, still had a tremendous impact. 72 Sangye Gyatso who utilized all his political influence to strengthen the bka’ ma thesis and the claim that it was hidden as gter ma was surely frustrated by this. In this regard he was certainly favourably inclined to the Byang school that held a view corresponding to his own. It says something for Sangye Gyatso that nevertheless he patronized the new edition of the Mes po’i zhal lung but it speaks for itself that he did not bring forth evidences against the opinion of Lodro Gyalpo, except for polemics. Nowadays Sangye Gyatso has assert ed himself against Lodro Gyalpo but surely not by means of superior argumentation. His opinion became accepted as standard and is virtually regarded as the fundamental Tibetan notion on Tibetan medicine in the majority of Western and Tibetan publications. Contrary to this it seems that Lodro Gyalpo is largely forgotten today, although he was truly outstanding in his intellectual endeavours and his writings belong unquestionably to the most fascinating and enduring works of Tibetan medicine.

Notes 1. This article was originally published in Tibetan Medicine, Dharamsala: 1990, no.13, 1931. Many invaluable informations can also be found in Taube 1981: 31ff. 2. The main source for his life is the account by Sangye Gyatso, KhB [349/8-355/9]. This is the sole base for Jampa Thinley 2000: 226-229, Lama Kyab 1997: 237-240, Pasang Yonten 1988: 112-116, Kalsang Thinley 1997: 378-380, Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999. It seems that Kalsang Thinley 1997 had also access to another source, the rGan po’i kha chems (on this see below). Beside this none of them made use of the compositions of Lodro Gyalpo except Taube 1981: 63-66. Schaeffer 2003 gives a precious insight into some aspects of this personality. 3. This is stated by Sangye Gyatso, KhB [349/11]. It is repeated by Jampa Thinley 2000: 226, Lama Kyab 1997: 239, Kalsang Thinley 1997: 378. It is not sure which Zhva dmar pa is meant — the 4th Zhva dmar ba Chos grags ye shes (1453-1524) or his successor the 5th Zhva dmar ba dKon mchog yan lag (1525-1583). The name Lodro Gyalpo has to be seen in connection with his status of being an incarnation of Nyamnyi Dorje (see below). The colophons of the works of Lodro Gyalpo give a variety of names. In his earliest dated work of 1539 he gives his name as dPal Don grub rnam rgyal dbang po’i sde ’jigs pa med pa phyogs kyi go cha. Although this composition makes mention of a prophecy that Nyamnyi Dorje will be reborn as Lodro Gyalpo, the author does not indicate that he is actually this very reincarnation. This is possibly a hint that at that time he was not yet the recognized incarnation of Nyamnyi Dorje. It becomes evident, however, in the colophon of commentary of the bShad rgyud of 1545. Here he styles himself as the second A po Chos rje (i.e. Nyamnyi Dorje), MPZhL II [541/6]. Perhaps this can be regarded as a proof that Lodro Gyalpo was recognized as an reincarnation between 1539 and 1545 and received the name of Lodro Gyalpo. One can speculate that this can also be linked with his search for the rGyud bzhi of Yonten Gonpo, although admittedly other scenarios are also possible. Based on this one can be inclined to favour the 5th Zhva dmar ba dKon mchog yan lag (1525-1583) as the one who bestowed the name upon him. Based on chronological considerations Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999 suggest that it is the 4th Zhva dmar pa, ibid.


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4. This detail comes from his own pen as some of following statements. They are at the beginning of his rGan po’i kha chems , STsCT [10/7-]. His affiliation to the Karma pa school can also be seen in his writings. In his rGan po’i kha chems and his commentary on pulse diagnosis he discusses a particular issue related to pulse taking, namely the exact beginning of the Tibetan year. There he refers to biographies of Karma pa personalities, STsCT [51/14], MPZhL IV [60/5] 5. Cf, KhB [349/13] 6. KhB [354/10]. Cf. also n.1. In the biography of Nyamnyi Dorje a passage is included that consists of a prophecy. A Mi bskyod rdo rje and a Lodro Gyalpo are named as future incarnations, STsCT [91/9]. A similar but in some respects differing passage is also found in a short treatise entitled Zur mkhar kun mkhyen ’tsho byed grub pa’i skyes rabs nyung ngu contained in one version of the Bye ba ring bsrel , BBRS I [427/5-429/5]. 7. It is dated to the white half of smin drug can in earth male pig year. It seems that he had done much research for this. He based himself on the informations given by Karma ’phrin las and drawn from the collected writings of Nyamnyi Dorje. He also made enquiries from elderly people. This meticulous research method is certainly something that characterizes him through his life. One may note here that in the colophon of this biography he gives his name as dPal Don grub rnam rgyal dbang po’i sde ’jigs pa med pa phyogs kyi go cha. In his medical writings of later date he preferred the name Legs bshad ’tshol. 8. There are alternative spellings: Glang bu Chos rje or Glang phu Chos rje. The first part of the name seems to be a toponym, because Lodro Gyalpo calls him Chos rje from Glang phu, glang phu nas chos rje STsCT [10/18]. Samten 1992: 91, Jampa Thinley 2000: 226 give Glang bu Chos rje. At one instance one can find the spelling Gling bu Chos rje, KhB [353/16]. Glang phu Chos rje is otherwise unknown. There are no writings of his mentioned in any documents. One may assume that he was not so influential a doctor as the teachers Lodro Gyalpo attended to in later times. His report on him is rather laconic. Due to the order of his lama he was searching for a good teacher and regarded him as suitable in the current situation, STsCT [10/18]. 9. STsCT [11/1-3]. Cf., also KhB [349/19]. 10. Namely the Byang pa brothers, dPon tshang Phan dar and his pupils, Sa skya sman grong father and son, the nephew of Phyag sman Rin rgyal fro m mNga’ ris, ’A pha tshe ring from Gu ge, the nephew ( dbon po) of Bi ji, the nephew ( tsha bo) of ’Ug pa, the sTag rtse doctor from Byang, STsCT [11/3-10]. Cf. also Jampa Thinley 2000: 226. Sangye Gyatso identifies the Byang pa brothers as probably belonging to the generation of bKra shis dpal bzang, KhB [350/1-5]. 11. Yonten Gonpo had lived at sGo bzhi re thang, near Ra lung in Upper Myang. 12. This is the so-called Phyag dreg ma. In secondary sources it is always stated that he found a copy of this text. But one must stress here that it were several versions of the same text he came across. He explicitly says that this text came from sKyil khud and Lung dmar and so on. Therefore it were more than just one. Both places are situated in Myang, the home region of the Yuthok clan. The grand-father of Yonten Gonpo had three sons, namely brJid po, Grags seng and Khyung po. The eldest took possession of sKyil khud and Yuthok proper. The middle took Lung dmar and the youngest, the father of Yonten Gonpo, got sGo bzhi re thang, the birth-place of Yonten Gonpo, SBPKhB [314/3-5]. The version with golden explanatory notes is said to be made by Yuthok Yonten Gonpo for his sons. In later times there was obviously a need for manuscripts with the authentic words of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo. Nyamnyi Dorje had already made a critic edition of the rGyud bzhi that became known as the Zur mkhar ba’i rgyud bzhi rnam dag ma , STsCT [99/15]. 13. Cf. Czaja 2003.

142 TIBET JOURNAL 14. This formulation leaves it open, if they were actually of the Brang ti line or not. Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999 interpret this phrase as the Zhalngo (Tib. zhal ngo) family, a father and son partnership, of Dangti, ibid. But this seems to me not convincing. This famous family of doctors claims to go back as late as the Tibetan empire during which personalities of this family served as personal physicians of the Tibetan kings. For more details, see for instance KhB [291/17-], Taube 1981. Indeed, this claim is also accepted by Ye shes gzungs, the disciple of Yuthok Gonpo, in his commentary of the bShad rgyud that forms part of the Cha lag bco brgyad , ChLCG [290/5-8]. Brang ti ’Jam dpal bzang po, brother of the famous Brang ti dPal ldan ’tsho byed, has met Yuthok Gonpo. Subsequently the rGyud bzhi together with minor works that follow it ( cha lag) became an essential part of the medical knowledge of this family line. Nevertheless the Yan lag brgyad pa was still highlighted by them as well as by the Sakyapa. Their special medical treatises, however, were the so-called gSer bre and dNgul bre. It seems that in later times the Brang ti were closely related to the Gong sman pa, cf. Taube 1981: 67ff. It is known that Lodro Gyalpo was also in contact with the latter. He had written a letter with questions known as Dri ba tsu ta’i ’khri shing to Gong sman dKon mchog phan dar (1511-1577), KhB [353/5], Samten 1992: 91, Jampa Thinley 2000: 227. His stay at Sakya gave him the opportunity to extend significantly his medical studies. There he learned the Yan lag brgyad pa with its self commentary, the Zla zer , the rGyud bzhi, the Cha lag bco brgyad and a text that has the appearance of a dKar chag that is linked with both works (dkar chag gi nang bzhin), the reading transmission (lung) of the gSer bre and dNgul bre, STsCT [12/7-10]. Cf. also KhB [350/9-10]. In his khog dbubs Lodro Gyalpo says that the gSer bre and dNgul bre were based on the Yan lag brgyad pa , BGGP-KhB [309/1-2]. Moreover he states that he got his precepts fr om Chos rgyal bKra shis kun dga’ don grub, ibid. [307/19]. 15. Lodro Gyalpo calls it the ‘Medical Questions, the Embellishments of the Lhasa Stone Pillar, a Letter of Gold’ ( sMan dpyad kyi dri ba lha sa’i rdo ring mdzes byed gser gyi pa tra), or shortly ‘Embellishment of the Stone Pillar’, STsCT [73/13]. For his own disciples he wrote a commentary on it entitled Rin po che’i khra tshom, STsCT [73/15], gSer gyi phra tshoms, KhB [350/19]. Cf, also Czaja 2003. There it is said that it consists of 14 versified questions. This was based on the reply to this work by Bod mkhas pa Mi pham dge legs (1618-1685), without having access to the newly edited collected writings of Lodro Gyalpo. Therefore one should note that the rGan po’i kha chems, however, has eight questions. Therefore it seems that one should correct this. An in-depth study of these works will shed more light on this discrepancy. 16. This rGyud bzhi is named after Gra thang where it was carved. He did not rediscover it as stated by Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999, Czaja 2003. Cf., also Jampa Thinley 2000: 227, Lama Kyab 1997: 240. Kalsang Thinley 1997 states that Lodro Gyalpo went to Lho kha Dra thang but he gives no textual evidence for this, ibid.379. Sangye Gyatso reports that at the beginning the Rin spungs pa promised to sponsor the carving, but then he did not keep it. Instead of him the ruler of Yar rgyab became the patron, KhB [351/11-18], [354/ 18-355/3]. Pasang Yonten 1988 maintains that the carving started in 1566 and was completed in 1572, but he does not indicate on what these data are based, ibid.114. The Dra thang rGyud bzhi became a widely used version of the rGyud bzhi, cf. Czaja 2003. 17. STsCT [12/11]. At another occasion he speaks of sGar chen as sGar chen Thams cad mkhyen pa, STsCT [52/4]. Perhaps one can identify him as the Eighth Karma pa Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507-1554). In 1545 the Eighth Karma pa visited the places of Ya ’brog gshag rtse, dGa’ ri, Zul phu and Bu shang rdo. In 1546 he was again in the vicinity of Zul phu monastery, ’Jam dbyangs tshul khrims 1997: 166/1-6. Therefore it might be that one should read Zul phu instead of Zur phu. 18. PKP [230/2]. 19. The year of composition can be ascertained from a short remark in this very treatise. Therefore he says that he had put forward a specific question on pulse taking in the rDo


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ring mdzes byed . Even though twenty years have passed since then, he did not receive a reply that answered this point, MPZhL IV [44/5]. Kalsang Thinley 1997 is of the opinion that this commentary was written in Pa nam after those on the rTsa rgyud and bShad rgyud and then he proceed to dBus in order to put up his pamphlet, ibid.379. This is not the case, I believe. 20. This is the rDo ring mdzes byed kyi dris lan rgan po’i kha chems mtshan mo mun nag gi glog ’od , STsCT [10/1-]. He was about to turn 61 at that time. Because he was ill, he was unable to write and needed the help of the nephew of ’Bri gung Kun spangs pa, Rin chen chos dbang, as a scribe, STsCT [73/18-74/10]. Perhaps the title of this work: “The Will of an Old Man” ( rGan po’i kha chems) reflects how serious he considered his illness. Regarding this work, the comment of Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999 confuses the facts. They state that he had written this work at his own expenses, because the sponsor Rin spungs pa did not finance it, ibid. The latter fact, however, is only be applicable to the Dra thang rgyud bzhi. 21. This dKar chag is entitled Bye ba ring bsrel gyi dkar chag mkhas pa’i yid ’phrog gi lhan thabs dad ldan snyim ma’i me tog , BBRS II [3/1-7/2]. 22. KhB [354/2], Samten 1992: 92. Sangye Gyatso names a title that slightly differs from the published one: Chos gyi chos ’byung gang dag byang chub sems dpa’i spyad pa spyod par ’dod pa’i sman pa rnams kyi mi shes su mi rung ba’i phyi nang gzhan gsum gyis rnam bzhag shes bya spyi’i khog dbub pa gtam pa med pa’i mchod sbyin gyi sgo ’phar yangs por phye ba. He gives an outline of its contents, KhB [566/1-18]. 23. Pasang Yonten 1988 states that he lived approximately 69 years, ibid. 116. Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999 give the year 1579. The Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo (People’s Publishing House, 1993) gives at the entry for Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo that he had lived for more than 69 years. Schaeffer 2003 states that he lived until at least 1673, when he composed his treatise on bka’ ma and bstan bcos, ibid. 627. Samten 1992 gives the year 1572, ibid.92. He relies on the assumption of Sangye Gyatso. Sangye Gyatso is of the opinion that he died not much later than the age of 61, KhB [355/5]. He cites the rGan po’i kha chems in support of this, although he was aware that Lodro Gyalpo wrote also the rGyud bzhi bka’ bstan, the text that is in the centre of this paper, KhB [352/5]. Moreover on should note that the fragmented but voluminous khog dbubs of Lodro Gyalpo is certainly written some time after this treatise of 1672. 24. The colophon states that because some doctors who were at bShad sgrub gling did not agree whether the rGyud bzhi is authentic word ( bka’) or a treatise (bstan bcos), he made his mind up that it was necessary to make a thorough investigation of it. He wrote his treatise during a tea-break on the 13th of the ngos month, when he got 63 years old. I n the concluding remarks of his work, he says that one shou ld thoroughly study his composition because, if one carefully examines it, one will get a firm knowledge of the truth, MSGM [71/10-21]. 25. On the Cha lag bco brgyad , see Taube 1981: 39ff. He already notes the difficulties to establish the authorship of the Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba, ibid. 40. In the colophon of this text the author is Yuthok Yonten Gonpo, ChLCG, [33/6]. 26. One should mention the khog ’bugs of Desi Sangye Gyatso, of Tsomed Khenchen Kunga Gyaltsen and of Zukharwa Lodro Gyalpo. 27. In his writings there are abundant examples for this. The statement by Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999 that “Although he regards debate as one of the necessary actions of a scholar, he seemed to have kept a diplomatic policy in his talks, showing his great respect for other scholars”, is an misunderstanding of a passage given by Jampa Thinley 2000: 228. But Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999 also acknowledge that “In his writings, however, he became well known for his critical approach”, ibid. 28. This source is contained in the Cha lag bco brgyad under the title of brGyud pa’i rnam thar med thabs med pa bzhugs, ChLCG [690/1-]. The title in its colophon is brGyud pa’i rnam thar bka’ rgya ma dang bcas pa. Although a continuous text, its contents can be

144 TIBET JOURNAL divided into two parts — the transmission line of the rGyud bzhi (brGyud pa’i rnam thar ) that is written in seven syllables and obviously authored by Ye she gzungs and the secret order (bKa’ rgya ma) composed in nine syllables by ’Tsho byed gZhon nu ye shes. This was already noted by Taube 1981: 40. 29. He names: (a) the land of O rgyan, (b) on the peak of Mt. Kailash, (c) in a palace in accordance with what is said in the rNam dbye’i rgyud , (d) between Mt. Kailash and lake Mansarovar, (e) at Vajrasana etc. See also Meyer at al.1992 who refers to the khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso, ibid.4, and especially Taube 1981: 34. Sangye Gyatso states that the Fifth Dalai Lama Blo bzang rgya mtsho (1617-1682) favoured O rgyan, KhB [274/17], [562/17]. In his Vaidurya sngon po he took up this issue and treats it in some length giving also the names of those who held such an opinion, cf. VNg [11/9-]. It seems that in the eyes of Sangye Gyatso this issue was at the core of the discussion. In the lengthy colophon of his khog ’bugs he distinguishes all other medical treatises he had used on the basis of their opinion about O rgyan as the place where the rGyud bzhi was expounded. 30. This verse included in a longer quotation is found in the Mes po’i zhal lung and in the Vaidurya sngon po by Sangye Gyatso, MPZhL I [43/2-4]. According to the latter he cites from the fragmentary reading transmission tradition (lung dum bu) of the Bye brag tu bshad mdzod chen mo, VNg [12/20-13/4], [1448/12-18]. It is a condensed list on how many years Buddha stayed at each place. ’Gos Lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal reports in his Blue Annals that sTengs pa Lo tsa ba Tshul khrims ’byung gnas (1107-1190) had studied this work in India and after his return started to translate it in co-operation with Alamkaradeva, but he passed away before he could complete this task. It is said that two-third of the text were already finished, Roerich 1988: 1054. sTag tshang dPal ’byor bzang po too states that it was never completely translated into Tibetan, GBYTsh [70/14]. This citation given by Lodro Gyalpo and Sangye Gyatso was used to provide textual evidence that, in the literature related to Buddha, mention is made of a place that is or could be lTa na sdug, the medical city where the rGyud bzhi was expounded. 31. The four groups of attendants (rigs bzhi) are the gods (lha), the seers (drang srong), nonBuddhist (mu stegs) and the Buddhist (nang pa). It is said that the Medicine Buddha imbodied in four siblings each called Rig pa’i ye shes. These four simultaneously taught the rGyud bzhi to each group. VNg [24/17-25/15], Cf. Meyer et al. 1992: 17. 32. One should note here that Rig pa’i ye shes has incarnated for four times: therefore he is treated by the Tibetan writers in the plural. See also ChLCG [37/3]. 33. Cf. Czaja 2003, see also there for further references. 34. Cf. Czaja 2003 35. KPTshB I [18/1-21]. 36. Indeed bKra shis dpal bzang critizes a similar position. He argues with those who point out that this city Pleasant to See did not exist at all and cannot be seen. His arguments are not dissimilar to those of Lodro Gyalpo. He stress the nature of this city as an illusion (sprul) and defends his position in detail but does not deal with the issue that there is no reference to this very city in sutra or tantra literature, KG [76/20-] 37. Cf., VNg [24/17-25/15] 38. One should add that one must consequently regard the Tsa ra ka sde brgyad as bka’, if this applies for the rGyud bzhi. A point that is taken up by Lodro Gyalpo in his Mes po’i zhal lung, MPZhL I [91/5-6]. He says that others state that according to the bDud rtsi snying po the sMan gyi lung, gSer ’od dam pa and gSo dpyad ’bum pa are bka’. (The bDud rtsi snying po is the rGyud chung bdud rtsi snying po by Yonten Gonpo. For this citation, see ChLCG [755/11]). But the Tsa ra ka, mDo lnga and so on are treatises written by Buddhist, non-Buddhist and seers. For Lodro Gyalpo it is not problematic to regard the Tsa ra ka as a treatise. Because of the work of different compilers for the eight sections of the Tsa ra ka sde brgyad it was called a treatise. As an example he gives the seven se ctions


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of Abhidharma. Although it is bka’, it is a treatise, because it was compiled by seven Arhats. 39. Ananda belongs to the Buddhist group of listeners. He is also depicted in the series of Tibetan medical thangkas, Meyer et.al 1992: 173. 40. Perhaps one should emphasize that regardless if the rGyud bzhi is from Buddha or a Tibetan treatise Kempa Tsewang always notes the full line of transmission that starts with the medicine Buddha, KPTshB I [23/21], KPTshB II [1/12-]. The line of tran smission given by him does also include the hiding of the rGyud bzhi and its rediscovering by Grva pa mNgon shes. Apparently this authorization of a valid, unbroken transmission line was still upheld, even though one would harbour doubts on its authenticity. 41. MSGM [69/16]. Phyogs las rnam rgyal (1376-1451), the famous Bo dong pa scholar, is said to have composed seven treatises: (1) De nyid ’dus pa’i rgya mtsho la ’jug pa’i sgo bzhi, (2) Le’u nyis khri chig stong, (3) ( Man nga bdun khri nyis stong), (4) Chos kyi tshoms brgyad khri bzhi stong yod pa’i rgyas pa glegs bam brgya dang bcu, (5) ’Bring bo la nyi shu, (6) bsDus pa la glegs bam gnyis and (7) Shin tu bsdus pa snying bo la glegs bam gcig, Lama Kyab 1997: 178f., Jampa Thinley 2000: 181. 42. MSGM [69/17]. Naturally the phrase bod kyi sman pa byang chub sems dpas mdzad can mean both one doctor or doctors. Karmay 1988 gives the information that Sog zlog pa Blo gros rgyal mtshan (1552-1624) in his treatise entitled rGyud bzhi bka’ sgrub nges don snying po also groups both Bo dong Phyogs las rnam rgyal and sTag tshang Shes rab rin chen (b.1405) together as not accepting the thesis of its Indian origin, ibid.232. sTag tshang Lo tsa ba Shes rab rin chen (b.1405) is said to have written four works: (1) gSo dpyad byng tshul gyi lo rgyus sman gyi spyi don dang bcas pa mkhas pa’i yid ’phrog, (2) sMan gyi lag len gces bsdus le’u bcu ba pa reg pas nad sel, (3) gSo rig ming tshig ’ga’ zhig don gyi bzhin ras ston pa’i me long and (4) Rig gnas kun shes, Lama Kyab 1997: 126, Byam pa ’phrin las 2000: 205. Sangye Gyatso gives a khog ’bugs and the Lag len gces bsdus of sTag lo, KhB [296/10]. 43. MSGM [69/19]. The voluminous collected works of Shakya mchog ldan possibly contain several references for this. The one I came across is a letter to rNam rgyal grags bzang (1395-1475), the celebrated founder of the Byang tradition in medical thinking, that contains questions on three different issues, Byang pa rnam rgyal grags bzang la dge gshegs snying po sman dpyad dus ’khor gsum gyi dri ba in his collected works, ShChP [325/1-329/1], the medical part, ShChP [325/6-326/4]. One of them is about medicine. In order to document the position of Shakya mchog ldan and also to give an idea what kind of opposition Byang bdag rNam rgyal grags bzang faced, the entire passage should be given here in translation. Shakya mchog ldan writes: “If one seems to regard the rGyud sde bzhi po of medical science (sman dpyad ) as the very words of Buddha (sangs rgyas kyi bka’), than the rGyud bzhi is just a general and different designation for the Yan lag brgyad pa’i snying po bsdus pa written by sLob dpon dPa’ bo’i sde and its commentary composed by Zla ba la mngon par dga’ ba and then how is it that there is not even a bit distinctive reading transmission (lung) that is cited as proof (khungs)? If one discusses how medical science ( sman dpyad ) came into being at this and that treatise that possess reliable sources (khungs), one explains how it was transmitted by Brahma to the seers of the non-Buddhist ( phyi rol pa ) like Prajapati and so on. What are the reasons that it is not discussed even briefly, how the exposition of Buddha came into being? If that Brahma of that time was Buddha himself, than it is necessary to accept the composer, however, of the ayurveda (tshe’i rig byed ) that forms the major part of the veda (rig byed ), as the Buddha himself. Therefore how does it count for that this our teacher had expounded what the four veda are before he had turned the wheel of dharma? Moreover while one is able to understand the words of Buddha (bka’) just by having read them, one is not able to understand treatises without extensive commentaries. Therefore

146 TIBET JOURNAL of what kind is that ( rGyud bzhi) that it will not make revert the order of rank of the words of Buddha and treatises? If one accepts that those very treatises are non-Buddhist, than what is the difference of Non-Buddhist and Buddhist medical science? How many distinctions of elegant sayings exist that do not exist anywhere?“. 44. MSGM [70/1]. The lists of both differs significantly, Taube 1981: 15f, Jampa Thinley 2000: 71ff, see also, KhB [296/16], GBYTsh [197/12]. There have existed different lists at different times. Here Lodro Gyalpo distinguishes between the group of doctors during the reign of Trisong Deutsen and another one, although these are usually mixed up in Tibetan writings. Apparently he did it in order to avoid chronological discrepancies. Jampa Thinley 2000 has noted that this group of nine doctors consists of personalities that were not contemporaries. Some lived during Tr isong Deutsen and some during mNga’ bdag rTse lde (b.11th cent.), ibid.71. But this does not apply for Lodro Gyalpo. According to him the so-called nine royal physicians of Trisong Deutsen were: (1) Shan ti garbha from India, (2) Gu hya badzra from Kashmir, (3) sTong gsum gang ba from China, (4) Ha shang ba la and (5) Hang ti pa ta from China, (6) Ha la shan ta from sTag gigs, (7) Seng mdo ’od chen from Gru gu, (8) Khyol ma ru rtse from Dol po, and (9) Dharma shi la from Bal po, BGGP-KhB [295/1-296/3], [299/4], Cf. KhB [169/10-]. The nine experts, however, comprised the lower group: g.Yo ru’i g.Ya’ gyong po, sTod lung gi Lha rje sum ston, dBu ru’i mTha’ bzhi, the middle group: Yuthok rGya gar rdo rje, Mi nyag Zla grags and Brang ti rGyal po, and the upper group: Bi ji Lhun ne, ’Ug pa Chos seng, and Che rje rTag (sic) la dga’, BGGP-KhB [304/10-17]. The royal physicians did not remain in Tibet but left for their own countries. At the end of the life of Trisong Deutsen, he fell ill and sTong gsum gang ba was invited from China. He stayed in Tibet and his family was gr anted the right to act as recognized royal physician. Lodro Gyalpo says that other families of doctors, namely the Bi ji, Brang ti, sTong and Zhang, claim this, BGGP-KhB [299/6-]. Lodro Gyalpo regards the foreign doctors only as the so-called nine royal physicians. The group of the nine experts, however, flourished during the 11th century. It is noteworthy that Sangye Gyatso even though making ample use of the khog dbubs of Lodro Gyalpo differs here in some respects. His list of nine royal physicians is identical. The nine Tibetan experts or skilled doctors, however, differs. Even more significantly he places them during the reign of Trisong Deutsen. When the latter fell ill, he says, the foreign doctors were again invited because of the requests of the ministers, even though there were also the nine Tibetan doctors, KhB [175/3]. sTong gsum gang ba only accepted the invitation. Sangye Gyatso had obviously a particular interest in bringing forward the life-time of these nine skilled doctors. According to him these doctors were: the upper group: Cher rje Zhig po, ’Ug pa Chos seng and Be che (sic) Legs mgon, the middle group: Yuthok Yonten Gon po, Mi nyag Rong rje, Brang ti rGyal bzang, and the lower group: gNya’ ba Chos bzang, mTha’ bzhi Dar po and sTong pa Grags rgyal, KhB [174/15-19]. Moreover he notes that the mTha’ bzhi family of doctors was granted permission to act as royal physicians and he suggests that this also applies to the remaining eight, KhB [175/15-18]. One might see this statement of Sangye Gyatso as an attempt to establish the superiority of the rGyud bzhi and its author - the nine skilled doctors are said to be of the eighth century, one Yuthok Yonten Gonpo (the elder) is included and all these were granted royal permission to practice as physicians. One should note that this is even in contradiction to the writings of Sum ston Ye shes gzung, the pupil of Yonten Gonpo (the younger), that Sangye Gyatso had known. Yonten Gonpo gives in his rGyud bzhi a classification of doctors. One category are the doctors that were permitted by the Tibetan kings to practice as doctors and were a family line of doctors. Ye shes gzungs illustrated this in his commentary on the bShad rgyud by giving the examples of sMan pa ’Tsho byed gzhon nu in India and Brang ti rGyal in Tibet. Yuthokpa is not named in this regard but he is just mentioned as an example of doctors


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who studied with skilled doctors, ChLCG [290/6-]. Consequently in his Vaidurya sngon po Sangye Gyatso does not examplify this statement of the rGyud bzhi, VNg [411/3-]. Lodro Gyalpo did not feel tempted to construct history by such means. Therefore there was no need for him to distinguish between a former and latter Yuthok Yonten Gonpo. 45. gZi brjid ’bar lived in the 11th cent. His life-story is told by Sangye Gyatso, KhB [180/ 3-]. This is the base for Jampa Thinley 2000: 101ff, Lama Kyab 1997: 231ff., Pasang Yonten 1987: 48f, Kalsang Thinley 1987: 273ff. Sangye Gyatso on his part had relied on the khog dbubs of Lodro Gyalpo, BGGP-KhB [304/2-]. gZi brjid ’bar was born in Yar klungs. He studied successively under the doctors known as the nine experts (mkhas pa mi dgu) in dBus and gTsang. Later he went to India to study there. On the way he met rNgog Blo ldan shes rab (1059-1109). The names of the nine experts as told by Lodro Gyalpo were given in the preceding footnote. Sangye Gyatso gives the same list but puts them apart from the one that flourished during Trisong Deutsen by stating that gZi brjid ’bar relied on the lineages of the nine experts and not the nine experts themselves, KhB [180/9]. On A tsa ra Phyag rdum alias sKyes bu me lha, see the article on Tsomed Khenchen in this issue. 46. This is not in agreement with all other sources on the life of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo. His father was Khyung po rdo rje and his grand-father was rGya gar Ba dzra. This is reported for both Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the elder and the younger. (One should add here that the elder Yonten Gonpo is probably a later fabrication.) Obviously Lodro Gyalpo made an oversight. In his khog dbubs he gives the correct genealogical account, BGGP-KhB [313/ 12-]. 47. Some Khyung and ’Bre alias ’Dre clans lived traditionally in this region. Unsurprisingly there are different versions on how the appellation of Yuthok came into being. See, for instance Taube 1981: 43. KhB [214/9-215/18], VNg [1451/20-1452/10]. 48. bKra shis dpal bzang ye shes mchog ldan gives these two arguments regarding tea and porcelain. The Indians did not possess both items, Karmay 1988: 236. Not listed by Karmay 1988 but treated with by bKra shis dpal bzang is also the examination of urine and pulse, KG [74/1-5] Sangye Gyatso encountered the same difficulties. Being a proponent of the party that regarded the rGyud bzhi as Buddha’s words he says that such issues were added by Yuthok Yonten Gonpo to adjust the rGyud bzhi to Tibetan conditions. Therefore he admits the following adjustments: with regard to the rTsa rgyud – the number of chapters, the bShad rgyud - tea, diet and so on, the Phyi rgyud – the examination of pulse and urine and the mother-son and friend-enemy relation, and porcelain for tea and so on, the Man ngag rgyud – the issues that are in accordance with them, KhB [275/8-12]. Certainly, one should make mention here of the Chinese Tibetan Annals (rGya bod yig tshang chen mo) written by sTag tshang dPal ’byor bzang po in 1434. He devotes an entire chapter on the introduction of tea and porcelain to Tibet, GBYTsh [172/5-176/17], cf.also [2401-244/7], [244/8-253/13]. According to him the initial point was that a Tibetan king fell ill and its introduction was partly for medicinal purposes. Beside this dPal ’byor bzang po offers a rather unique approach on the character of the rGyud bzhi. In his opinion incarnations of the Buddhas (bDe gshegs pa) taught the preparation of medicine ( sman gyi sbyor ) in India, moxibustion (me btsa’) and cleansing of the channels (rtsa sbyongs), blood-letting (gtar kha) and examination of pulse and urine ( rtsa chu’i brtags pa) in Tibet, ibid. [194/5-8]. In such an all-embracing attempt he did also describe the medical treatises of the early translation period. Therefore during the reign of Trisong Deutsen several doctors translated medical works – the Indian Shinta gar pa all tantras ( rgyud ) expounded by sMan bla, the Chinese Ha shang Ma ha ya na all tantras spoken by ’Jam dpal and so. For a full list, see GBYTsh [191/16-192/7]. 49. MSGM [70/20-71/9]. In section three of the mKhas pa ’jug pa’i sgo of Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1251) on debate based on scriptures one can read in the translation

148 TIBET JOURNAL of David P. Jackson a passage that neatly fits into this context here: “Furthermore, other texts [of one’s own school] that contradict ones [position] will become acceptable if one knows how to establish one’s own tenets as being of ascertained meaning or as of direct intent, after establishing through the force of reasoning that [the contradictory text] is of interpretable meaning ... or [was taught] with special intent. But if one does not know how to establish in that way [that the text one follows is of definitive meaning, etc.] by means of reasoning, one cannot escape a contradiction of scripture.”, (additions in square brackets made by David P. Jackson), ibid. 339. Furthermore one should take this occasion to stress once more the formal education Lodro Gyalpo has received. He employed this skill also in his commentary on the rTsa rgyud by the threefold analysis, MPZhL I [6/4-]. 50. dgongs gzhi dgos pa dngos la gnod byed kyi sgo nas bshad dgos te MSGM [70/20]. The interpretation of these terms is based on, Jackson 1987: 393,n.83. 51. Cf, also Taube 1981: 33. 52. Karmay 1988 notes that there are two texts of the same name that should not be confused. One is the biography of the earlier Yuthok Yonten Gonpo written by Jo bo Lhun grub bkra shis. The other work is also called sKu lnga lhun grub ma and rNam thar med thabs med pa which was composed by Sum ston Ye shes gzungs, ibid. 229,n.5. The biography of Lhun grub bkra shis is known today in form of an edition prepared during the 17th century by the celebrated doctor Dar mo sMan rams pa Blo bzang c hos grags (1638-1710) together with two of his pupils, La ra ba Blo bzang don ldan and Mer mo Blo gros chos ’phel. Obviously they had some difficulties to obtain a complete and correct original of this work but eventually they succeeded and obtained it from one who belonged to the family of Yuthok. These two pupils faithfully copied this work. Then they made the proofreading, YThNTh [312/1-14]. Cf. also Taube 1981: 48,n.199, Czaja 2003. The biography entitled sKu lnga lhun grub ma or g.Yu thog pa’i rnam thar bka’ rgya ma was composed by Ye shes gzungs, a pupil of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo, KhB [289/10], Taube 1981: 44,n.188, It seems that this work is identical with the rNam thar med thabs med pa or brGyud pa’i rnam thar bka’ rgya ma, although it is certainly not a biography about Yonten Gonpo but an account how the rGyud bzhi was transmitted. The first verses of this treatise are sku lnga lhun grub las byung ba’i / gso ba rig pa’i rgyud chen ’di, ChLCG [690/3-4]. Most likely the title sKu lnga lhun grub ma derives from this. The citation from this very work given by Sangye Gyatso shows that the sKu lnga lhun grub ma and the rNam thar med thabs med pa are identical, KhB [286/18]. For the opinion of Sangye Gyatso on its authorship, see KhB [278/14-]. 53. KhB [352/5-353/2]. Although Pasang Yonten 1987, Lama Kyab 1997 and Jampa Thinley 2000 exclusively rely on the khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso with regard to Lodro Gyalpo, they all cut off this passage for reasons unknown to me. 54. One of the argument for his view is the phrase: Tsomed Khenchen, teacher of my lama, KhB [352/15]. 55. Lama Kyab 1997 gives the work gSo rig skor dri tshig dngul dkar me long for Nyamnyi Dorje, ibid.109. Jampa Thinley 2000 writes that he composed two works on the general topics of difficult points of the rGyud bzhi, namely the Dri tshig dngul dkar me long and the Legs bshad nyi zer , ibdi. 216, see also KhB [345/12]. 56. Jampa Thinley 2000 dPal ldan rgyud bzhi’i ’grel chen pod shel phra mo, 216. Lama Kyab 1997 bDud rtis snying bo yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud kyi ’grel chen pod shel phra mo, ibid.109. Sangye Gyatso lists the dPal ldan rgyud bzhi’i ’grel chen pod shal khra mo as one of Nyamnyi Dorje’s works, KhB [345/12]. 57. ’phral skad gso dpyad rang lugs kyi mgo rmog nang nas bcag pa, KhB [353/1]. Cüppers / Sörensen 1998 offer three sayings that provide a better understanding of this phrase. One saying goes “the head is broken by the helmet, the deity is smashed by the steward”, mgo rmog gis bcag / lha dkon gnyer gyis brdungs, ibid.57. Or another example would be: The head is not broken by soldiers, the head is broken from the inside of the helmet; the


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feet are not broken by clay, they are broken from the inside of the shoes, mgo dmag nang nas ma chag / rmog nang nas chag / rkang rdza nang nas ma chag / lham nang nas chag, ibid. 58. Both these works form part of the Cha lag bco brgyad . Obviously Sangye Gyatso omits this point that these treatises were modelled on Kha che Zla dga’, (for his section on the Cha lag bco brgyad , KhB [277/-]). But it was taken up by Jaya Pandita Blo bzang phrin las, although naturally the rGyud bzhi is not regarded by him as the extended version of the rGyud chung, Cf. Taube 1981: 47. This opinion of Lodro Gyalpo, however, seems to be justified. The rGyud chung represents a condensed version of the rGyud bzhi in which important parts are missing. It cannot be seen as a commentary on the rGyud bzhi or its part, Man ngag gi rgyud as it is the standard view by Tibetan writers. For example on the treatment of kidney diseases the rGyud bzhi distinguishes between four kinds of renal disorders and gives short instructions of curing them. These are all found in the rGyud bzhi. They are explained in more detail and more significantly other r enal disorders too are explained that form an integral part of healing kidney diseases. 59. Namely the colophon of the Shog dril skor gsum, the g.Yu thog snying thig gi lo rgyus nges shes ’dren byed , the gSung mgur and the bKa’ rgya ma rnam thar , BGGP-KhB [315/9-]. On these works, cf. Taube 1981. 60. On this new approach to discuss bka’ ma and bstan bcos with regard to the rGyud bzhi, see BGGP-KhB [309/3-]. 61. Because of the plural particle one can conclude that both are meant, shin tu gsal rnams, KhB [352/16]. For the former treatise, see the article in this issue. The other work is not extent anymore, it seems. Sangye Gyatso gives a short overview of this work by naming its main tenets. Therefore the rGyud bzhi was expounded by Buddha (ston pa) at O rgyan. He handed it over to Drang srong Yid las skyes. Later when he was about to die just in an illusory way (rdzu ’phrul gyis) at Mt. Kailash, beams of light emanated from the face of the Buddha. Because of this Yid las skyes came. He expounded the rGyud bzhi to ’Tsho byed gZhon nu. The son of Vaishravana, rGyal ba khyu mchog, or Zhang blon rDo rje bdud ’dul was appointed as guardian of the rGyud bzhi and so on, KhB [563/18-564/7]. 62. STsCT [113/15] 63. STsCT [18/15], [22/4] etc. 64. He shortly remarks that the opinion that the rGyud bzhi was translated from Sanskrit is the basis of marvellous and flawless detailed commentaries. Those who do not know anything, however, state that Yuthok Yonten Gonpo composed the rGyud bzhi as his own fabrication. They pass off material that is an indecent hallucination as detailed commentaries, MPZhL IV [17/1-2]. 65. Jampa Thinley 2000 cites from the Khog ’bugs legs bshad dngul dkar me long by Tsomed Khenchen. It seems that Phrag dbon Bsod nams bkra shis commissioned a print of the Phyi rgyud, ibid. 219. See, also KhB [347/12], [348/10]. 66. Jampa Thinley 2000: 268ff. According to him it is entitled gSo ba rig pa’i chos ’byung bdud rtsis chu rgyun, but he calls it also gSo ba rig pa’i khog ’bugs bdud rtsi chu rgyun. Jampa Thinley found a manuscript of this text at the library of Norbulingka. He summarizes its contents and gives most interesting quotations. Therefore Chos skyong dpal bzang is much concerned on the controversy regarding bka’ ma or bstan bcos and discusses it in some detail. One should note that in the entry of Lama Kyab 1997 two personalities are mixed up. The name and the title of the medical treatis e are of mNga’ ris ’Tsho byed Chos skyong dpal bzang but the biography given is that of bDe chos sman pa Ratna’i ming can, ibid.73. 67. ibid. 68. Sangye Gyatso’s view on this is rather ambiguous. For him Lodro Gyalpo was one of the most celebrated doctors who wrote medical treatise that were indispensable for dealing with Tibetan medicine. Therefore he also patronized a new edition of the Mes po’i zhal lung.

150 TIBET JOURNAL Otherwise he did not agree with the view that Lodro Gyalpo has expounded in his khog dbubs. He openly challenged the quality of this work by maintaining that it is somehow confused and remembered on a Chos ’byung. He fully disapproved, in his critique, of Tsomed Khenchen, whom Sangye Gyatso held in high esteem. One should note that Sangye Gyatso had also learned the most important work of Tsomed Khenchen, the Man ngag snying po bsdus pa, and therefore he is included in its transmission line. At the end of his entry on Lodro Gyalpo, Sangye Gyatso sarcastically remarks that it is obvious that even Kempa Tsewang, let alone the heirs of the late Nyamnyi Dorje , does not exist apart from the bluish she-dragon that roars that she had easily learned prosody, reasoning, the mahamudra system, and other sciences, KhB [354/11-14]. The interpretation of Gerke / Bolsokhoeva 1999 seems to me problematic: “The Blue Turquoise Dragoness (Tib. g.yu ’brug sngon mo) reveals another glimpse on the personality of Lodro Gyalpo: It is like that on the mode of healing: Lodro Gyalpo was following the footsteps of the previous Zurlug [might refer to the famous Zur lineage founder Nyamnyi Dorjee]. But he even did not have a satisfactory life force. This short critical note is very interesting. Although an excellent physician and scholar, his personal physique and life force must not have been very strong, which for a person with so much medical knowledge, seems strange and inappropriate.”. inappropriate.”. (Brackets made by both authors. JT is the 1991 Dharamsala edition of the work that is refered as Jampa Thinley 2000 in this present study), ibid.30 Sangye Gyatso continues to say that Lodro Gyalpo fundamentally held in contempt his own pupil affiliation ( slob rgyun), the precious words (gsung) of Tsomed Khenchen. He offended other doctors (the exact phrase is that he wounded art of healing, gso rig la rma ’byin) by using sophistry to attack the fundamental, standard traditions of earlier gen erations like the Byang ba and through refutations of the standa rdized knowledge of prosody, pros ody, KhB [354/14-18]. Moreover his disagreement can also be seen by his short, conclusive remark on Tsomed Khenchen’s khog dbugs that was already introduced in this paper, see n.61. His outline ends with the phrase: ”the exceptional zur teachings”, zur khyad kh yad can KhB [564/7]. This labelling signifies most of the short treatises of Nyamnyi Dorje in his Bye ba ring bsrel bs rel and were somehow used as an quality mark indicating the profound and original source of teaching or method of treatment. In this sense it was also applied at this instance by Sangye Gyatso. 69. KhB [565/18-], Lama Kyab 1997: 22 gives a work of the title bDud rtsi snying bo yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud las gso dpyad kyi spyi don legs bshad ’dod ’jo. Cf. also Jampa Thinley 2000: 220. 70. It is not certain how to understand the term of rgyud in in this context. It seems that Sangye Gyatso abstains from labelling the rGyud bzhi a treatise ( bstan bcos) even though he is citing proponents of this view. 71. KhB [563/1-5]. Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho maintains that the rGyud bzhi is not a gter ma but belongs to the vinaya section of the tripitaka. Beside this he is known to have written commentaries on all four parts of the rGyud bzhi, Taube Taube 1981: 37, 37 , n.156. The Bai durya’i chu rgyun was well-known to Lodro Gyalpo. In his Mes po’i zhal lung are several attached notes that name this composition. He names it in his khog dbubs, BGGP-KhB [252/4]. 72. He states that one pupil of Lodro Gyalpo named Ruddhananda wrote a khog ’bugs that was very similar to that of his teacher. All All treatises that followed later in the zur tradition tradition maintained that Yuthok Yuthok Yonten Yonten Gonpo Gon po has taught the rGyud bzhi. The place of exposition was the Buddha field in the Eastern direction named Baidu rya snang and so on. According to Sangye Gyatso there exist many writings that were composed inappropriately like the upper jaw of a lion and the lower jaw of camel, KhB [567/6-568/2]. Some additions should be made to the abusive comments of Sangye Gyatso. One must underline that in his khog ’bubs Lodro Gyalpo did not only give up the bka’ ma thesis but makes a fundamental revision of the medical historical knowledge of Tibet that include


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also his own point of view that he had earlier. ea rlier. It took him certainly some years to compose co mpose such a detailed khog ’bubs. In his chapter on how medical knowledge developed in Tibet, he first gives a description of the mistaken views (gzhan lugs) that are represented by the Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba and so on. Then he demonstrates contradictions in these views and eventually he gives a profound explanation that is based on reliable proof (khungs), BGGP-KhB [276/1-]. Actually a good part of this voluminous chapter is employed to refute the legends that have grown up around the rGyud bzhi and its author. The khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso must be partly read as a response to Lodro Gyalpo’s last composition. For example Lodro Gyalpo states that the notion of nine royal physicians that consists of Bi ji and so on is just thoughtless talk. Even if one agrees that at that time some doctors like Bi ji and Brang ti lived, the other names like Yuthok do occur only in later times. Moreover the appellation of Yuthok came into being during rGya gar badzra or Yonten Gonpo, he says. Furthermore if those five doctors were appointed as royal physicians, than why one should summon sTong gsum gang pa, when the king fell ill?, BGGP-KhB [285/4-]. Because of this Sangye Gyatso was compelled to create an alleged request made by the minister’s side, that foreign doctors should be invited, although there were also the nine Tibetan doctors, KhB [175/3]. Primary Sources: BBRS I Zurkharwa Nyamnyi Dorje. Bye ba ring ring bsrel. Instruct Instructions ions of the the great Zur-mkh Zur-mkhar-ba ar-ba MnyamMnyamnyid-rdo-rje on medical treatment comprising the Ma yig, Bu yig, and Kha ’thor ’thor collections. Leh: S.W.Tashigangpa, S.W.Tashigangpa, 1974. 19 74. BBRS II Zurkharwa Nyamnyi Dorje. Bye ba ring bsrel : A Collection Collection of Instructio Instructions ns on the Practice Practice of Tibetan Medicine. New Delhi: Tibet House, 1985. BGGP-KhB Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo. Shes bya spyi’i khog dbub. (= Gang dag byang chub sems dpa’i spyad pa spyod par ’dod ’dod pa’i sman pa rnams rnams kyi mi shes shes su mi rung ba’i ba’i phyi nang nang gzhan gsum gyis gyis rnam bzhag shes bya spyi’i khog dbub pa gtam pa med pa’i mchod sbyin gyi sgo ’phar yangs po.). Chengdu: Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Pe ople’s Publishing House, 2001. ChLCG Yuthok Yonten Gonpo. Gon po. Cha lag bco brgyad . Lanzhou: Lanzhou: Gansu People’s Publishing P ublishing House, 1999. 2 vols. GBYTsh sTag sTag tshang rdzong pa dPal ’byor bzang po. Rgya bod yig yig tshang tshang chen mo. (= rGya bod kyi yig tshang tshang mkhas pa dga’ byed chen mo ’dzam gling gsal ba’i me long). Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1985. KG Tashi Palsang. Palsa ng. rGyud kyi bka’ bsgrub drang srong bkra shis dpal bzang gi mdzad pa. In Bod rang skyong ljongs sman rtsis khang (ed). Bod kyi sman rtsis rtsis ched ched rtsom rtsom phyogs phyogs bsdus bsdus. Lhasa: Tibet People’s Publishing Pub lishing House, 1986. 72-116. 72-116. KhB Sangye Gyatso. dPal ldan gso ba rig pa’i khog ’bugs legs bshad baidurya’i me long drang dr ang srong dgyes pa’i dga’ ston bzhugs so. (= gSo rig sman gyi khog ’bugs). Gansu: People’s Publishing House, 1982. KPTshB Kempa Tsewang. rGyud bzhi’i ’grel. Dharamsala Dharamsala:: Tibetan Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute. Ins titute. 3 vols. MSGM Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo. rGyud bzhi bka’ dang bstan bcos rnam par dbye ba mun sel sgron me. In Bod rang skyong ljongs sman rtsis khang (ed). Bod kyi sman sman rtsis ched ched rtsom phyogs phyogs bsdus bsdus. Lhasa: Tibet People’s People ’s Publishing House, 1986. 64-71. 64-71.

152 TIBET JOURNAL PKP PK P Padma Karpo. Sems dpa’ padma dkar po’i rnam thar thugs rje chen po’i zlas gar . In Rwa lung lung dkar brgyud gser ’phreng. vol.IV (khi through chi). From Ngag-dbang-grags-pa through Padmadkar-po. Palampur: Tibetan Craft Community, 1978. 129-346. ShChD Shakya Chogden. sMan bla’i mdo chog gi dri pa me tog mda’ ’joms dang byang pa bdag po la dri ba’i skor bzhugs. In Shakya mchog ldan. gSer mdog pan chen shakya mchog ldan gyi gsung ’bum: Legs bshad gser gyi bdud bdud rtsi. Collected Collected writings writings of gSer mdog mdog Pan chen Shakya mchog mchog ldan. Reproduced Reproduced from the unique unique manuscri manuscript pt prepared prepared in the 18th century century at the order of rJe Sakya Rin chen the 9th rJe mKhan po of Bhutan Bhu tan preserved at the Monastery of Pha jo sdings ’og min gnyis pa. New Delhi: Ngawang Topgyal, Topgyal, 1988. - 24 vols., 17: 319-329 STsCT ’Bam kho and Dakpa (eds). Zur mkhar blo gros rgyal po’i gsung rtsom gces btus. Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing Publi shing House, 2003. YThNTh Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1982. g.Yu g.Yu thog gsar rnying gi rnam thar . Beijing: VNg Sangye Gyatso. gSo ba rig pa’i bstan bcos sman bla’i dgongs rgyan rgyud bzhi’i gsal byed bai durya sngon po’i malli ka zhes bya ba bzhugs so . 2 vols. Dharamsala: Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute, 1994. Secondary sources: Samten 1992. Bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i byung ’phel brjod pa, in Bod ljongs ljongs zhib zhib ’jug ’jug, vol.1 87-99 Cüppers, Christoph and Sørensen, Per K. 1998. A collection collection of Tibetan ibetan proverbs proverbs and sayings: sayings: gems of Tibetan wisdom and wit . Stuttgart: Steiner. Czaja, Olaf 2003. The Making of the Blue Beryl - Some Remarks on the Textual Sources of the Famous Commentary of Sangye Gyatso (1653-1705), in in Mona Schrempf (ed.), Soundings in Tibetan Tibetan Medicine. Historical and Anthropological Perspectives. Proceedings of the 10th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Tibetan Studies (PIATS), Oxford Sept. 06-12.2003, Leiden, Brill Publishers. (forthcoming). Gerke, Barbara and Bolsokhoeva, Natalia 1999. Namthar of Zurkha Lodo Rgyalpo (1509-1579). A Brief Biography of a Tibetan Tibetan physician, in i n AyurV AyurVijnan ijnana a vol.6, vol.6, spring spring 1999. Jackson, David P. 1987. The Entrance Gate for the Wise (Section III). Sa-skya Pandita on Indian and Tibetan Traditions Traditions of Pramana and Philosophical Debate . Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien. 2 vols. Jamyang Tsultrim 1997. dPal karma pa sku phreng rim byon gyi mdzad rnam bzhugs so. Gansu: People’s Publishing House. Jampa Thinley 2000. Gangs ljongs gso rig bstan pa’i nyin byed rim byon rnam thar phyogs Hou se. bsgrigs. Beijing: People’s Publishing House. Karmay, Samten G. 1988. The Four Tibetan Medical Treatises and their Critics In Samten G. Karmay, The Arrow and the Spindle. Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet . Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 1998. Lama Kyab 1997. Bod kyi mkhas pa rim byon gyi gso rig gsung ’bum dkar chag mu tig phreng ba. Lanzhou: Gansu People’s Publishing House. Meyer, F., Dorje, G. G. and Parfionovitch, Y. Y. (eds) 1992. Tibetan Medical Paintings. London: Serindia Publications. Pasang Yonten 1987. Bod kyi kyi gso gso ba rig pa’i lo rgyus rgyus kyi kyi bang bang mdzod mdzod thog bla ma dran dran pa’i pho nya. Leh: Yuthok Institute of Tibetan Medicine. Roerich, George N. 1988. The Blue Annals. Dehli: Motilal Banarsidass. Reprint. Schaeffer, Kurtis R. 2003. Textual Scholarship, Scholarsh ip, Medical Tradition, and Mahayana Buddhist Ideals Idea ls in Tibet In Journal Journal of Indian Indian Philos Philosophy ophy. 31: 621-641.

A Hitherto Hithe rto Unknown Unknow n ‘Medical ‘Medic al History’ Histor y’ of mTsho mTsho smad mkhan chen (b.16th cent.) Olaf Czaja This paper will explore a khog ’bugs written by Tsomed Khenchen Kunga Gyaltsen (mTsho smad mkhan chen Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan). It aims at presenting historical data on its author, adding a few considerations regarding the discuss ion on the genre of khog ’bugs and introducing this treatise by briefly outlining the contents of this work. The later will form the backbone of this paper, paper, as this composition was previously unknown and is generally not easily accessible. The title can be rendered as, The Pierced Interior of the Art of Healing, Fully Illuminating the Objects of Knowledge ( gSo ba rig pa’i khog bug shes bya rab tu gsal ba).1 It clarifies several issue that are related with the fundamental work on Tibetan medicine, the rGyud bzhi. A SHORT BIOGRAPHY ON ITS AUTHOR Its author is known kn own as the abbot of mTsho smad (Tsomed Khenchen), sKa ba Shakya dbang phyug alias Kunga Gyaltsen. The surviving survivi ng records do not provide many data on him. A precious glimpse on this personality, however, is offered by one of his writings, ‘The Khog ’bugs, the Silver Mirror of Elegant Sayings’ ( Khog ’bugs legs bshad dngul dkar me long) from which a longer passage in form of a quotation is preserved in the record of teachings received ( thob yig) by Jaya Pandita Blo bzang ’phrin las (1642-1708), and by the khog ’bugs written by Desi Sangye Gyatso (sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653-1704). 2 According to these sources he was born at Glang grong in sTod lung. 3 It is not possible to establish his dates but it might be assumed that he lived circa in the middle of the 16th 1 6th century.4 The names of his parents are not known but his lineage, li neage, namely the sKa ba, are said to have had some outstanding personalities such as sKyes mchog sKa ba dPal brtsegs. 5 Sangye Gyatso states that Kunga Gyaltsen gave himself the name of sKa ba Shakya dbang phyug after an individual of the same lineage and name who lived during the time of Atisha. 6 He remembered that in a former existence he was Lha rje dGe ba ’bum, a famous physician. 7 Based on the quotation of his own work, we are able to name his teachers. 8 From Bya ba ’tsho byed dPal ’byor bkra shis he received the Mig ’byed rde ’don dmar khrid zab mo. Padma’i mtshan conferred upon him the reading transmission ( lung) of the rGyud gsum and Bye ba ring ri ng bsrel. Another teacher, mNga’ ris mkhas pa Chos skyongs rgyal mtshan, was apparently affiliated affili ated to the Brang ti and Sa skya school of medical thinking. thinki ng. From this teacher, he learned the Yan lag brgyad pa together with its commentary the Zla zer . Moreover he got from him the reading transmission ( lung) for the gSer bre and the Khu tshur ’bum. He received a complete detailed explanation of the rGyud bzhi, Cha lag bco brgyad and Bye ba ring bsrel from rGya ma ’Tsho byed dBang phyug blo gros, while the physician sMan pa’i rgyal po dKon mchog dpal bzang taught him practical issues. He gave him the reading transmissions of the exposition of the rGyud bzhi and Bye ba ring bsrel with practical instructions like the Rin chen sbyong sde mgo rma, ’Bras kyi dra gshags sgrog chings khra and Mig thur

154 TIBET JOURNAL rde ’don. Eventually from Kong po Bla chen Nam mkha’ dpal ldan he received the complete initiation and reading transmission of the sNying thig. Additionally Additionall y the work of Sangye Gyatso names Phrag dbon bSod nams bkra shis, a personal disciple of Nyamnyi Nyam nyi Dorje, as his teacher. 9 At an unknown date dat e he became abbot of tthe he temple of Tsomed in sTod sTod lung that is is situated in the vicinity of Lhasa. Beside this he is said to have stayed at the mountain hermitage of Ngo bo yab phu dpal. 10 He had composed several medical works but until now they have not turned up yet. Tsomed Khenchen shortly enumerates his compositions as khog phub, six commentaries on the rTsa rgyud, bShad rgyud and Phyi ma rgyud, the Compendium of Advices ( Man ngag bsdus pa p a) and so on. One may compare these works with the biographical sketch given by Sangye Gyatso.11 According to him Kun Kunga ga Gyaltsen authored: (1) Khog ’bugs, the Silver Mirror of Elegant Sayings ( Khog ’bugs legs bshad dngul dkar me long), (2) the Commentary on the Subsequent Treatise, the Torch Torch that Illuminates Difficult Points (Phyi rgyud ’grel ba bka’ gnad gsal sgron), (3) Clarification of the Five Sciences, the Garland of Flowers ( Rigs lnga’i gsal byed me tog ’phreng ba), (4) the Compendium of Advices ( Man ngag snying po bsdus pa) arranged as practical instructions (lag len dmar ’khrid du sdebs pa).

Two of his pupils are known by the name nam e of Glang bu Chos rje and gSang phu dpal 12 ri ba Lodro Gyalpo. Based on the composition of this present study we may add a few pieces of information. The transmission line of the rGyud bzhi given by him names one sTong ston mKhas pa’i dbang po. Perhaps this individual is identical with one of his teachers from whom he received the rGyud bzhi as recorded in his other khog ’bugs. Further research, however, has to be done to confirm this. Moreover the colophon states that this work was written at the behest of dBang phyug blo gros. gros . This is undoubtedly the same individual listed among his teachers. The date of composition is not given but the place only: he wrote it at sKyor mo lung. SOME REMARKS ON THE GENRE OF KHOG ’BUGS The genre of khog ’bugs (with its alternating spellings of khog dbug, khog dbubs and so on ) is still unexplored by Tibetologists. Tibetologist s.13 Therefore a clear delineation of this genre is not found in works on Tibetan literature. literatu re. Just recently, Schaeffer 2003 offered a noteworthy point for discussion: with regard to the khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso, he writes that the term gSo rig ’khog ’bugs could be roughly translated as Interior Analysis of o f the Medical Medic al Arts.14 Here the following reading might be offered. In the Khog dbug khyung chen lding Yuthok Yonten Yonten Gonpo, it is said s aid that there t here is a twofold two fold character of o f his ba written by Yuthok khog dbug, if one distinguishes the perspectives ( dmigs). One is piercing ( dbug pa) in a general mode in order to recognize the five fields fiel ds of knowledge. One is piercing (dbug pa) the interior ( khog) of this very tantra (i.e. the rGyud bzhi), because it is the essence ( nying khu) of all arts of healing. 15 Indeed, this twofold approach can be observed. By ‘piercing’ it is demonstrated that the rGyud bzhi should be unquestionably regarded as a text belonging to the five sciences. This is applied in

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 155 sketches and without going into detail. The next step penetrates the core of the rGyud bzhi. By this the juice or essence that it is the extract of medical texts can come out. Unsurprisingly, Unsurpris ingly, medical issues are not dealt with. They are left for the commentarial literature on the rGyud bzhi. A close investigation investigati on of the textual structure reveals that at the centre is the rGyud bzhi, but not medicine in its theoretical or practical sense or even medical literature. It is an eulogy on the qualities of this very composition. At the same time it is a defence statement to prove its claim to be the authentic word of Buddha (bka’ ma) and that it would meet all criteria that are mandatory for being a tantra. Therefore a khog ’bugs does not aim to represent a medical history. The four medical traditions (for which see below) are employed simply because the rGyud bzhi was taught in different forms to these respective retinues. Consequently they are dealt with and en passant other other medical systems are described in an inclusive manner. It allows us to explore Tibetan scholarship on medicine medici ne but the definite core is firmly the rGyud bzhi that is surpassing all other medical texts. Therefore the textual history of this composition is diligently outlined and its self-styled self-styled nature as is firmly established in defence against all doubts which others may bka’ and rgyud is habor about this. The detailed exposition on the classification of authentic texts and treatises and its sub-points sub-poi nts gathers evidence for this purpose and is written with this th is intention. It might be therefore partly misleading to expect a balanced account of medical traditions and therefore to translate khog ’bugs as medical history. hi story. Moreover one should stress that in his khog dbug, Yonten Gonpo discusses six means of teaching. The first of them is to pierce the interior of the truth ( don gyi khog t eaching are for example to dbug pa), i.e. to write khog dbug treatises. Other means of teaching set breaks of length ( dkyus kyi sa bcad pa), i.e. to write topical outlines ( sa bcad pa), and to add comments on words ( tshig gi ’bru non pa), i.e. to write detailed commentaries (’bru ’grel).16 Obviously in the opinion opin ion of Yonten Yonten Gonpo one can transport nothing nothi ng less than the true meaning to pupils by a khog dbug. It might be not too far-fetched to assume that by doing this it has the features of a commentary, although it is not labelled as a ‘commentary on the meaning’ ( don ’grel). The etymology ( nges tshig) of the term ‘khog dbug’ as understood by Yonten Yonten Gonpo has been already given at the beginning beginni ng of this section. section . The other criteria of a textual composition compo sition as seen by Yonten Yonten Gonpo should be added here. Therefore the nature natu re ( ngo bo) of a khog dbug is an acceptable understanding of the meaning or truth ( don) of that teaching that should be taught. It shows the significance of the origin, analysis and how it should be explained. 17 The motive (dgos pa) is that if one intends to grasp the truth of teachings, then one has to know a teaching method. Based on this one might assume that a khog dbug serves many purposes. It should illustrate the true meaning of a fundamental text, for instance, and enhance the understanding of the disciples. It shares this with manuals and commentaries. Concerning the rGyud bzhi an additional notion is brought in. In this particular parti cular case it is also employed as a defence statement and an account of its superiority. In this sense it was also al so used by Yonten Yonten Gonpo and, and , as will be shown, s hown, by Tsomed Tsomed Khenchen as well. In the 17th century, Sangye Gyatso promotes this position, posi tion, but this is surely su rely not applicable for all works of this genre. Lodro Gyalpo for example did not write his khog dbubs as a defence of the bka’ ma character of the rGyud bzhi at all. The opposite of it is the case, as he attempts to prove that the rGyud bzhi was a work written by a Tibetan. Nevertheless he retains, to a certain degree, in the compositional

156 TIBET JOURNAL structure of his treatise, principles of this t his genre that are of earlier date. Furthermore it is known that khog dbug were also composed on the Yan lag brgyad b rgyad pa.18 These will be indispensable for further enquiries into the nature of the genre of khog dbug.19 A notable addition to this study is the work written by Tsomed Khenchen. THE KHOG BUG OF TSOMED KHENCHEN The treatise opens with Buddha and his activities, which eventually lead to the five fields of traditional learning. Among them the art of healing is singled out. 20 The same approach show the t he works of Yuthok Yuthok Yonten Yonten Gonpo, Gonpo , Lodro Gyalpo and an d Sangye Gyatso and some similarities are also discernible in commentaries commentari es on the rGyud bzhi. With regard to medicine Tsomed Khenchen firstly tells how medical knowledge developed in India. The four traditions described by him are regarded as four distinctive traditions of transmitting the rGyud bzhi, expounded by Buddha in different forms to his four retinues, namely the gSo dpyad ’bum sde to the gods, the Tsa ra ka to the seers, the dBang phyug chen po’i skor to to the non-Buddhists and sde brgyad to the Rigs gsum to the Buddhists. gsu m mgon po’i skor to He starts with the tradition of bhadrakalpa gods by retelling the famous story of churning the ocean and obtaining ambrosia, am brosia, when Rahu’s head was severed. 21 Brahma, being filled with compassion, remembered the gSo dpyad ’bum sde taught to him by Buddha and thus healed Rahu. This is followed foll owed by the textual tradition that th at is related to this.22 The tradition of the Seers represents the inclusion of the th e Indian ayurvedic tradition in form of its famous fundamental work, the Carakasamhita. In Tibetan view this treatise was composed by the eight seers, who were pupils of Indra. sKa ba Kunga Gyaltsen shortly enumerates them but slightly dissimilar dissimil ar to the khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso who gives a separate list lis t of the eight seers and the eight parts of the th e Tsa Tsa ra ka 23 sde brgyad. The commentary was composed by Drang srong dPal ldan ’phreng ba and is divided into two parts: the first commentary ( stod ’grel) entitled gSer gyi spar khab and the second commentary ( smad ’grel) entitled ’Phrul gyi lde mig.24 The non-Buddhist tradition is merely mentioned.25 The Buddhist traditio tradition, n, however, as would be expected, is given in some more detail. 26 The following chapter on the development of the medical knowledge in Tibet starts with the rise of the Tibetan royalty. royalty. The king Mahasammata is placed at the beginning of this part. It follows closely the traditional accounts that are found in Tibetan historiography. Then, during the reign of Songtsen Gampo, Thonmi Sambhota and rLangs khams pa Go cha were sent to t o invite doctors – from fro m India came Dhar ma ra dza, from China Mahaa kyin, from Pho brang (sic) Tsam pa shi la. 27 While the first two returned to their homeland Tsam Tsam pa shi la l a remained as personal physician of Songtsen Gampo in Tibet and translated medical m edical works such as the three cycles of dialogues di alogues of cock, peacock and parrot ( rMa bya ne tso dang bya pho gsum gyis zhus len skor gsum). During the time of Trisong Deutsen several doctors were invited - Shanti gar bha from India, sTong gsum gang pa and Bha la ha shang from China, Gu hya badzra from Kashmir, Ha la shanti from sTag sTag gzigs, Sen do ’od chen from Gru gu, Khyom pa se’u from Dol po and Dharma shi la from Nepal. 28 The king in his royal palace faked an illness. The doctors had to remain at the gate and were told to give a diagnosis. A thread was fixed to the hand of the king and the other end was given to the doctors so that they might examine the pulse. 29

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 157 They gave the correct diagnosis. The king was amazed by this and lavishly awarded them. He urged them to work for the welfare of the Tibetan Tibet an people. Therefore many medical treatises were translated, transl ated, as Tsomed Tsomed Khenchen tells us, but unfortunately unf ortunately he does not name any of them. 30 When the translated texts were presented to the king, he was very pleased and bestowed upon them all the title ti tle of lha rje (celestial lord). 31 Later all doctors returned to their respective countries. 32 Here the next folio (14b) is blank, which means that we are not informed about what Tsomed Khenchen wrote at this time. The narrative starts again with the story of scholar sKyes bu me lha (fol.15a). He came to Tibet and began to translate medical treatises together with lJang sman Lo tsa ba. Tsomed Khenchen names the Phyi and the gSang ba lag len gyi sde grangs kyi sde bskor , the Nang don gyi sde bskor and so-cal led A tsa ra Khrug bsdums bs dums [Phyag rdums] rd ums] spread sprea d widely, bskor . The fame of the so-called it is said.33 Because the descendants of the so-called Nine Experts ( mkhas pa mi dgu) learned from him, he was later called the friend of the Nine Experts. 34 W With ith this t his Tsomed Khenchen finishes his account of the spread of medicine during the later diffusio n of Buddhism. Then the seventy-one doctors who were famous in Tibet ( bod du grags che ba’i som e detail but not in sman pa bdun bcu rtsa gcig) are mentioned. They are given in some full, because the next folio is again blank (15b). 34 It seems that the missing passage was concerned with the last section of the seventy-one doctors and that it started with the transmission of the rGyud bzhi. Then, on folio 16a, we read that Vagbhata gave it to Candrananda. He gave it to Vairocana. From him king Trisong Deutsen received it. He hid it i t in the middle storey of the dbu rtse at bSam yas. After a period had elapsed equal to three days of the worldly gods (’dod lha) (i.e. 150 years), Grva pa mNgon shes discovered it. This short sentence, by which Tsomed Khenchen documents the rGyud bzhi as belonging to the category of treasure ( gter ma), is followed by a sudden change in the narration. Now Buddha and Shariputra are on the scene. When Buddha received an invitation to the summer residence of King Padma’i dpal, he said to Shariputra: “Listen Shariputra! In future those who possess bodies will be afflicted by many diseases”, and Shariputra asked him something but unfortunately the question or petition is missing in this version, as the folio is blank again (16b). 35 It appears that in this missing passage a transition was probably included to the exposition of the rGyud bzhi. The narration of events starts again with the transmission line of rGyud bzhi that ends with our author Tsomed Khenchen. 36 Having shortly outlined outl ined this, the ‘interior is further pierced’, so to speak. Now the essence of the rGyud bzhi being the authentic word of Buddha is brought out into the open. Tsomed Khenchen treats the following follo wing three main points in a way that that is fully ful ly in line with the Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba. In this latter composition the succession of arguments is rather straightforwardly announced. It goes as follows: all authentic word ( bka’) has to be explained by the five fiv e perfect circumstances. The rGyud bzhi is not a treatise but bka’. bKa’ consists of tantra, reading transmissions and essential instructions. ins tructions. Because it is a tantra, the four limbs of a tantra apply. Because it has a reading transmission, the six beliefs of a reading transmission apply. Because it has essential instructions, the nine superiorities of essential instructions apply.37 This is the strategy to prove the rGyud bzhi as being

158 TIBET JOURNAL the authentic word of Buddha. As already noted above the first khog dbug on the rGyud bzhi should be read as defending this claim. Therefore the five perfect circumstances that this very rGyud bzhi was expounded by Buddha himself are given by Tsomed Khenchen as (1) excellence of time - Buddha was personally existing, (2) the place – the city of Pleasant to See (lTa na sdug), (3) the teacher Medicine Buddha, (4) attendants - the four retinues, and (5) the teaching – the rGyud bzhi.38 He keeps on this track by listing the six beliefs of the reading transmission of a tantra: (1) the rTsa rgyud originated from the heart of the Buddha: the belief in the reading transmission of the rTsa rgyud , the chos sku; (2) the bShad rgyud originated from the body of the Buddha: the belief in the reading transmission of the bShad rgyud , the longs sku; (3) the Mang ngag rgyud originated from the qualities ( yon tan ) of the Buddha: the belief in the reading transmission of the Man ngag rgyud, the ngo bo nyid sku; (4) the Phyi ma rgyud originated from the deeds (’phrin las) of the Buddha: the belief in the reading transmission ( lung) of the Phyi ma rgyud, the sprul sku; (5) from the speech of the Buddha originated the petitioner: the belief in the reading transmission of the valid truth of petition ( zhus don), the padma; (6) the rGyud bzhi are naturally occurred five bodies ( sku lnga lhun grub): the belief in the reading transmission of the Medicine Buddha. 39 This is followed by the Nine Superiorities of Instructions, although in fact Tsomed Khenchen gives ten: (1) the superiority that one is of constant benefit for the migrants, because medical treatment is a link between merit and karma; (2) the superiority that one is venerated like a lord of whatever countries, because one enhances the good qualities and the life-force of the migrants; (3) the superiority that one has influence over all, enemies and friends, because it is impartial to its benefit for others; (4) the superiority that one has not to look on other fundamental textual traditions (gzhung), because it has completely all explanations and practices; (5) the superiority that one has not to stick to other religious systems ( theg pa), because an attitude appears effortlessly of generating the mind for enlightenment by doing an aspiration prayer; (6) the superiority that one is endowed with the supreme, pure view, because it is free of the limits of wrong remedies; (7) the superiority that it is free of wrong meditation, because the Four Immeasurable constantly guard the evenness of mind and its subsequent results ( mnyam rjes); (8) the superiority that it is free of improper behaviour, because it avoids the ten nonvirtues, confusion, sins and bad behaviour; (9) the superiority that one has not to make false accumulations, because all practices are becoming the six transcendental perfections; (10) the superiority that one will not return to the samsara, because the result is that one will achieve Buddhahood.40 Tsomed Khenchen summarizes that the rGyud bzhi is a flawlessly authentic composition that consists of a tantra, a reading transmission and essential instructions. Then he concludes this paragraph by referring to the Cha lag bco brgyad . He states that Yuthok composed the treatise known as the ‘Eighteen Parts’ ( Cha lag bco brgyad ) in order to explain the design of his rGyud bzhi.41

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 159 THE CLASSIFICATION OF AUTHENTIC WORDS Tsomed Khenchen states on the nature of authentic words that these are the vehicle, equal to the mind tamed by all flawless dharma, which appeared because of Buddha being the main condition (sangs rgyas kyi bdag rkyen).42 In accordance with the rGyud bla ma, he defines authentic words as whatever is endowed with truth and that which is closely related to the dharma, dispels defilements from all three realms and reveals the benefits (and) the qualities (of) calmness. 43 Thirdly he distinguishes bka’ ma by means of a threefold differentiation. bKa’ ma are those expositions actually given by Buddha, that were authorized and that are blessed. He begins this paragraph by pointing out to the Prajnaparamita in Eight-thousand Verses (brGyad stong). Therefore the teacher gave the order that the vinayapitaka should be compiled by his close followers; the sutrapitaka should be compiled by Ananda; and the abhidharmapitaka be compiled by Mahakasyapa. At the beginning one should generate virtue through the phrase “thus I heard once”, in the middle the exposition should be written and at the end should be added the phrase “they enjoyed very much the speech of the Buddha.” According to these instructions the authentic words of Buddha were written down. 44 The explanation of Tsomed Khenchen is slightly confused as he does not clearly differentiate in this passage between the first both kinds of bka’ ma. Beside the speeches of Buddha that he had held, there also exist approved teachings that are formally indicated by phrases as those mentioned by Tsomed Khenchen. Then he continues to explain teachings of Buddha which are authentic due to being blessed, although they might not be spoken directly by the Buddha. Tsomed Khenchen is here in agreement with the Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba that briefly names them.45 Tsomed Khenchen demonstrates three different kinds of blessed authentic words. The first are blessed by the body of Buddha. It is like Buddha sang in praise the sutra of displaying the behaviour of one’s true characteristics, when Buddha had placed his hands on the forehead of Samantabhadra. 46 The second is the blessing of speech. These are the sounds of dharma from mountains, trees and drums that were blessed by Buddha. The Pha rol tu phyin pa rgya cher sbyang pa states that the sounds that come from the mountains blessed by the teacher, stones and trees, large drums, and wish-fulfilling trees and lotuses are the authentic words of Buddha. 47 Concerning the blessing of mind it is like the glorious rGyud bzhi that is like testing his power and strength during the questioning and answering between both seers, while Buddha bound all conceptions of Buddhahood in a meditative concentration of mental quiescence. 48 In Tibetan scholasticism, different principles were chosen to categorize authentic words. Obviously Tsomed Khenchen was once more strongly influenced by the Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba that made use of this categorization on the basis of the main condition (bdag rkyen), i.e. the personality of Buddha, although also in medical writings others were known as well. Two later works of Lodro Gyalpo and Sangye Gyatso also deal with this question but employ several principles for categorizing the authentic words. 49 Concerning the words that are authentic, because they were blessed, Sangye Gyatso, for his part, prefers a fivefold distinction. 50

160 TIBET JOURNAL The fact that the rGyud bzhi is regarded as bka’ ma that originated in a blessing by the mind is not shared by both authors. This is, however, a notion already formulated by Yonten Gonpo. He states that the Medicine Buddha remained in a meditative concentration called the ‘King of Medicine’ that pacifies the four hundred four kinds of diseases. Due to this blessing the dialogue between the two seers, Drang srong Rig pa’i ye shes and Drang srong Yid las skyes, ensued. 51 It is not surprising that Lodro Gyalpo does not agree with either opinion, as his khog dbubs is based on the newly acquired conviction that the rGyud bzhi is not the authentic word of Buddha. Sangye Gyatso prefers to strengthen his position that centres around the older Yuthok. Therefore the rGyud bzhi was expounded by the Medicine Buddha at O rgyan. THE CLASSIFICATION OF TREATISES Tsomed Khenchen employs a fivefold division for this topic. 52 His first point is the nature ( ngo bo) of a treatise. He characterizes it as a work composed by a knowledgeable individual who has relied on the words of Buddha. In the following point he treats the etymology ( nges tshig) of the term bstan bcos by a short quotation of the rNam bshad rig pa.53 On the motive ( dgos) he refers to Aryadeva who said that it is to obtain works of beauty, to compile fragments, to reveal the profound, and to restore what became spoiled. 54 The fourth point deals with the definition ( mtshan nyid ) of treatises. He gives four verses from the rGyud bla ma.55 Therefore treatises are determined by some teachings of Buddha. They are attentively expounded and are in agreement with the road to salvation. They are venerated like the words of the seers. When it comes to the classification of treatises he cites the Thos pa stan [gtan] la dbab pa.56 According to this there exist treatises that are without meaning, that have wrong meaning, that stresses study, that stresses debate, that are deceptive, and that are devoid of compassion. 57 THE CLASSIFICATION OF STUDYING AND VOWS This topic already forms part of the earliest known khog dbug on the rGyud bzhi, namely the Khyung chen lding ba. It is also integrated in the works of Lodro Gyalpo and Sangye Gyatso. While Lodro Gyalpo stresses a thorough study, Sangye Gyatso emphasizes the three classes of vows. 58 Moreover it is found in the commentarial literature on the rGyud bzhi like the treatises of Kempa Tsewang. In comparison to Tsomed Khenchen these sources are more detailed and specialized in their approach and give more attention to the particular requirements for studying medicine. Even though Tsomed Khenchen speak of vows in the heading of this topic, he just describes one ethical rule in the conduct with a patient. At the beginning he cites Nagarjuna on the importance of learning: “If one draws knowledge from books and does not study with lamas, one is not handsome among many like a cormorant among geese.” 59 On the methodological side of learning and composing he observes a sixfold rule (1) the part on origin and history is like streams of water that pound against secrets; (2) the part of naming the core meaning is like the leap of a tiger; (3) the part of setting textual caesurae and chapters is like a wisely chosen bolt; (4) the part of adding the comments of a commentary is like walking in the mode of a frog;

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 161 (5) the part of giving a rebuttal is like the sword of a hero; (6) the part of revealing the profound meaning is like opening the eyes of a blind person. 60 This is neatly interwoven with the four modes of explaining. Therefore one should teach general subjects ( shes bya stong thun) in the mode of brilliantly increasing gems (nor bu gsal ’phel), solve difficulties and remove contradictions ( dka’ ’tshoms gegs sel) in the mode of a wheel of meteorite iron ( gnam lcags ’khor lo), demonstrate the subtle and broad meaning of words ( tshig don zhib rgyas) in the mode of a rosary of pearls (mu tig ’phreng ba) and give practical instructions ( lag len dmar khrid ) in the mode of an old woman pointing her finger ( rgan mo mdzubs tshugs).61 The mode of teaching should be adjusted to the intellect of the disciples. Pupils with keen intellect understand the tantra just by hearing it. While pupils with less intellectual capabilities will be taught by practice. The main text together with instructions should be taught to pupils with medium intellectual capabilities. Otherwise a pupil should avoid learning without purpose, like one avoids to lie face down, one should avoid to learn emphatically, like one avoids having cuts on the feet through too much walking and one should avoid to learn with wrong expectations like one avoids poison.62 Tsomed Khenchen concludes these methodological considerations with the advice that one should view the lama as the true Medicine Buddha and one should have faith in his instructions as in the flawless words of Buddha. Moreover the student should generate pious thoughts wishing to benefit the patient. Thus, the fourth topic of the khog dbugs is finished. It is certain that Tsomed Khenchen relied on the Khyung lding chen po to an amazingly high decree. The classification of bka’ and bstan bcos closely resembles the scheme of that composition. But he did not complete his khog dbugs without having presented a general lecture on learning and teaching that seemingly formed a regular part of khog ’bugs literary productions or at least of those that are known today. The treatise of Tsomed Khenchen is not very innovative but repeats principles and notions that appear to be just a version of those of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo. This rather conservative approach stays in contrast to the compositions of Lodro Gyalpo and Sangye Gyatso.

TABLE OF CONTENTS ‘The Pierced Interior of the Art of Healing, Fully Illuminating the Objects of Knowledge’ (gSo ba rig pa’i khog bug shes bya rab tu gsal ba) [1a/1] Verses of Homage [1b/1-2a/3] 1. 1.1. The Classification that Describes the One Who Gave Precious Expositions (bka’ gsung ba po ston pa’i rnam par bzhag) [2b/2] 1.2. The Classification that Describes His Deeds ( ’phrin las ston pa’i rnam par bzhags) 1.1.1. 1.1.2. 1.1.3.

How He Generated His Mind ( thugs skyed tshul) [2b/4] How He Gathered Accumulations ( tshogs bsags tshul) [3a/3] How Each Buddha Turned the Wheel of Dharma ( sangs rgyas re chos ’khor bskor tshul) [3b/1]

162 TIBET JOURNAL 1.2. 1.2.1. 1.2.2.

The Classification of the Showing His Deeds ( spyi don gnyis pa de dag gi ’phris bstan pa’i rnam par bzhag pa) [5a/2] In General the Classification of the Five Fields of Knowledge ( phyir shes bya rig pa’i gnas lnga’i rnam bzhag) In Particular the Classification of the Art of Healing ( bye brag du gso ba rig pa’i rnam bzhag)

1.2.1.1. 1.2.1.2. 1.2.1.3. 1.2.1.4.

Buddhist philosophy Logic Grammar Art and Craft

1.2.2.

The Classification of the Art of Healing ( gso ba rig pa’i rnam par bzhag pa) [6a/4] How Ordinary Medical Therapies Came into Being ( thun mong gi gso dpyad ji ltar du byung ba’i tshul) How Extraordinary Medical Therapies Came into Being (thun mong ma yin pa’i gso dpyad ji ltar du byung ba’i tshul)

1.2.2.1. 1.2.2.2.

1.2.2.1. 1.2.2.1.1. 1.2.2.1.2. 1.2.2.1.1. (1.2.2.1.1. ) (1.2.2.1.1. ) (1.2.2.1.1. ) (1.2.2.1.1. )

1.2.2.1.2. (1.2.2.1.2.1.) (1.2.2.1.2.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.)

(1.2.2.1.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.)

[5b/1] [5b/2] [5b/5] [6a/2]

How Ordinary Medical Therapies Came into Being ( thun mong gi gso dpyad ji ltar du byung ba’i tshul) [6a/5] How It Originated in India ( rgya gar du ci ltar byung tshul) How It Came to Tibet ( de bod du gyur tshul) How It Originated in India ( rgya gar du ci ltar byung tshul) [6b/1] The Tradition of the Gods of Pure Era ( skal bzang lha’i lugs) [6b/2] The Tradition of Holders of Knowledge, the Seers ( rigs ’dzin drang srong gi lugs) [7b/4] The Tradition of the Non-Buddhists ( phyi rol mu stegs pa’i lugs) [8a/3] The Tradition of the Buddhist ( nang pa sangs rgyas pa’i lugs) [8a/4] How It Came to Tibet ( de bod du gyur tshul) [8b/3] During the Reign of Songtsen Gampo During the Reign of Trisong Deutsen (blank side 14b) About sKyes bu me lha [15a/1] The Seventy-one Doctors who Are Famous in Tibet ( bod du grags che ba’i sman pa bdun bcu rtsa gcig) [15a/3] (blank side 15b) Transmission, Hiding and Rediscovering of the rGyud bzhi [16a/1] Story of Buddha and Shariputra [16a/3] (blank side 16b) Transmission Line of rGyud bzhi The Five Excellences ( phun gsum sum tshogs pa lnga) [17b/1]

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 163 (1.2.2.1.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.) (1.2.2.1.2.) 1.2.3.

The Six Beliefs of Tantra ( rgyud kyi yid ches drug) [17b/3] The Nine Superiorities of Instructions ( man ngag gi che ba dgu) [18a/3] The Treatise Cha lag bco brgyad [18b/5]

1.2.3.1. 1.2.3.2.

The classification of the authentic words ( bka’) and the treatises (bstan bcos) (spyi don gsum pa bka’ bstan bcos kyi rnam par bzhags pa) [19b/5] The Classification of Authentic Words ( bka’i rnam bzhag) The Classification of Treatises ( bstan bcos gyi rnam bzhag)

1.2.3.1. 1.2.3.1.1. 1.2.3.1.2. 1.2.3.1.3.

The Classification of Authentic Words ( bka’i rnam bzhag) [20a/2] The Nature of Authentic Words (bka’i ngo bo) [20a/3] The Definition (mtshan nyid ) [20a/4] The Importance ( gal pa) [20a/5]

1.2.3.1.3.1.

The Authentic Words that Were Expounded during Lifetime ( zhal nas gsungs pa’i bka’) [20b/1] The Authentic Words that Were Authorized ( rjes su gnang ba’i bka’) [20b/3] The Authentic Words that Are Blessed ( byin gyis rlabs pa’i bka’) [20b/4]

1.2.3.1.3.2. 1.2.3.1.3.3.

1.2.3.1.3.3.1. 1.2.3.1.3.3.2. 1.2.3.1.3.3.3.

The Blessing of Body (sku’i byin gyis brlabs pa) [20b/4] The Blessing of Speech (gsung gi byin gyis brlabs pa) [20b/5] The Blessing of Mind ( thugs gyi byin gyis brlabs pa) [21a/2]

1.2.3.2.

The Classification of Treatises ( bstan bcos gyi rnam bzhag) [21a/3] The Nature ( ngo bo) [21a/4] The Etymology (nges tshig) [21a/5] The Motive ( dgos pa) [21b/1] The Definition (mtshan nyid ) [21b/2] The Division ( dbye ba) [21b/4]

1.2.3.2.1. 1.2.3.2.2. 1.2.3.2.3. 1.2.3.2.4. 1.2.3.2.5. 1.2.4. (1.2.4.) (1.2.4.) (1.2.4.) (1.2.4.) (1.2.4.) (1.2.4.) (1.2.4.)

Classification of Studying and Vows ( spyi don bzhi pa ’chad nyan dam tshig gi rnam par bzhag pa) [21b/5] On the Importance of Thorough Learning [22a/2] The Six Limbs of Teaching ( yan lag drug) [22a/3] The Four Modes of Explaining ( tshul bzhi) [22b/1] The Teaching in Accordance with the Intellectual Capability of a Pupil [22b/3] The Three Faults that Hurt Pupils ( slob bu gnod kyi skyon gsum) [22b/4] The Attitude Towards Teacher and Patient [22b/5] Dedication Verses [22b/5] colophon [23b/3]

164 TIBET JOURNAL Notes 1. A table of contents is given at the end of this paper. This manuscript consists of 24 folios sized 6,3 x 35 cm. The text is written in dbu med . The lines per page are: 2 lines [1a], 3 [1b], [2a], 4 [2b], 5 [3a-23b], 1 [24a]. The reverse sides of the following folios are missing: 14b, 15b, 16b. The manuscript was microfilmed by the Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) in 1997 under the Reel No. E 53248. The place of deposit is Gangtok Palace (or more specifically Dolung Gonpa) and the manuscript belongs to Chogyal Wangchuk Namgyal. 2. The modern writers have based themselves on them. Cf. Taube 1981: 61f. For a detailed study, see also Jampa Thinley 2000: 230ff. 3. KhB [348/5], Samten 1992: 91 4. Taube 1981: 62 5. KhB [348/2] Samten 1992: 91 6. KhB [348/10]. He met him, when Atisha was invited to Mang yul. It is said that he received many teachings from him. For meditation practices he relied on ’Brom ston. He died in Klung shod mngal valley, LCh [236/5-237/4]. See also the biography on dGe b shes sTon pa, LCh [251/5], [286/6]. 7. KhB [348/5], BZPhL [201/4]. For Lha rje dGe ba ’bum, cf. Jampa Thinley 2000: 169 8. The quotation is in verses with nine syllables that might apply for the entire composition of the Khog ’bugs legs bshad dngul dkar me long. This impression is supported by the entry found in the colophon of the medical history of Sangye Gyatso. Here it is described as Legs bshad dgnul dkar me long tshigs bcad ma, hence a versified text, KhB [563/19]. 9. KhB [348/10]. Cf. Jampa Thinley 2000: 230. On Phrag dbon bSod nams bkra shis, see for example, Jampa Thinley 2000: 219. 10. KhB [348/7] 11. KhB [348/12-] 12. KhB [348/15]. Samten 1992: 91, Jampa Thinley 2000: 226, 232. He was one of the teachers of Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo (1509-1579). About him, see an article in this issue. 13. The different spellings are kept here in accordance with the very treatise is refers to. 14. Schaeffer 2003: 624 15. KhChDB [4/20-5/2], For a full presentation see there. 16. Naturally the phrase “’bru gnon” means carefully reading word by word. In this context I believe, however, that it should be understood as meaning a literary composition. 17. The word “analysis” is an attempt to render the term bshad ral. According to Yonten Gonpo one who explains ( ’chad pa po) should heed that a full word of explanation is half achieved by wrapping up the meaning and half achieved by cutting open a problem through elucidation, tshig thems don ’drel bshad ral phyed , KhChDB [3/11]. Therefore an explanation has an analytical part and a conclusion. 18. So for instance by Brang ti dPal ldan ’tsho byed, KhB [294/6], BGGP-KhB [307/16]. 19. Invaluable informations will surely provide the research of Mr. Dan Martin who came across the sMan gyi byung tshul khog dbubs rgyal mtshan rtse mo[r?] ’bar ba zhes bya ba’i bstan bcos composed by Che rje Zhang ston Zhig po Thugs rje khri ’od. Initial findings were presented by him at the Xth IATS, Oxford, Sept. 06-12.2003. 20. Although it is surely of interest to make a comparable study of the notion of the five sciences as found in Tibetan medical literature, it should be left out here because of the brevity of this study. 21. There are slight differences to KhChDB [16/2-], KhB [21/7-] 22. Brahma composed the gSang ba’i snying po don bsdus pa based on the gSo dpyad ’bum sde . This was explained to sKyes dgu’i bdag po myur ba. He wrote the ’Phrul gyi me long and taught it to both Asvin brothers, they composed the gCes par grub pa. Then it was explained to Indra who made the bCes pa bsdus pa. Cf. KhChDB [18/10-], KhB [87/17-].

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 165 23. KhB [88/4-89/17]. According to Tsomed Khenchen the eight sections of the Tsa ra ka sde brgyad were composed by rGyun shes: sKor stan pa’i sde, (2) Me zhin [bzhin] ’jug: gZhi sgrub pa’i sde, (3) Mu khyud ’dzin: bDud rtsi chen po’i sde, (4) ’Gro ba skyong: Mi ’jigs pa mtshon cha’i sde, (5) bShogs ’gro skyes: bDud rtsi’i bsgrub lugs kyi sde, (6) Ka [bKa’] gnyis spyod: Srog gi sgrom bu’i sde, (7) Thang la ’bar: gSo byed sman sbyor gyi sde, and (8) Nam so skyes: sByong byed rnam lnga’i sde. Cf. Taube 1981: 10, n.38. But the earliest known khog ’bugs differs here. It briefly names three tantras that belong to the seers: Drang srong snying bo’i rgyud , bDud rtsi snying bo and Tsa ra ka sde brgyad , KhChDb [20/5-6], for their names, see [18/18-]. 24. Sangye Gyatso’s description slightly differs but he gives also some more details. According to him the first commentary Zla bar bkab consists of 80 divisions. The second ’Phrul gyi lde mig consists of 40 divisions, KhB [88/18-]. sTod ’grel blo’i spar khab and sMad ’grel ’phrul gyi lde mig, KhChDB [19/10]. 25. Tsomed Khenchen gives two examples only, the tantra of the throat of Siva ( dBang phyug chen po’i ke [ske] rags), the Tsa ra ka ’bum sde’i rgyud and so on. The Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba states that the non-Buddhist have six tantras: sKra shad ’dzing ba’i rgyud , Me ltar ’bar ba’i rgyud , rDo rje kha msra’i rgyud , Ri bo brtsegs pa’i rgyud , dBang phyug chen po ske rags kyi rgyud and Tsa ra ka ’bum sde, KhChDB [20/6-9]. More detailed is Sangye Gyatso, who gives an explanation for the tantras that orginated from various parts of the body of Siva, but who does not list the Tsa ra ka ’bum sde’i rgyud , KhB [89/17-90/ 10]. 26. Therefore for instance Manjusri composed the bDud rtsi lhung zed [bzed], Avalokitesvara - bDud rtsi chu brgyun [rgyun] che chung, Vajrapani - Ro khrang ’phrul gyi me long and Nagarjuna - mDo lnga dpyad gzhungs bcu. Cf. KhChDB [18/8], [18/16], [19/18], [20/1], KhB [86/8-], esp.[86/17], [87/8], [87/11]. 27. On the invitation of doctors during the snga ’gyur , cf., Taube 1981: 10ff. Indispensable is still the remarkable study of Beckwith 1979. Since the khog bug of mTso smad mkhan chen and the one of Lodro Gyalpo has not have been at his disposal at that time, some additional data should be given. Other sources state that these three doctors came during the reign of Trisong Deutsen, KhB [156/9-], see also [135/16-], BGGP-KhB (his own view) [292/5-]. In their opinion, however, the Indian doctor Bha ra dhva dza, the Chinese doctor Hen len hang de and the doctor of sTag gzigs or Khrom, Ga le nos, were present at the court of Songtsen Gampo. Ga le nos translated the mGo sngon bsdus pa and the medical treatise of the three cock, peacock and parrot ( De pho rma bya ne tsho gsum gyi dpyad ), KhB [150/8-]. He stayed in Tibet as the personal physician of the king. He married and had three sons who established different medical lineages. The eldest was sent to gTsang stod and from him the lineage of Bi ji among others originated. The middle went to g.Yor po. There the doctors of Lho rong proliferated. The youngest stayed with his father. The doctors of Sog pa originated from him, KhB [151/5-]. Lodro Gyalpo records the very same for the view of his opponents but Ga le nos is replaced by bTsan pa shi la ha, BGGP-KhB [253/14]. When he explains his point of view, he notes the same doctors as Sangye Gyatso but the treatises that were translated by Ga le nos are the mGo sngon bsdus pa, the De po’i gtar dpyad and so on, BGGP-KhB [288/3-]. Ga le nos remained in Tibet and changed his name (rus ming) to ’Dzo ro, ibid. [288/19]. As already indicated by Sangye Gyatso, Lodro Gyalpo holds the view that Tsam pa shi la came to Tibet in the time of Mes ag tshoms, KhB [169/15]. Indeed, in the latter khog dbub one can read that this individual was invited from Khrom. Doctor ( sman pa) was in his language bi ji. (As already shown by Beckwith 1979 and Taube 1981 the term bi ji is related to the Persian and Indo-Iranian word for doctors etc., Beckwith 1979: 303, Taube 1981: 15,n.53.). His personal name was bTsan pa shi la ha, BGGP-KhB [289/13]. Furthermore he is mentioned as one of three doctors who were at the court after Mes ag tshoms had passed away and the young Trisong Deutsen had ascended to the throne, ibid. [292/5-]. When he was about to return to his

166 TIBET JOURNAL homeland he imparted several medical teachings to his son, namely the gDams pa be’u bum nag po’i skor ’jal tshad dang bcas pa, the Drang srong snying bgyud mgo byang khog yan lag gi pra khrid skor said to be composed by Tsa ra ka and the mGo byang khog yan lag ’du ba thor bu dang bcas pa’i bcos thabs that became known as the Bi ji pu ti kha ser . The original of it was known as the rGyal po’i bla yig ’od ’bar , ibid. [294/6-]. According to Lhamo Kyab 1997, Tsam pa shi la ha came in 742 from Khrom to Tibet. He composed the Bi ji’i po ti kha ser and presented it to the king. A original version (ma phyi) of this work exists at the Mentsikhang of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Its contents are: combat wounds of the head, of the upper body, the lower body and four limbs, ibid. 91. Sangye Gyatso names the Bi byi bu ti kha ser among the sources for his rGyud bzhi edition, KhB [384/3]. Moreover one should note that Sangye Gyatso refers to some unknown authors that present distinguished lines of tradition of medical expertise according to their respective land of origin, KhB [176/3-16]. Here one finds the tradition of Khrom like the Tshad pa ’bros ’ded of Tsam pa shi la ha, ibid. [176/14]. 28. The enumeration of eight doctors only is probably a mistake. The usual number of them is nine. Tsomed Khenchen speaks also of nine messengers to whom gold was given and dispatched. KhB [169/10-], BGGP-KhB [255/7-], [295/15-]. Cf. also Taube 1981: 15ff. 29. This story that strikes one as odd has probably a complex background. Naturally the king wanted to test them. But one should remark that seemingly there existed an early notion in Tibetan medicine that the pulse of all twelve viscerae (twelve as counted in the case of pulse diagnosis) could be described as being like a braided string(s) (thi gu sgril ba) or a braided multi-coloured thread(s) (tshon skud sgril ba). In the rGyud bzhi this metaphor was not employed and therefore it is just of rare occurance in its commentaries. Sangye Gyatso leaves it completely out. Kempa Tsewang and Lodro Gyalpo name it only in order to refute it. Nevertheless by this one gets known that this notion existed at all. Proponents of this view were for example ’Tsho byed Thugs rje, Bya pa Nang so bKra shis rnam rgyal and Byang pa bKra shis dpal bzang. It is also noteworthy that both, Kempa Tsewang and Lodro Gyalpo, refer to the Zla ba’i rgyal po, the earliest known medical treatise today that is possibly of the eighth century. Here the metaphor of the braided string(s) was used and worried these both commentators of the rGyud bzhi. The passage they quote is not preserved in the Zla ba’i rgyal po published today ( snying rtsa mkhrig ma’i gong na yar / thi gu sgril ba lta bu ste MPZhL IV [42/5-], snying rtsa mkhrig ma’i gong dag nas / thi gu sgril ba lta bu ste / mtheb mo’i ’og tu rgyu ba / mthil du phyin nas khug par ro // KPTshB III [34/2-]). Furthermore one should mention that pulse diagnosis in this form occurs also in Chinese novels and Korean opera plots, when the pulse of well-to-do ladies is taken. 30. For this see KhB [171/6-], BGGP-KhB [290/4-], Taube 1981: 13ff. 31. According to Tsomed Khenchen the king said that the subjects should venerate them. The gods (lha) of the Tibetan race are fierce, because they bestow life. They should venerate them (like lords, rje). Therefore they were called lha rje. Cf., KhB [170/10-13], BGGPKhB [290/1-2]. Both these sources give the story on examination immediately followed by this conferring of the title, KhB [169/15-], BGGP-KHB [289/14-]. Lodro Gyalpo tells this story with regard to Mes ag tshoms, bTsan pa shi la ha and the other doctors. Cf. Taube 1981: 15. Furthermore one should remark that beside this explanation of the term lha rje as found in khog ’bugs literature there also exists another mode of explanation handed down in the commentaries on the bShad rgyud. Therefore in the ’Grel ba ’bum chung gsal sgron nor ba’i ’phreng mdzes composed by Ye shes zungs it is stated that the title or name ( ming) of the kings was lha as a polite address. Because the lha venerated (the doctors) as lords (rje), (the doctors) were called lha rje, ChLCG [289/6-8]. This can be also found in the commentaries on the rGyud bzhi composed by Kempa Tsewang, Lodro Gyalpo and Sangye Gyatso.

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 167 32. The succession of events differ in the Tibetan sources. In the opinion of Lodro Gyalpo it was as follows: BGGP-KhB: his own view: (a) test of doctors under Mes ag tshoms, BGGP-KhB [289/8], (b) translations by three doctors [292/5-] and (c) invitation of nine doctors under Trisong Deutsen [295/19]. Sangye Gyatso (a) translation by three doctors, KhB [156/9], and (b) invitation of nine doctors [169/10-], (c) test of doctors [169/16-], (d) their translations [171/5-] under Trisong Deutsen. Lodro Gyalpo’s description of the view of his opponents is largely identical with the one given by Sangye Gyatso, BGGPKhB [255/3-]. 33. Sangye Gyatso reports the following account. The son of Dzi na mi tra was the personal physician of the king. When he treated the queen, he showed improper behaviour. Therefore he was sentenced to death but his hands were cut and he was sent in exile to Tibet. Known as the Old Crippled Hands (Bha ro Phyag rdum) alias sKyes bu me lha he came to Tibet during the reign of mNga’ bdag rTse lde, KhB [290/1-], Cf. also Lama Kyab 1997: 23ff., Jampa Thinley 2000: 121, see also KhB [223/16], [283/7], [301/19]. These sources do not explicitly speak of translations. Only in the Vaidurya sngon po does he mention Indian translations. At this point, Sangye Gyatso names the bDud rtsi zla ba’i snying po of sKyes bu me lha, VNg [1465/20]. (The entire passage from which this is taken is very close to the khog ’bugs, KhB [383/11-19], VNg [1465/16-21]. In the former this composition of sKyes bu me lha is not mentioned.). The writings of sKyes bu me lha were practical instructions (man ngag) like the sNyan rgyud be bum nag po, Chung dpyad be bum sngon po, ’Bum khu chur and rDe [sDe] skor phyi nang gsang gsum, KhB [290/6-8]. Lodro Gyalpo provides the following overview on the works of sKyes bu me lha. Therefore he had translated: the mDo lnga, ’Khrugs bcos sprin bral zla zer , bDud rtsi ku mu ta spyi don bzhi, Le’u bco lnga pa, gSo ba stong dgu bcu rtsa gcig that were taught to him by his father, mGo dang tshad pa’i skor known as Bu gdams. He composed the Phyi grangs kyi sde skor , Nang don gyi sde skor and gSang ba lag len gyi sde skor together with commentary and additional, short treatises ( cha lag). These were known as the gSo dpyad skor gsum, BGGP-KhB (the opponent’s view) [263/17-264/5]. Moreover he gives a long quotation from unnamed source. Therefore rGya gar sKyes bu me lha composed the sTong thun sum cu rtsa gcig, sKor tshoms bzhi bcu zhe lnga, Yang dag tshig bsdus don and Don ’grel nyi shu pa, ibid. [271/16-18]. 34. Presumably Tsomed Khenchen had mentioned these nine experts in one of the folios that are blank now. It seems that he is of the opinion that these have lived during the time of the Tibetan empire. Cf. the paper on Lodro Gyalpo in this issue, n.44, 45. Future research must show in as far this claim that sKyes bu me lha was a friend or teacher of the nine experts or their descendants is justified. Naturally this must include an in-depth study on medical issues of their medical treatises. There are indications that the works of sKyes bu me lha were indeed of lasting influence in Tibetan medicine. For exa mple ’Jam dpal bzang po of the Brang ti line had studied the A tsa rya’i gso dpyad skor gsum under his father bSod nams ’bum, KhB [292/9]. He also relied on lJang sman pa Ye shes bzang po for a long while. ’Jam dpal bzang po was a contemporary of Bla ma bDag nyid chen po dpal bzang po (1262-1324). Undoubtedly he will have imparted this teaching on his sons rGyal ba bzang po and the famous dPal ldan ’tsho byed. Furthermore in the commentaries of Kempa Tsewang there are several instance, when he refers to treatise of sKyes bu me lha, ’Bum nag KPTshB I [132/23], [145/14] etc. It seems that during the time of Sangye Gyatso, works of sKyes bu Me lha were still extant as he mentions that he used his sMan bcos be bum for his Lhan thabs. Apparently this work entitled sNyan brgyud be bum nag po is preserved. In this a biographical sketch is contained, Jampa Thinley 2000: 121ff. 35. Namely (1) The scholar who is like a great Pandita ( pan chen ltar mkhas pa gcig), (2) The one who comes through everything like the sky / space (nam mkha ’ltar kun la khyab pa gcig), (3,4) the two who are famous like sun and moon ( nyi zla ltar grags pa gnyis), (5-13) the nine personal physicians of the ruler ( mnga’ bdag gi bla sman dgu), (14-23) the ten

168 TIBET JOURNAL who benefitted the migrants of the tulku (sprul sku’i ’gro don mdzad ba bcu), (24-29) (sbyang stobs yon tan che ba drug) and (30-39) the ten who are like famous kings ( yongs grags rgyal po lta bu bcu). There were various standardized lists of physicians who were renowned in Tibet ( yongs su grags pa’i sman pa chen po). gTsug lag phreng ba says that there exists list of sixty-five, seventy-one or one hundred and four doctors, KhPGT [863/ 14]. A list that agrees with this given by Tsomed Khenchen is named by Lodro Gyalpo (his opponents view) BGGP-KhB [264/19-], and Sangye Gyatso, KhB [304/1-11]. These are identified with certain personalities, cf. BGGP-KhB (his opponent’s view) [265/5267/8], KhB [304/11-306/11]. 36. The narration how the rGyud bzhi was transmitted ends with: “.. It was taken out by Grva pa mNgon shes can. He became the lord of Jambudvipa. Thus it is explained.” Gra pa mngon shes can gyis gton [bton] / ’dzam bu gling gi bdag por gyur / ces bshad pas [16a/ 2-3]. Therefore it is unlikely that this passage is a prophecy made by Buddha. 37. The first individuals are missing. It might be not too far-fetched to assume that these were Buddha and his several aspects, which can be related to the respective parts of the rGyud bzhi. It begins with the one who transmitted the Phyi ma rgyud and the deeds, Rig pa’i ye shes who was perfectly accomplished from the secret place / the one who asked the questions and made the transmission of the authentic words ( bka’ brgyud ba po), Yid las skyes who is infinite light from the throat / sMan pa’i rgyal po ’Tsho byed gzhon nu / mGon po Klu sgrub / dPal ldan dPa’o / Kha che Zla dga’ / Bai ro tsa na / Trisong Deutsen / Grva pa mNgon shes / dBus pa Dar grags / mTsho byed dGon skyabs / g.Yu thog mgon po / Sum ston Ye shes gzungs / ’Tsho byed gZhon nu ye shes / g.Yu thog ’Bram seng / gTsang ston Sangs rin / mKhas pa Rin rdor / Brang ti Don grub rgyal mtshan / Brang ti dPal ldan ’tsho byed / dGe slong Tshal pa Mi dbang dBang phyug grags pa / sLob dpon Phun tshogs bzang po / Pan chen mNyam nyid rdo rje (1439-1475) / sTong ston mKhas pa’i dbang po / myself (i.e.Tsomed Khenchen). For similar transmission lines of the rGyud bzhi, cf. Taube 1981. 38. KhChDB [21/1-12]. 39. Cf. KhChDB [21/19-]. 40. The last point should certainly be seen in relation to the beginning verses of the brGyud pa’i rnam thar med thabs med pa bzhugs contained in the Cha lag bco brgyad , ChLCG [690/1-]. These say that this great tantra on the art of healing originated from the five naturally occurred bodies, sku lnga lhun grub las byung ba’i / gso ba rig pa’i rgyud chen ’di, ChLCG [690/3-4]. Cf. also the article of Lodro Gyalpo in this issue, n.52. Tsomed Khenchen gives six points in contrast to the Khyung chen lding ba that gives seven beliefs. The seventh belief is that because it is certain that a valid reading transmission of bka’ exists, one has belief in the valid reading transmission of the rGyud bzhi, KhChDB [23/11-13]. One should remark here that in the opinion of Jaya Pandita Blo bzang ’phrin las are the Khog dbug khyung lding pa and the sTong thun mdzes pa’i ’ja’ ris the work of a rNying ma ba or a Bon po, BZPhL [181/2]. This opinion was already expressed by Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo (1509-1579) in his khog dbubs, BGGP-KhB [321/6-8]. It seems that these both were not alone in casting doubts on the authorship of these treatises. The edition of the Cha lag bco brgyad used for this article was printed at Lhun grub steng monastery in an earth ox year (with the sources at my disposal, I cannot identify this year) on the order of the sDe dge king Blo gros rgyal mtshan. In the colophon it is stated that these parts (cha lag) were composed by Yonten Gonpo. Later scholars made these both treatises in question to an object of investigation. But being included in the edition of dGa’ ldan phun gling that formed the base for the sDe dge print and moreover being widely known and having an uninterrupted line of reading transmission (lung) both treatises were regarded as correct and remained in the edition of the Cha lag bco brgyad . ChLCG [1090/ 1-]. 41. For a comparable list, see KhChDB [23/19-24/20].

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 169 42. (1) for the ‘piercing of the interior’ / ‘innermost essence’ (khog ’bub) of the meaning of the complete medical science ( gso dpyad ) – Khog phubs khyung chen sding [lding] ba, (2) for delimiting the boundaries of the main tradition ( gzhung) - Sa bcad [dpyad] stag mo rngam stags [thabs], (3) for untying the garland of difficulties of the tantra – Ti kha [tikka] mun gsel sgron me, (4) for refuting opponents in debate - rTsod bzlog gegs gsel ’khor lo, (5) for clearly explaining the bShad rgyud - ’Grel pa ’bum chung gsal sgron, (6) for understanding the bShad rgyud - sTong thun mdzes [pa’i] sa ’ja’ rigs [ris], (7) for dispelling the darkness of ignorance - Lag len dmar khrid yig chung, (8) for an oral transmission of condensed instructions - Med thabs med pa rnams gsum, (9) as a supplement of personal advice - Yang sbas gab pa bco brgyad , (10) for separately hiding the precious - Khyad par zab pa nas [rnam] pa su [gsum], (11) for clearing (the rest is illegible) – brDa’ sprod sde tshan rnam lnga, (12) for commenting on other and particular issues - mKhas khyad ngo mtshar bzhi sprugs, (13) for expounded the medical therapies in short sequences - rGyud chung bdud rtsi snying po, (14) because of the wish to satisfy those with less intellectual capabilities - gSo dpyad mu tig ’phreng mdzes, (15) for an easy understanding of newly learned facts for students – sKor mtshoms stong thung bcu gcig, (16) for completely removing ’thor bu diseases - Kha thor rin chen spung pa, (17) for putting up the ornament of beauty - Phan bya sngags ’bum dkar po. Cf. KhB [277/12-278/2], Taube 1981: 39. 43. dang po bka’i ngoo [ngo bo] ni / sangs rgyas bcom ldan ’das kyi bdag rkyen la byung ba’i rnams dkar gyi chos thamd [thams cad] ’dul bya’i blo dang ’tsham [mtsham] pa’i theg pa ’o / [20a/3-4]. 44. gnyis pa mtshan nyid ni / rgyud bla ma las / gang bzhig don ldan chos dang nyer ’brel zhing / khams gsum kun nas nyon mongs spong byed gsungs / zhi ba’i phan yton [yon tan] ston par byed pa de / ’di ni drang srong gsungs yin log pa gzhan / ceso [ces so] / [20a/45] 45. brgyad stong pa ltu ’i [lta bu’i] / ston pa’i zhal nas / ’dul ba nye ba ’khor gyi sdus gcig / mdo sde kun dga’ bos bsdus gcig / mngon pa ’od srungs gi [gis] bsdus gcig / ’di skad bdag gi [gis] thos pa’i dus gcig na dge slong gcig / bar du smra ba ’khod gc ig / mthar bcom ldan ’das kyis gsungs pa la mngon par brjod do zhes bsdus gcig ces gnang ba byin pa las brtsams te bka’i ’tshams [mtshams] sbyor rnams so [20b/1-4]. For this rendering I made a few changes. The phrase mngon par brjod seems to me a mistake. One should read: mngon par dga’. 46. KhChDB [14/14-16]. 47. dang po sku’i [skus] byin gyis brlabs pa yin / ton [ston] pa’i [pas] phyag kun tu bzang po’i spyi bor bzhag nas / rang stags [rtags] kyi spyod pa ston pa’i mdo sngags pa ltu [lta bu] [21b/4-5]. This is obviously an illusion to a text that I could not identify until now. Lodro Gyalpo and Sangye Gyatso both speak of the Kun tu bzang po’i spyod pa ston pa and Kun tu bzang po rang rtags spyod pa ston pa’i mdo respectively, although one should note that they state that it is bka’ ma blessed by the mind, BGGP-KhB [140/19], KhB [253/2]. They exemplify this kind of bka’ ma by the mDo sde sa bcu pa, BGGP-KhB [140/18], Sa bcu pa’i mdo KhB [253/1]. 48. gsung gi byinlabs [byin rlabs] pa ni / ston pa’i [pas] byinlabs [byin gyi rlabs] kyi ri dang shing dang rnga la sogs pa las chos kyi sgra ’byung ba te / pha rol tu phyin pa rgya cher sbyang pa las / bde ??ags [gshegs] dgaldan [dga’ ldan?] rin po che / ston pa de’i [des] byin slabs [rlabs] kyis ri dang rde’u shing bu dang / rnga ’o [bo] che dang dpag bsam shing / padmo las ni byung ba’i sgra / rgyal ba’i byinlabs [byin gyis rlabs] phyir bka’ / ceso [ces so] / [20b/5-21a/2]. Seemingly Tsomed Khenchen does not refer to a text of this category, if this rendering is correct. Lodro Gyalpo names as an example the Ma skyes dgra’i ’gyor pa gsal ba’i mdo, BGGP-KhB [140/19]. Sangye Gyatso does the same, KhB [253/2]. 49. thugs kyi [kyis] byinlabs [byin rlabs] pa ni / ston pa sangs rgyas nang [snang?] thamd [thams cad] zhi ba’i tinge [ting nge] ’dzin la stor [bstar?] zha [ba?] nas / drang srong

170 TIBET JOURNAL gnyis la zhu ba dang shad [bshad] par rtobs [stobs] rtsal ba’i dpal ldan rgyud bzhi ltu [lta bu] bo / [21a/2-3]. 50. BGGP-KhB [131/9-], the bdag rkyen categories, BGGP-KhB [140/15-], KhB [250/19253/12], the bdag rkyen categories, KhB [252/17-253/12]. It seems that Sangye Gyatso partly modelled this particular passage on Lodro Gyalpo. He does, however, employ six kinds of blessings. 51. Perhaps this might be interpreted as being closely affiliated to the rNying ma pa view in this regard as it is found for instance in the work entitled gSang bdag zhal lung by sMin gling lo chen Chos dpal rgya mtsho (1654-1718). Cf., The Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library, under http://iris.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/collections/literature/shechen/texts/ 52. KhChDB [15/4-]. Cf. also ChLCG [159/11]. 53. Kempa Tsewang and Sangye Gyatso give three categories only, namely definition ( mtshan nyid ), etymology (nges tshig) and division ( dbye ba), KPTshB I [17/12-], KhB [253/13-]. 54. Unfortunately at the time of writing I had no access to the books of Jong Cheol Lee on Vasubandhu and his work Vyakhyayukti. The citation of Tsomed Khenchen might be tentatively interpreted as: “(Treatises) repair (’chos) enemies (of) all defilements. They save one from (the fear of taking) bad rebirths (and of) the samsara. Because (of these both) qualities (of) repairing (’chos) and saving (skyob), (they) are called ‘repaired (bcos) teachings (bstan)’. These both (qualities) do not exist in other tradition.“nyoongs [nyon mongs] dgra rnams ma lus ’choms [’chos] pa dang / ngan ’gro’i srid las skyobs pa gang yin pa / ’chos skyobs y’oen [yon tan] phyir na bstan bcos zhes / gnyis po ’di dag gzhan gyis [gyi] lugs la med , [21a/5]. A citation of the same passage that is similiar can be found in the khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso who devotes a chapter on this, KhB [263/15-]. It said to be from the fifth chapter, KhB [264/15-265/4]. 55. dgos pa ni arya de bas / mdzes mos [mo’i?] bya ba lang [langs] ba dang / ’thor bsdus zab bkrol nyam [nyams] pa gso / zheso [zhes so] [21b/2]. 56. gang zhag [zhig] rgyal ba ston pa ’ba’ bzhag [zhig] gis / dbang byas rnam yang [g.yeng] med yid can gyi [gyis] shad [bshad] / thar pa thob pa’i lam dang rje [rjes] mthun pa / de ni drang srong gsungs zhin [bzhin] spyi bo’i [bos] blangs [21b/2]. Cf. also KhB [253/17], KPTshB I [17/16-17]. 57. don med log ldog don ldan dang / thos cod [rtsod] sgrubs pa lhur len dang / ngan g.yo ce [21b/4]. Cf., KhB [brtse] bral bsdul [sdug bsngul] spongs / bstan bcos grub gsum du bod [266/7-]. 58. Cf. KhB [266/4-]. The Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba gives a different scheme. It says that there are two kinds of treatises – one based on authentic words of Buddha (bka’) and the other not based on them. Those that are based on bka’ are treatises that (1) release reading transmission and (2) gather reading transmission. Treatises that are not based on bka’ are threefold: with truth, without truth and with misleading truth. The ones with truth have four subdivision: treatises that stress (a) practice, (b) disputation, (c) prosody and (d) benefit, KhChDB [14/16-15/4] 59. The vows of liberation, Bodhisattva and secret mantra, KhB [441/10-]. 60. dgos pa yin te / klu sgrubs kyis / rigs pa glegs bam las blangs shing / bla ma’i nang nas ma bslabs na / mang po’i nang nas de mi mdzes / ngang pa’i nang na chu skyar bzhin / ceso [ces so] [22a/2-3]. A similar citation is found in the khog ’bugs of Sangye Gyatso. It is said to be drawn from the treatise Shes rab sdong bu that is in the tradition of Nagarjuna. KhB [ 401/6-9]. 61. yan lag drug dang ldan pas ’char tshul bzhi’i ’ched / byung tshul lo rgyus kyi yan lag chu rgyun gsang la thug pa ltu [lta bu] / bsdus don pa bcad kyi ylag [yan lag] stag gi ’chong pa ltu [lta bu] / ’tsham [mtshams] sbyor skabs sdeb kyis ylag [yan lag] stan [gtan] pa mkhas pa ltu [lta bu] / ’grel pa ’gru [’bru] gnon gyis [gyi] ylag [yan lag] rgyu (??) sbal ltur ‘gros ltu [lta bu] / brgal lan bcod pa’i ylag [yan lag] dpa’ bo’i ral gri lta bu / zab ’grol ltag gi ylag [yan lag] long ba mig ’byed ltu [lta bu] [22a/3-22b/1].

A HITHERTO UNKNOWN ‘MEDICAL HISTORY’ ... 171 62. One should note that these modes are identical with titles of works written by Cher rje Zhing ston Thugs rje khri ’od except the first one. Cher rje Zhing ston Thugs rje khri ’od is said to have composed several treatises like (1) dKa’ tshoms gegs sel gnam lcags ’khor lo, (2) Tshig don zhib rgyas mu tig ’phreng ba rgyas bsdus gnyis, (3) Lag len dmar khrid rgan mo mdzub tshugs kyi tshul du ’chad pa bdud rtsi thigs pa for the sake of Zhang ston ’dul ba of sKyid smad khol ma, KhB [178/12-], BGGP-KhB [303/2-]. Cf. Taube 1981: 65, n.243. 63. blob [slob] bu gnod kyi skyon gsum ni / ched du mi byed pa kha sbubs pa lta bu / nan tan bur ba zhabs brdol ltu [lta bu] / log pa’i ’dun dug can ltu [lta bu] spang te [22b/4-5]. Cf. KhChDB [3/12-]. Primary sources BZPhL Blo bzang ’phrin las. Collected Works of Jaya-Pandita Blo-bzang-hphrin-las. Reproduced by Lokesh Chandra from the Collection of Prof. Raghuvira. New Delhi: 1981. 5 vols. ChLCG Yuthok Yonten Gonpo (g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po). Cha lag bco brgyad . Lanzhou: Gansu People’s Publishing House, 1999. 2 vols. BGGP-KhB Zurkharwa Lodro Gyalpo (Zur mkhar ba Blo gros rgyal po). Shes bya spyi’i khog dbub. (= Gang dag byang chub sems dpa’i spyad pa spyod par ’dod pa’i sman pa rnams kyi mi shes su mi rung ba’i phyi nang gzhan gsum gyis rnam bzhag shes bya spyi’i khog dbub pa gtam pa med pa’i mchod sbyin gyi sgo ’phar yangs po.). Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 2001. KhB Sangye Gyatso (Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho). dPal ldan gso ba rig pa’i khog ’bugs legs bshad baidurya’i me long drang srong dgyes pa’i dga’ ston bzhugs so. (=gSo rig sman gyi khog ’bugs). Gansu: People’s Publishing House, 1982. KhChDB Yuthok Yonten Gonpo (g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po). Khog dbug khyung chen lding ba. In Yuthok mgon po. Cha lag bco brgyad . 1-33. KhPGT Chandra, Lokesh 1961. mKhas-pahi-dgah-ston of Dpah-bo-gtsug-lag (also known as Lhobrag-chos-hbyung). New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture: 1961. vol.1-3. KPTshB Kempa Tsewang (sKyem pa tshe dbang). rGyud bzhi’i ’grel. Dharamsala: Tibetan Medical & Astrological Institute. 3 vols. LCh Las chen Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan. bKa’ gdams kyi rnam par thar pa bka’ gdams chos ’byung gsal ba’i sgron me. A detailed account of the spread of the Kadampa sect in Tibet . New Delhi: 1972. 2 vols. VNg Sangye Gyatso (Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho). gSo ba rig pa’i bstan bcos sman bla’i dgongs rgyan rgyud bzhi’i gsal byed bai durya sngon po’i malli ka zhes bya ba bzhugs so. Dharamsala: Tibetan Medical & Astrological Institute, 1994. 2 vols. Secondary sources Jampa Thinley (Byams pa ’phrin las) 2000. Gangs ljongs gso rig bstan pa’i nyin byed rim byon gyi rnam thar phyogs bsgrigs. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, Lhamo Kyab (Lha mo skyabs) 1997. Bod lugs phyi bcos gso rig las gshags bcos skor gleng ba. In Bod ljongs zhib ’jug 1: 90-98 Beckwith, Christopher W. 1979. The Introduction of Greek Medicine into Tibet in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries. In Journal of the American Oriental Society 99.2: 297-313.

172 TIBET JOURNAL Samten (bSam gtan) 1992. Bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i byung ’phel brjod pa. In Bod ljongs zhib ’jug 1: 87-99 Schaeffer, Kurtis R. 2003. Textual Scholarship, Medical Tradition, and Mahayana Buddhist Ideals in Tibet . In Journal of Indian Philosophy. 31: 621-641. Taube, Manfred 1981. Beiträge zur Geschichte der medizinischen Literatur Tibets. Sankt Augustin: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag,

Book Reviews

Mahayanasutralamkara, The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature, edited

by Prof. Robert Thurman, American Institute of Buddhist Studies & University of Columbia Press, 2004, 368pp The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature is a translation of Asanga’s famous masterpiece,

‘Mahayana Sutralamkara’ as revealed to the great Indian acarya by bodhisattva Maitreya. Much labour, hard work, dedication and scholarly research for almost three decades by Prof. Robert Thurman, Lobsang Jamspal and their team have gone into producing this volume. A comparative appraisal of Sanskrit, Tibetan, Mongolian and Chinese renditions lends an air of authority to the present renderings of the texts. Prof. Thurman duly acknowledges his debt to earlier translators like Sylvan Levi and others. Adherence to Vasubandhu’s ‘Bhasya’ adds further credibility to the painstaking efforts of the team. Arya-sang or Asanga as he is generally called lived from 294-376 AD and his work is included in the Tanjur compendium. Extreme self mortification and extraordinary penance had brought to him a vision of the celestial bodhisattva from Tusita, resulting in the transmission of the great text to Asanga. A great Brahmanical scholar turned Buddhist Asanga had felt the need for a new synthesis of his erstwhile cultural foundations and beliefs with the tenets of his newer acquisitions of Mahayana. The social and religious milieu of his times provided ample scope for the fulfillment of this aim. There is something to ponder about the translation of the title of the book. ‘Alamkara’ has been rendered as ‘literature’ instead of the commonly known ‘ornament’. The explanation for this (p.XIII), though innovative, looks rather far-fetched. The occasional use of pronoun ‘she’ for a bodhisattva in place of the often used ‘he’ is also beyond comprehension. However, the beauty of the present translation lies in the simplicity of its diction. Subtle concepts and abstruse logic have been rendered into intelligible, easy flowing sentences without sacrificing accuracy. This makes it a handy tool even for the lay reader to understand the intricacies of the Universal Vehicle. At the same time, it provides a mine of information for the researchers and the scholarly tribe. The footnotes ar e an ample guarantee for it. Quoting standard and well-known authorities, extensive references to Sthiromati, Levi, Obermann and comparative references to renditions of different languages to provide the enlightened reader with a vast and variegated canvas to feast his eyes on. Adherence to an original, great commentator’s ‘bhasya’ always helped because his elucidation of terms, words and phrases are total and down to earth. This approach seems to have aided the translators in explaining the text in such a readable style. Every word and phrase has been elucidated and nothing left to guess work. Explanations have also been offered to clarify why a particular rendition of a phrase or word has been preferred which speaks volumes for the analytical acumen of Prof. Thurman and his team. A copious and comprehensive introduction, a bibliography and a detailed index add to the value of the book. As ‘the founding corner stone’ of Asian Institute of Buddhist Studies’ (AIBS) publications venture, the reader hopes for many more gems of Buddhist scriptures to be available in the future from AIBS. A delectable volume like this deserves a place in the shelf of every scholar of Tibetan religious literature. ¯ Prof. Parmananda Sharma

174 TIBET JOURNAL Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A select annotated bibliography of British relations with Tibet and the Himalayan states including Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. Revised and updated to 2003. Julie G Marshall. With a Foreword

by Alastair Lamb RoutledgeCurzon, London/New York, 2005 ISBN 0 415 33647 3 Hardback; pp. 607, xxvi. This work is a revised edition of the author’s earlier monograph entitled Britain and Tibet 17651947: the background to the Indo-China border dispute. A select annotated bibliography of printed material in European languages, which was published in 1977 by La Trobe University

Library (Melbourne). That earlier soft-cover edition took some effort to obtain but came to be treasured by specialists, and the appearance of a substantially revised and updated hardback version by a major publisher is welcome news indeed! A new edition is more than justified by the considerable amount of scholarship in the field during the last three decades, the range of which is indicated by the inclusion here of 4,020 relevant works published up to 2003, where the first incarnation of this work recorded 2,874 titles published up to 1974. Britain and Tibet begins with a Foreword by Alastair Lamb, the greatest authority on the subject, which contextualises the material that follows. In addition to author and subject indexes, and a list of sources consulted, that material is organised in 16 chapters, mostly pertaining to particular regions and periods, although the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa in 1903-04 has generated sufficient comment to justify a chapter to itself. Each chapter contains a number of subject headings, many of which are further broken down into sub-headings. These organising principles might not have succeeded in less skilled hands, but as users of the earlier edition will testify, Marshall displays considerable knowledge of the material her bibliography records. This is clear from her annotations, which are generally precise, infor med, and often prescient, and her classifications are consequently effective and lead the reader not only to the desired works but to illuminating related material. The lay-out is exceptionally clear (a credit to the publisher), with around seven or eight entries to the page, and it is almost impossible to avoid glancing over the open pages and ranging beyond; a quick search soon turns into a much longer, but always informative diversion. Although significant works in European languages are included, the emphasis is on material in English. Reviews of books are noted with the entries and in addition to popular and academic monographs it records academic essays and theses at Masters and Doctoral level, official and military publications, and articles from an enormous range of journals and magazines. The reviewer can personally testify that some are so obscure they will take the reader years to track down! Fosco Maraini’s poetic Secret Tibet is not listed, although the work of his better-known travelling companion Giuseppi Tucci appears, but such omissions seem few and far between. The author has made a vital contribution to the field, a study of which will greatly expand the source base of any scholar and, as Lamb observes in the Foreword; ‘We have here something far more than a piece of dry librarianship: it is in its own right a scholarly study of the highest quality’. No serious scholar of modern Tibet, no library or bibliophile with an interest in the region can afford to be without it, it is quite simply an essential work of reference. ¯ Alex McKay

Bernstorff, Dagmar and Hubertus von Welck (eds.). 2004. Exil e as Challenge: The Tibetan Diaspora. New Delhi: Orient Longman. Butler, Alex. 2003. Feminism, Nationalism and Exiled Tibetan Women. New Delhi: Kali for Women . The following review covers two recent books on Tibetan exiles. Exile as Challenge , a collection of essays written by Tibetans and non-Tibetans, is an English-version, expanded edition of Tibet

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im Exil (Baden-Baden 2002). The essays were compiled and edited by two individuals who are

active in the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the German Foundation for Liberal Policy, which has played an instrumental role in developing democr atic structures in the exile government. An overview of that organization’s work among exiles is provided in the final chapter of the book. Most of the other essays pertain to various aspects of life in exile, with a special (but not exclusive) focus on institutions. The volume commences with a brief introduction by the editors, after which the essays are divided into three sections: Historical and Political Framework; Tibetan Society in Exile; and Planning the Return to Tibet. In the interest of brevity I will refrain from commenting on all the contributions. By no means does this diminish the importance of those essays that do not receive attention in this review. In the introduction Bernstorff and von Welck, the editors of the volume, outline three “remarkable feats” achieved by the Tibetan exile community in South Asia: economic selfsufficiency, a school system that has fostered nearly universal literacy, and democratization of the exile administration. The inclusion of the first of these is a strong hint that the editors did not apply a rigorous critical approach to their topic. Economic self-sufficiency as a “remarkable feat” is somewhat suspect given the fact that the Tibetan government-in-exile is heavily subsidized by foreign organizations, most (all?) Tibetan NGOs would cease to function without foreign support, and scores of Tibetan families still rely on sponsors to pay the school fees for their children. The editors’ lack of background knowledge on Tibetan exiles is highlighted when they state that their goal is to fill the gap in research on Tibetans in exile because, “There is comparatively little systematic research on the Tibetan community in exile. Sociological enquiries date back to the 1960s, but almost ceased in the 1970s” (p.2). To the contrary, scholarly publications on the exiles blossomed during the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., Novak 1984; Saklani 1984; Forbes 1989; Fürer-Haimendorf 1989; Havnevik 1989; Subbha 1990; Klieger 1992; Korom 1997¯ to cite just a few!), and continue to develop in topic matter, disciplinary perspectives, and theoretical orientations (e.g. Dahl 2002). Unfortunately the editors seem oblivious to many seminal works on Tibetan exiles. The first section of the book, Historical and Political Framework, contains essays by Michael von Brück (Tibet, the ‘Hidden Country’), Gerald Schmitz (Tibet’s Position in International Law), Gyaneshwar Chaturvedi (Indian Visions), Joachim Glaubitz (Chinese Views), Victor Chan (A Tale of Two Chinese Cities), and an interview with the Dalai Lama by Dagmar Bernsdorff and Hubertus von Welck. Michael von Brück makes a valiant attempt to summarize 1300 years of Tibetan history in a brief essay, the presumed intent being to set the stage for the rest of the volume by showing that Tibetans had developed indigenous administrative systems prior to those formed in exile. Gyaneshwar Chaturvedi’s contribution provides an overview of the decisions made by Nehru and others that had a direct affect on events in Tibet during the 1940s and 1950s. Joachim Glaubitz’s contribution on Chinese views is a disappointment. Instea d of drawing from Chinese writings on Tibet¯ which are abundant¯ he rehashes secondary Western sources on Tibetan history. On one hand this makes the article redundant, since von Brück already provided the historical overview. On the other hand, with the exception of one brief reference to Beijing Review , Glaubitz’s article contains nothing at all that can be characterized as “Chinese views” despite the fact that the PRC’s official perspective on Tibet can be found in any number of propaganda publications. Furthermore, the author fails to acknowledge the proliferation of recent academic writings that analyze Chinese official and popular perceptions of Tibetans and other ethnic groups (e.g., Gladney 1994; Harrell 1995; Schein 1997; Heberer 2001). In contrast, Victor Chan’s brief contribution tells us far more about the complexities of “Chinese views” than we find in the lengthier Glaubitz article. In his poignant essay Chan relates the reaction a friend and classmate from Hong Kong had when he called to arrange a meeting. When the friend heard that Chan was writing a book about the Dalai Lama, he curtly instructed Chan to never contact him again. The issue of Tibet is so provocative, and so politically sensitive, that some people would pretend it doesn’t exist rather than risk their livelihood by discuss ing Tibet, or consorting with those who are actively engage in research on Tibet.

176 TIBET JOURNAL The second part of the book, Tibetan Society in Exile, contains essays by Tsewang Phuntso (Government in Exile), Tsering Tsomo (Parliament in Exile), Thubten Samphel (Virtual Tibet: The Media), Dawa Norbu (The Settlements: Participation and Integration), Sherab Gyatso (Of Monks and Monasteries), Gyaltsen Gyaltag (Exiled Tibetans in Europe and North America), Tsepak Rigzen (The Tibetan Schools fo the Diaspora), Jetsun Pema (Caring for the Weakest: The Children’s Villages), Dagmar Bernstorff (Vibrant Arts), Maura Moynihan (Tibetan Refugees in Nepal), Tsering Norzom Thonsur (Women: Emancipation in Exile), Karma Lekshe Tsomo (Tibetan Nuns: New Roles and Possibilities), and Jürgen C. Aschoff (The Spread of Tibetan Medicine). The first two articles in this section are written by members of the exile government and¯ not surprisingly¯ represent more or less “official” perspectives and consequently are similar in tone to informational brochures. This is not a negative point, because they provide succinct summaries on how the current government structures came into being and how they operate. The third article by Thubten Samphel is a useful historical review of Tibetan newspapers, the first of which originated in India and were important means for spreading news about events such as the Younghusband Expedition. The author then provides a succinct overview of newspapers in exile, including details on their founders and their motivations. The 1990s witnessed the birth of a more independent media, which the auth or attributes to recent arrivals from Tibet, especially Amdo, who had “a sparkling flair for writing in the exhilarating freedom of India”. Unfortunately, Mangtso , the provocative and contentious product of the Amnye Machen Institute, is short-shifted in this article. Thubten Samphel does not provide any details about the demise of Mangtso , which in many ways was more controversial than the forthright attacks made in the newspaper against the ruling elite of the exile government. The author merely notes that Mangtso “led a brief but boisterous life”. Certainly such an influential publication deserves more attention in a historical review of Tibetan media. Dawa Norbu’s contribution centers on the exile settlements, and serves as a vivid reminder that there is far more to exile society than what one finds in Dharamsala. In addition to providing a historical sketch of how the settlements came into existence, Dawa Norbu details their administrative structures and outlines the nature of their relationships with the exile government and various NGOs. Perhaps the most interesting part of this chapter is a brief note on the impact that the refugees have had on their host populations, especially in their capacity as employers for agricultural workers and carpet weavers. One of the most interesting articles in this volume is written by Sherab Gyatso, a Westerner who has taken ordination. Sherab Gyatso begins by providing an insider ’s perspective on the structured and routine life in an exile monastery, specifically Gomang College of Drepung Monastery in South India. The author contrasts the discipline and educational standards of Gomang, one of the premier institutions in exile, with an unnamed monastery in Nepal where monks have little to do beyond meeting for daily prayers. Furthermore, the author identifies a major attitudinal shift that has occurred in exile, namely, that monks who return to lay life are no longer considered social pariahs. Sherab Gyatso’s frank and illuminating look at monasticism provides considerable insight into social aspects of organized religion in exile. Gyaltsen Gyaltag’s contribution on exiles in Europe and North America contains a useful summary of successive migration waves to the USA, yet is deficient with respect to Canada. The author refrains from acknowledging the most significant migration trend in the 1990s, being the fact that many young Tibetans initially entered the USA on tourist visas and then skipped to Canada once it became clear that they could obtain residence permits due to their refugee status. This hitherto unwritten chapter on Tibetan migration is worthy of consideration by scholars interested in Tibetan exiles. Moynihan’s contribution centers on Tibetan refugees in Nepal, and concludes with some observations about the instability of the Tibetans’ lives in Nepal, especially given the political turmoil resulting from the conflict between Maoists and the government. She quotes an art gallery owner who says, “Anyone who can get to the West is trying to get out.” Albeit this is no doubt true, the major exodus of young Tibetans from Nepal to North America commenced in the

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mid-1990s before the Maoist rebellion gained much traction. The rest of Moynihan’s article is a rather superficial overview that does not do justice to the dynamic nature of the communities in Nepal, for example the depopulating of the rural settlements as the young became educated and then moved to urban areas from where many underwent a second migration to North America. Furthermore, the article is compromised by the fact that the author has a certain reluctance to cite sources for any “facts”. For example, she states, “Today official statistics show 30,000 Tibetan refugees registered with the Nepali government, but unofficial statistics put the number as high as 100,000” (p.313). No source for these figures is cited, which is problematic given that the Tibetan Government-in-Exile itself estimates their population in Nepal to number 13,720 individuals (Planning Council 2000:7). Furthermore, let’s face it; an “unofficial statistic” is nothing other than a glorified guess utterly lacking empirical validation. Citing what is in esse nce a rumor (I used to hear the same figure quoted by Tibetans when I lived in Kathmandu 20 years ago!) as if it has some form of statistical validity is not recommended for those who want to be taken seriously. In all, this article contains far too many unreferenced statistical claims. The editors of this volume bear responsibility for allowing such slipshod scholarship to infect the overall quality of the book. The final article in this section, The Spread of Tibetan Medicine, is written by Jürgen C. Aschoff, a well-known scholar and one of the leading experts on the topic. He provides a lucid introduction to Tibetan medicine, including a brief historical overview and a discussion of primary and secondary sources. Only in the final summation does he address Tibetan medicine in exile. Thus, although this is a well-written and informative article, one wonders why it was included in this volume since it says very little about social institutions in exile. The Third Section of the book, Planning the Return to Tibet, contains essays by Tsetan Norbu (Rebels: The Tibetan Youth Congress), Wangpo Tethong (Between Cultures: Young Tibetans in Europe), Eva Herzer (Tibet’s Future: Options for Self-Governance), Alison Reynolds (Support for Tibet Worldwide), Samdhong Rinpoche (Education for Non-Violence), and Hubertus von Welck (The Commitment of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation). Despite the primary title of Tsetan Norbu’s article (Rebels), the tone of this contribution is rather sedate and is not suffused with much defiance or insubordination. On the positive side, Tsetan Norbu does shares some of his thoughts on the current political situation in exile and is forthright in his opinions about the bureaucratic mindset and the lack of long-term vision among the exile leadership. The article concludes with a brief interview with Kalsang Phuntsok Godrukpa, the President of the Tibetan Youth Congress, in which he expresses opposition to the Dalai Lama’s middle path of autonomy. Wangpo Tethong’s essay is an interesting exploration of ethnic identity among Tibetan youths in Europe. The author steers clear from the primordialist’s view of ethnicity (that it is innate and unchanging) by referring to, “Vague but vivid images of Tibet’s past” that are deployed by young Tibetans in songs, letters to editors, and articles in Tibetan youth magazines, and stating that, “The political mindset of the young Tibetans can, therefore, only be understood in the context of the history of the Tibetan community in exile” (p.412). The essay is then devoted to a description, based in great part on first-hand observatio ns, of youth movements in Switzerland and elsewhere, and the forums where young Tibetans have been able to express their political and cultural identity. Bernstorff and von Welck are commended for compiling this volume, which is certainly a worthwhile endeavor. However, the editors’ discernable dearth of knowledge about the academic literature on Tibetan exiles is discouraging given their stated intention of filling a void in research. In fact, there is very little original scholarship presented in the volume. Most contributions are historical summaries of certain institutions or personal recollections of life in exile. Regardless, the volume does contain quite a bit of valuable information written in some cases by key members of the Tibetan exile community, and can therefore be gainfully employed for background reference. One significant organization that did not receive any attention in Exile as Challenge is the Tibetan Women’s Association, which is the focus of Alex Butler’s book entitled Feminism,

178 TIBET JOURNAL Nationalism and Exiled Tibetan Women. The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) is one of the

most visible and influential organizations in the exile communities. As such, the development, aims, and accomplishments of the TWA are a worthy topic for exploration. Butler, who has a decade of involvement in Tibetan causes, proves to be a skillful analyst who has done justice to the topic. This book provides a readable historical overview of the TWA: how it came into being, how it emerged from having an internal focus to assuming a more international role, and how it has impacted the exile community in numerous ways. The first chapter introduces some theoretical perspectives, comments on the status of women in pre-modern Tibet, and provides a brief history of the Tibetan exodus. The author then ruminates on ethical issues pertaining to the researching and writing of the book. Afterwards, she traces the historical origins of the TWA, noting that¯ despite the organization’s official rhetoric¯ there is only a tenuous connection between the Lhasa Patriotic Women’s Association (formed by members of the nobility in the early 1950s), demonstrations in Lhasa during March of 1959, and the “rebirth” of the TWA in the 1980s. In Chapter Three Butler uses a survey conducted by the TWA to present an overview of the organization’s membership, and in Chapter Four she describes the TWA’s leadership. Chapters Five and Six are devoted to the TWA’s activities. As Butler points out, the organization transformed from one that focused on issues pertaining to life in exile to political issues in Tibet; from an internal focus to an external focus. Chapter Six centers on the seminal moment in the TWA’s history – their attempt to be included in 1995’s Fourth UN Women’s Conference in Beijing. Many who are familiar with Tibetan politics will certainly recall how Chinese authorities made disingenuous (but ultimately successful) attempts to deny the TWA access to that conference, preferring of course that Tibetan women be represented by a PRC delegation that could be counted on to sing the praises of the government. In the process Beijing unwittingly shed a spotlight on human rights abuses against Tibetan women, resulting in an unprecedented level of international support for the TWA. The final chapter of the book is an overview of the TWA’s place in Tibetan exile society, pointing out how the organization plays both a supportive role and is instrumental in initiating some subtle yet profound social changes. This book provides a useful overview of the TWA, and is a commendable achievement given the fact that Butler only spent a few months living in the exile communities. The author did an admirable job of mining the literature emanating from exile. She also did a good job of illustrating analytical points by integrating quotes from interviews she conducted with TWA members. In addition, Butler proves to be a competent analyst. However, it struck this reader that analysis was used too often as a substitute for description, perhaps a consequence of the fact that she had little original data to work with. The result is that, for example, we are treated to a lengthy discourse on the significance of the 1995 UN Conference on Women, yet the author failed to interview key players about their own feelings, emotions, and strategies during this critical time in the organization’s history. Voices of the participants are noticeably lacking. Another shortcoming of this book is that the main themes, nationalism and feminism, are not fleshed out in sufficient detail. The author does pay homage to some of the usual suspects with respect to theoretical contributions on nationalism (Anderson, Gellner, Hobsbawm), but then fails to connect their ideas with Tibetan nationalism in exile. Klieger’s seminal work on this topic (1992) is completely disregarded. Feminism fares even worse. The book contains no discussion of what feminism is, how it came about, who are the major theoreticians, and so forth. Based on the title of the book, an unobservant reader could gain the impression that the TWA is a feminist organization in the Western sense of feminism. It most certainly is not, as the author points out and as members of the TWA emphatically maintain. The author could have made this book a significant contribution to the social sciences by exploring the ways that the TWA diverges in philosophy and practice from feminist political movements in other countries, such as in North America and Europe. Instead, it must stand as an interesting case study that lacks substantive connections with the theoretical literature on both nationalism and feminism. In summary, this is a well-balanced and informative account of the TWA, an organization that merits recognition for their social activities within the exile communities as well as their political

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activities on the world’s stage. Alex Butler deserves praise for documenting the development of this remarkable organization, and for providing some insightful analysis on its impact. Feminism, Nationalism and Exiled Tibetan Women is a welcome contribution to the literature on Tibetans in exile.

References Diehl, Keila. 2002. Echoes from Dharamsala: Music in the Life of a Tibetan Refugee Community. Berkeley: University of California Press. Forbes, Ann A. 1989. Settlements of Hope: An Account of Tibetan Refugees in Nepal . Cambridge, MA: Cultural Survival. Fürer-Haimendorf, Christoph von. 1989. The Renaissance of Tibetan Civilization. New York: Oxford University Press. Gladney, Dru. 1994. Representing Nationality in China: Refiguring Majority/Minority Identities. Journal of Asian Studies 53(1):92-123. Harrell, Stevan (ed.). 1995. Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Havnevik, Hanna. 1989. Tibetan Buddhist Nuns: History, Cultural Norms and Social Reality . Oslo: Norwegian University Press. Heberer, Thomas. 2001. Old Tibet a Hell on Earth? The Myth of Tibet and Tibetans in Chinese Art and Propaganda. In Imagining Tibet: Perceptions, Projections, and Fantasies, T. Dodin and H. Räther (eds.). Boston: Wisdom, 111-150. Kleiger, P. Christiaan. 1992. Tibetan Nationalism: The Role of Patronage in the Accomplishment of a National Identity . Berkeley: Folklore Institute. Korom, Frank J. (ed.). 1997. Tibetan Culture in the Diaspora. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nowak, Margaret. 1984. Tibetan Refugees: Youth and the New Generation of Meaning. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Saklani, Girija. 1984. The Uprooted Tibetans in India: A Sociological Study of Continuity and Change. New Delhi: Cosmo. Schein, Louisa. 1997. Gender and Internal Orientalism in China. Modern China 23(1):69-98. Subbha, Tanka B. 1990. Flight and Adaptation: Tibetan Refugees in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya . Dharamsala: LTWA.

The Autobiography of Jamgön Kongtrul: A Gem of Many Colors. Trans.

and annotated by Richard Barron (Chokyi Nyima). Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications. pp. 549, xxii. English-language students of the thought and writings of Jamgön Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (18131900)¯ the great nineteenth century luminary of the influential ris med , or ‘non-sectarian’ movement, of Tibetan Buddhism¯ have much to celebrate over the last ten years. A considerable number of Jamgön Kongtrul’s main works and commentaries have made their way into publication in English: foremost amongst them a growing proportion of his multi-volumed Treasury of Knowledge (Shes bya mdzod ), as well as shorter writings on mind training, mahamudra, creation and completion, and retreat practices. Much of this appears under the Snow Lion label, who have obviously taken this extremely worthwhile task to hand. Something that has, however, by and large been missing (with the possible exception of sections of Ngawang Zangpo’s Sacred Ground , also from Snow Lion) is a comprehensive insight into the life of this most important Buddhist thinker himself. It was therefore with some excitement that I took to reviewing Richard Barron’s translation of the great teacher’s autobiography. The book comprises four main components: A brief introduction. •

180 TIBET JOURNAL An annotated translation of Jamgon Kongtrul’s autobiography, A Gem of Many Colors (which represents the larger part of the text); A translation of Nesar Karma Tashi Chöpel’s epitaph to Jamgon Kongtrul, The Marvellous Gem-Like Vision; Jamgön Kongtrul’s own The Mirage of Nector (an account of his past lives); and Finally, a bibliographic appendix of Jamgon Kongtrul’s main works. Of these, the vast majority of this tome is taken up by the Gem of Many Colors, and in what follows I would like to concentrate on this . This text is itself effectively in two parts: the first half is a systematic dream-diary maintained by the young and professionally unencumbered Kongtrul; and the second, where his institutional obligations force him to give up his dream diary, leaving it to describe the increasingly administr ative and political world around him, as he seeks to build up the collaborative religious networks that stood at the heart of the nineteenthcentury ris med movement. In this last regard, it is difficult to shake off a deep sense of tragedy in Kongtrul’s own understanding of his religious trajectory, from his candid depiction of the pragmatic and financial motivations for his recognition as an incarnate (primarily associated with tax-obligations¯ see pp. 23-4), to the many causes he had for fearing for his own life. As he is drawn into the world of incarnates and estates, his sense of his own religious practice fades. Kongtrul himself sums this up in a single poignant passage: •

•

• •

Previously, from a young age I had leisure to write and put great stock even in whatever dreams I had, good or bad; so up until the time I was in upper Do, I kept copious diaries, also recording some accounts of such signs in my recitation and sadhana practice as seemed useful. From this point on, though, I kept no records whatsoever of my dreams and so forth; and while there were a few indications of receiving blessings (though I had in no way any ability to develop signs of accomplishment in the various kinds of recitations and sadhanas ), none of these are clear in my memory, and I find myself deprived of anything of this nature to relate. And besides, the greater my distractions became, the more my positive tendencies were eclipsed and my confused ten-dencies encouraged. Becaus e it was necessary for me to be involved in all kinds of contamination due to articles offered to me in faith, especially the contamination associated with deceased individuals, from this time on the clear and visionary experiences of my earlier life became obscured; the positive signs in my dreams stopped, [61 a] and I dreamed of numerous bad omens. Even the vigor of my experiences and realization in meditation has suffered accordingly, and I find that I am quite dismayed at having had to engage so recklessly in such negative and contaminating activities. (2003: 77) For those interested in matters ritual and religious (and I can’t imagine any other reason for delving into this book), the core autobiography presents a treasure trove of nuance d allusion and insight into three principal aspects of Jamgon Kongtrul’s life: his early endeavours to catalogue , comprehend and gain mastery over his dreamworld (a key element of the completion stage yog as and the practices of dzogchen); the quotidian interactions and gift exchanges between those religious specialists enganged in terma discovery in Eastern Tibet, and; particularly in the latter half of the text, Kongtrul’s growing concern with the physical and political dangers that increasingly dog his life, and those around him. This last may appear somewhat mundane, but for Kongtrul it is a cause for an ever more careful analysis of auspicious and inauspicious signs in the landscape and weather around him, and the amplified performance of expelling and purificatory rituals. In this respect, the passage of Kongtrul’s biography passes, over the course of his life, from a profound inner concern (primarily with his dream life) to a growing outer concern, although both of these remain highly ritualized in tone. This is all well and good, and a substantial contribution it makes, too. However, those readers hoping for an effective introduction to the great man and his works through this biographical material would be advised to look elsewhere. Perhaps by virtue of the very quantity of basic translated material that the author has sought to include in this volume, little or no space is left for the kind of helpful preamble necessary for what is often difficult and obscure material. While

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the text is annotated and this is helpful, much knowledge is taken for gran ted and the translator’s introduction is a mere six-pages long. In this regard, readers seeking to take on this work would be well-advised to follow Barron’s own advice and arm themselves in advance with a careful reading of E. Gene Smith’s excellent article “’Jam mgon Kong sprul and the Non-Sectarian Movement”, from his indispensable collection, Among Tibetan Texts . In most cases, this would make The Autobiography of Jamgon Kongtrul effectively a source translation for those who have neither the time nor the capacities to read the text in its original Tibetan. That being so, however, it is more than a shame that the translator chose both to circumvent the standard systems of transliteration for the multitude of names and terms involved in the book, and to dispense with an appendix of transliterations. In this sense, there is a danger that the translation becomes neither one thing nor the other. ¯ Martin A. Mills

The Practice of Dzogchen by Longchen Rabjam, Introduced, translated

and annotated by Tulku Thondup. Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York, Boulder, Colorado, 2002, xi + 466 pages. $34.95, hardcover, ISBN 1-55939-179-0 Snow Lion produced yet another important publication on the philosophy of the Great Perfection (Dzogs-pa chen-po) for Buddhist practitioners and researchers of Tibetan Buddhism. The Practice of Dzogchen is, in its own right, an ambitious work of contemporary Tibetan scholarship with over one hundred original sources consulted in its making. It is divided into two parts. Part I includes an erudite introduction by Vajracarya Tulku Thondup inspired by Klong chen Rab ’byams pa’s syncretic Grub mtha’ mdzod. Thondup, an established Tibetan luminary and prolific writer, dedicates 88 pages of extensive quotations from sutras and tantras to the doxographical task of situating the Atiyoga teachings as the pinnacle of the three inner tantras and explicating on the range of Dzogchen thought according to its three internal philosophical divisions, i.e., Sems sde, Klong sde, and Man ngag sde. Here as in Part II, Thondup carefully selects quotation s from original sources to construct a polysemic hermaneutic where the reader can reflect on the Buddhist teachings as the basis for Dzogchen philosophy and assess the Dzogchen view as the condensed essence of all Mahayana teachings. This is followed by a cursory historical discu ssion (pgs 89-122) that alludes to some of the controversies conc erning the Great Perfection and other Buddhist philosophies, such as the Mind-Only School and Madhyamaka. By relying exclusively on Buddhist sources and interpretations, Thondup tackles what appears to have been a complex encounter of cross-fertilization between the Bon and Nyingma Dzogchen lineages. He proceeds by cautiously raising philosophically challenging similarities between Hashang Mahayana’s non-gradualist views on enlightenment and the Great Perfection’s position on ‘primordial liberation.’ Part I finishes with inspirational excerpts from the lives of Nyingma Dzogchen Masters (pgs 123-144) followed by a hagiography of Klong chen Rab ’byams pa (pgs 145-188) which draws information from more than a dozen Tibetan sources1 and contains concise reference to his scholarly output and several instructional quotations from his writings. Part II is in three main sections and thirteen subsections. It contains an anthology of eclectic writings on Atiyoga by one of Tibet’s greatest thinkers, Klong chen Rab ’byams pa (13081363). A summary of the sections (pgs 191-202) prefaces a good number of referenced and fluid translations by Thondup from Klong chen Rab ’byams pa’s large corpus of writings. 2 These translations are thematically arranged by Thondup according to the View (Basis) (pgs 203-280), Path (pgs 281-404) and Result (pgs 407-420) of Dzogchen. The View and the Path sections are equally balanced with corresponding insights and didactic clarifications while the last section on the Result, much shorter in length, offers a general doctrinal read ing of the attainment of the fruit in terms of the Buddha-Bodies and corresponding Wisdoms in Mahayana, Tantra and Dzog pa chen po. For descriptions on the accomplishment of the rainbow body the interested reader

182 TIBET JOURNAL must search elsewhere, such as in Thondup’s introduction. Supplementing the section on the View (Basis), the Practice of Dzogchen concludes with a short Appendix (pgs 421-425) on the subject of karma from the Commentary on the mKhas pa’i tshul la ’jug pa’i msgo’i mchan by Khenpo Nus ldan of Khatog monastery. The Practice of Dzogchen is an informative introduction to Klong chen Rab ’byams pa’s thought, life, and writings, and may prove indispensable to any serious study of Dzogchen philosophy, especially as it is currently preserved and propagated by a recognized master of the Nyingma tradition.

Notes 1. Some of which include: gTer ’byung rin po che’i lo rgyus; Zhus lan bdud rtsi gser phreng; Lo rgyus (of sNying Thig); Ngal gso skor gsum gyi spyi don legs bshad ; Blo gsal ri bong gi rtogs pa brjod pa’i dris lan lha’i rnga bo che’i lta bu’i gtam; sNga ’gyur rdo rje theg pa gtso bor gyur pa’i sgrub brgyud shing rta brgyad kyi byung ba brjod pa’i gtam mdor bsdus legs bshad padma dkar po’i rdzing bu; De bzhin gshegs pas legs par gsung pa’i gsung rab rgya mtsho’i snying por gyur pa rig pa ’dzin pa’i sde snod dam pa snga ’gyur rg yud ’bum rin po che’i rtogs pa brjod pa ’dzam gling tha gru khyab pa’i rgyan. Reference works mentioned in the footnote to the section on the Life of Kunkhyen Longchen Rabjam (pg. 145) abbreviated TRT, TTD, ZDO, KNRT, NLC are not listed in the Bibliography of Works Cited (pgs 426-440).

2. Works translated by Tulku Thondup include: excerpts from the first four chapters of the gSang ba bla na med pa ’od gsal rdo rje’i gnas gsum gsal bar byed pa tshig don rin po che’i mdzod ; abridged translations of the first section of the four th chapter, the first and last section of the eleventh chapter, and of the tenth chapter of the rDzogs pa chen po sems nyid ngal sgo’i ’grel ba shing rta chen po; an abridged translation of the rDzogs pa chen po sems nyid ngal sgo’i gnas gsum dge ba gsum gyi don khrid byang chu b lam bzang; complete translations of the rDzogs pa chen po sems nyid rang grol and the rDzogs pa chen po sem nyid rang grol gyi lam rim snying po’i don khrid ; an abridged translation of the twenty-first chapter of the Theg pa chen po’i man ngag gi bstan bcos yid bzhin rin po che’i mdzod kyi ’grel ba pema dkar po ; excerpts from the Chos dbying rin po che’i mdzod , gNyis ka’i yang yig nam mkha’ klong chen, and Thod rgal gyi yang yig nam mkha’ klong gsal.

¯ Georgios Halkias

The Life of Buddhism, edited by Frank E. Renolds and Jason A. Carbine.

Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi. PP. X+ 230. Rs. 225 There is a rich corpus of literature on theoretical aspects of Buddhism while there are not many books that describe how the Buddhist belief system is being practiced in numerous countries. The book under review eminently fills the gap. A reader is taken on a tour of several Asian countries where Buddhism is a practicing creed. One is made familiar with temple architecture and iconography, consecration of sacred objects, monastic life and rituals, meditative practices, devotional chants and pilgrimages. In a scintillating introduction the editors explain the basic postulates of Buddhism- four noble truths, middle path, liberation, arhathood in Hinayana School of Buddhism, the concept of Bodhisattva in Mahayana stream and other related concepts. They recount the rise and fall of Buddhism in India and its spread in several Asian countries where it still holds sway. Buddhist temples and monasteries have been the hub of practicing Buddhist creed. They are centers of sacred power and authority providing blessing and protection. Secondly, devotees earn merit there to attain liberation. James Bisset Pratt examines the temple complex at Kyoto, Japan with its shrines and altars, museum of Japanese paintings and several other things. Donald K. Swearer describes image consecration in Thailand. The consecration ceremony involves preaching, recitation of important Buddhist texts and presentation of gifts to the sangha. Juliane Schober’s treatment of state rituals and ceremonies in Myanmar deserves special treatment. It clinically lays bare the mechanism adopted by the army ruling set up to acquire

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legitimacy through the Tooth Relic. In 1988 national constitution was abolished and the army took the reins of power. People favoured a democratic multi party system in general elections in 1990. The army did not like the verdict and clamped its authoritarian rule. This created a crisis of legitimacy. The army rulers took recourse to traditional religious means of legitimation. Schober gives a graphic account of the Tooth Relic ceremony held in 1994. Buddhist symbols have an important place in history and culture of Myanmar. The Tooth Relic ceremony was tactically used to exploit people’s faith in the Buddhist creed. A tooth supposed to be of Gautama the Buddha, kept in China, was brought to Myanmar with great fanfare. The ceremony was organized at a grand scale that lasted for six weeks. Government officials dominated the television, print and photo coverage of the ritual. This shows how a religious relic can be used to lend legitimacy to the authority. The ordination of monks occupies an important place in a Buddhist community. It denotes monastic commitment and puts one in the organization and hierarchy of the community. A monk is normally supposed to take the vows of celibacy in life. However, this is not a necessity in every Buddhist community. For instance, in Japan there is a practice of clerical marriage. Robert E. Buswell describes the ordination performed among the Zen monastics in Korea. The question of female renunciates is highly important in Buddhism from the gender point of view. There is no discrimination in Buddhism on grounds of caste or gender. Any living being, irrespective of one’s caste or gender, is capable of achieving nirvana. However, compulsions of the male dominated society have its own pull. Even Buddha himself agreed to admit women for full ordination after a lot of hesitation and male order of monks was rated as superior in hierarchy to female order of nuns. Hiroko Kawanami describes the position of Buddhist nuns in Burmese society. They are lower in the hierarchy of monastic life. Rebecca Redwood French’s treatment of cosmology and law in Tibet too deserves special attention. Jurisprudence and criminology in Tibet are very much conditioned by the Buddhist world view. Buddhism as a belief system has cosmological dimensions. The truth in Buddhism is related to the dynamics of structure of cosmic reality. Action of an individual, howsoever heinous a crime it may be, is not to be considered in isolation in Tibetan society. It has to be understood in the totality of his karma in past lives as well as the presen t one. Legal concepts are to be understood in the context of illusion and reality. Worldly facts are not the ultimate in deciding cases. Disputes arise of mental obscurations that hinder one from distinguishing appearance from reality. While awarding punishment delusory aspect of the mental make up of defendant is taken into view. One is not to be condemned as a gone case in all circumstances. There is always a possibility of improvement if the environment and mental make up of one undergoes a change with the compassionate attitude of those who have to deicide the fate of defendant. This is illustrated by the story of a monk who was in the habit of committing petty crimes like stealing food etc. However, he undergoes a total transformation when the headman gives him shelter in his house and assigns the work to him. The last piece by Philip Kapleau on the popularity being gained by the Buddhist tradition in America also deserves special mention. People from Asian nations settled in America brought Buddhist tradition along with them. Then Americans too are showing interest in Buddhism and some of them have adopted it as their belief system. Kapleau describes the scene in a Zen center in New York state. One is likely to be confused at the array of the buddha and bodhisattva figures, chanting and the rituals. Prostration before images and making offerings to them and confession and repentance ceremonies might look outlandish to a new comer. However, all this has a great importance to get rid of the rigours of ego. Chanting has special importance in Zen. It purifies and stabilizes the mind. The book is highly informative and helps one to have a peep into the dynamics of praxis of Buddhism. Theory is hollow without practice and practice without conceptual frame work is superficial. The editors have selected the pieces carefully and they constitute a symbiosis of theory and practice of Buddhism as it is lived by the people in day-to-day life. ¯ D.R. Chaudhry

184 TIBET JOURNAL The Power of Denial ¯ Buddhism, Purity and Gender , Bernard Faure.

Princeton University Press, New Jersey, USA., 2003. 466 PP. Price not stated. Oppression seems to be embedded in human history since time immemorial. The degree of its intensity varies from time to time and from place to place but its nightmare continues to haunt the mankind. Gender discrimination is a kind of oppression that cuts across race, ethnicity, religious belief systems and socio-political organisations. Simone Weil hits the rail on its head when she observes: “Among all the forms of social organization which history has to show, there are few which appear to be really free from oppression... All of them correspond to an extremely low level of production, so that the division of labour is pretty well unknown, except between the sexes, and each family produces little more than its own requirements (Weil, Simone 2001:59). The division of labour even in the primitive stages of human development underscored the gender discrimination when man became provider for sustenance through hunting and food gathering while woman became the recipient, looking after children and performing household chores. This discrimination became more pronounced and oppressive with the passage of times as the mode of production and division of labour became more sophisticated. Before we examine Bernard Faure’s understanding of the gender question in Buddhism, with special reference to Japan, it would be helpful to critically evaluate, albeit briefly, the gender issue in major religious beliefs in the world. The Hindu way of life is among the oldest in the world. Here the rationale behind the concept of ideal womanhood needs to be understood in its proper perspective. Sita and Draupadi are two towering female figures in Hindu mythology. Sita, the spouse of Lord Ram in Ramayana, is gentle, docile and submissive. She is totally committed to her husband, symbolising purity of the spirit as well as the body. Draupadi, the consort of five Pandavas in Mahabharta, is aggressive, assertive and self willed. She is conscious of her rights and valiantly fights for them. She is argumentative and her debating skill is exceptionally well developed. Being polyandrous, she is the negation of the haloed concept of chastity. In fair assessment, Draupati scores over Sita in many ways, yet she loses to Sita as Sita symbolises ideal womanhood in the Indian psyche shaped by the patriarchal value system. Blind devotion and fidelity to one’s husband, good or bad, is the core of the code for woman laid down by Manu, the Hindu law giver. While talking of “the eternal duties of a man and wife”, Manu demands that “Men must make their women dependent day and night ... Her father guards her in childhood, her husband guards her in youth and her sons guard her in old age. A woman is not fit for independence.” (Doniger Wendy and Smith Brian K. 1992: 197). Draupadi does not accept any such code and thus fail to fit into the Hindu concept of ideal womanhood. Laws of Manu reduced the Hindu woman to perpetual servility to man in the male dominated society. Goswami and Tulsi Das’s Ram Chrit Maanas composed in medieval times has had a powerful and lasting impact on the Hindu psyche. In this woman is clubbed with drum, savages and animals that need to be thrashed. She becomes “able” (helpless) in modern times. This is best summed by the modern Hindu poet Maithili Sharan Gupt in his well-known poetical composition ‘Saket’ where the pathetic tale of woman is that of milk in the breast and tears in eyes. Mahadevi Verma, another modern Hindi poet, has compared woman to a cloudlet of woes, suffused with tears. Hindu religion is quite rich in feminine imagery and symbolism, giving pride of place to woman in social arrangements, describing her as “devi” (pious woman) without whose presence no religious ritual is said to be complete. However, the distinction between rhetoric and reality must be kept in mind. As rightly pointed out by Ursula King, “one must clearly distinguish between the place given to woman in the world of religious imagination and that accorded to them in the actual world of religious life. these often stand in an inverse relationship to each other and remain poles apart (King, Ursula 1995: 16).

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The gender discrimination in India which is overwhelmingly a Hindu country can be best seen in the treatment meted out to a girl child. The girl child is an unwanted creature in India today. India contributes a great deal to what Amartya Sen calls ‘missing women’ in Asia. Female foeticide is common and there is a craze for male child. As per 2001 census the sex ratio in India is pathetic 933 as compared to the world figure of 986. The sex ratio in the child population in the age group 0-6 has come down from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001, indicating the increasing genocide of the female child in this hoary land. India lags behind even countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh in sex ratio. Judaism is basically a patriarchal religion, with clearly defined roles for men and wome n. The birth of a son is a matter of great celebration while there is a short blessing in case of a girl child. This discrimination can be seen even in the education of children. Women do not take an active part in the synagogue service and they are not even counted for the purpose of quorum for worship. The discrimination in matter of divorce is appalling. Only man can divorce: women have no such right (see Sherbok, Dan Cohn 1999: 103- 105). “Women are there”, remarks a keen observer of woman’s place in Judaism, “Things female are there. But they have been inverted or cloaked in order to be appropriate by male phallic history and mythology”. (Goldenberg, Noami, 1995: 149). The place of women in Christian can be best understood with reference to Biblical context. The woman is presented as a weaker vessel through Eve in Paradise, easily given to temptation and thus beguiled by the satanic serpent. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet woman is symbolised as frailty. “Frailty, thy name is woman”, cries the Prince of Denmark in anguish as he reflects on the perfidious role of his mother. Noami Goldberg holds male clergy responsible for erasing the contribution of Christian women from recorded history. The appropriate role for woman was complete submission to male. (Goldenberg, Noami, 1995: 150). The duality of body and mind (or body and spirit, or body and soul) in the Christian theological thought process sowed the seeds of gender discrimination in Christianity. Woman came to be identified with matter, the body and the sensuality while man was identified with spirit, soul and purity. “This anti-feminine, anti-body, world-negating interpretation was generally accepted without question by the Church Fathers and came to be built into Christian theology, “observes Felicity Edwards, and as “body was inferior to spirit, so woman had to be submissive to man. This became the generally accepted pattern in the west” (Edwards, Felicity 1995: 180). Islam in our times is seen by some through the prism of bearded Mullahs with Kalashnikovs and women in black ‘chadors’, with revivalism and fundamentalism in the upswing. It is often identified with world terrorism, especially after the massive terrorist attack on America’s symbols of trade and military power in the year 2000. This is gross over simplification. The growth of Islam is to be seen in the context of Arabian patriarchal tribal society where woman is no better than chattel. Quran raised the status of woman. Female infanticide was outlawed. Woman was granted right to contract marriage. She was granted inheritance r ights and control over her dower and property. The rights of widows and orphans were ensured. they wer e, in deed, revolutionary steps in the tribal society of Arabia. A greater religious space was provided to woman by Sufism in Islam. Reformist like Asghar Ali Engineer are of the view that it is the patriarchal culture rather than Islam which is responsible for the subordinate position of women in Islamic society. Quaranic injunctions and Shariat are the product of evolutionary process of interpretation and thus not immutable. Haideh Moghissi, a feminist from Iran, now teaching at a college of York University, Toronto, however, does not agree with this interpretation. “There are many different ways that Islam can be adopted”, observes Moghissi, “ but no amount of twisting and bending can reconcile the Quaranic injunctions and instructions about woman’s rights and obligations with the ideas of gender equality.. if Quaranic instructions are taken literally, Islamic individuals or societies can not favour equal rights for women in the family or in certain areas of social life” ( Moghissi, Haideh 2000: 140). Akbar S. Ahmad, another commentator on Islam, finds the present postmodernist phase as intrinsically hostile to Islam. “How can Muslims retain their central Islamic features – family life, care for children, respective for elders, concepts of modernity and

186 TIBET JOURNAL so on¯ in the face of the contrary philosophy of the postmodernist age”, asks Ahmad (Ahmad, Akbar S. 1993: 5). One can discern contrary pulls and pressures in Islamic society in the world today. Islam, on the one hand, is egalitarian, liberative and forward looking while it is inequitous, constricting and backward looking, on the other. The tug of war between the opposing forces is on and the final verdict is yet to be pronounced. The issue of common civil law as opposed to the personal Muslim law that militates against the female is indicative of the struggle between enlightened sections of the Muslim community and the conservative Islamic clergy in India and some other countries. There has been a spate of studies on the gender question in the west but there is not much of exercise of this kind in the Buddhist literature. Bernard Faure in the book under review fills the gap to some extent by focusing on the place of woman in Buddhism, with special reference to Japan. There is a general belief that history of women in Buddhism is a linear narrative of progress from oppression to liberation. Faure challenges this view forcefully and holds that patriarchal value system often bordering on misogyny has been quite pronounced in Buddhism. This does not mean that women have been passive agents in the male-centric social order. Some of his formulations are likely to generate controversy in the Buddhist circles though he defends his position with logical rigour and passionate fervour. Faure’s book deals with the place of women and construction of gender in androcentric tradition like Japanese Buddhism. His central point is that Buddhism is paradoxically neither as sexist nor as egalitarian as is commonly thought. The book combines two approaches¯ the first, the Buddhist bias against women and the attempts to overcome this bias, and second, the active role of Buddhist women to counter the stereotype of women as passive cultural subjects. Attention is drawn to two kinds of anti-feminism in Buddhism: first is the early monastic attitude which stipulates that “a Bodhisatva should wander alone like a rhinoceros”. The fact of lonely women being easy targets for rape makes it difficult for female ascetics to follow this principle. Secondly, Buddhism, while trying to strike roots in patriarchal societies, tends to adopt local gender prejudices, reducing the Buddhist Sangha, as a consequence, to a patriachal institution. This explains the Sangha being suspicious of women in general, the gender bias in eight rules (‘gurudharma’) rendering nuns subordinate to monks irrespective of seniority, thus making Sangha ‘a bastion of male privilege’. The Buddhist misogyny finds its best expression in the domain of defilement related to female body functions, evoking male repulsion towards female menstrual blood and its putrefying power. What Faure calls “politics of menstruation”, as expressed through Blood Bowl Sutra in medieval Japan, acquired an important position in the male discourse on female sexuality. This goes counter to the basic Buddhist tenet of the role of intention in action. Woman, after all, cannot be blamed for the defiling nature of menstrual blood. The “rhetoric of equality” in Buddhism, so thinks Faure, tends to solve the problem by denying it. The concepts of non-duality, non-differentiation between men and women from the standpoint of the ultimate truth and such other postulates did not go far to undermine the structure of domination. Japanese Buddhist scholars holds women’s rebirth as man as prerequisite for salvation. Women were excluded from scared places in Japan until 1873 during the Meiji restoration. Earlier, women were allowed only half the way to the mountain shrine. This prohibition, however, was not meekly accepted by women. Faure admits that Buddhism may have contributed to the r elative improvement of the feminine condition, yet he laments that it also maintained a situation of relative inequality that it could have more radically questioned. This, in the opinion of this reviewer, is a subjective statement and much depends on how one looks at the problem in its historical context. Take, for instance, his comment on “buddha’s initial reluctance to admit women in his community”. Buddha rejected caste system, Brahmanical rituals, the animal sacrifice etc. and yet, complains Faure, he, by his initial hesitation to admit women into Sangha, endorsed the dominant ideology at times a little more than was needed.” What he overlooks is the gender inequality embedded into the structure of the Hindu social order at that times, condemning woman to perpetual subordination to man.

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In such context, the very idea of permitting women in the Buddhist Sangha, howsoever hesitatingly, was indeed a radical advance. There is always a hiatus, a yawning gap between the ultimate ideal and the immediate social practice which is inevitably impacted by the prevalent cultural norms, customs, traditions and conventions. Take, as an illustration, the Sikh religion, one of the youngest in the world. There is no place for any kind of discrimination in Sikhism on the basis of caste or gender. Yet the discrimination of both kinds persists among Sikhs. A section of untouchables got converted to Sikkhism to escape the caste oppression prevalent in the Hindu fold. They are still objects of caste discrimination in rural Punjab dominated by Jat peasantry. There is no place for gender discrimination in the Sikh religion. The Gurubani enshrined in the guru Granth Sahib, the most sacred scripture of the Sikhs, makes it abundantly clear: “So kiyon manda aakhiye jit Jamme rajan” (How can women be called inferior who gives birth to kings?) Yet the women musicians are not allowed to sing at the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the Vatican of Sikhs. Women, too, are not allowed to clean the sanctum sanctorum or give a hand when the Holy Book is brought into Golden Temple in a procession from the Akal Takht. This does not mean that the caste or gender discrimination is structured into Sikh theology. The conservative clergy often tends to p erpetuate the gap between social practice and the religious ideal. Bernard Faure too admits the role of cultural practices in distorting the ideal. he states: “The relation between Buddhism and women are not simply determined by gender, but by various cultural, social and political conditions, and in particular the relation between Buddhism and local cults” (p.235). He further observes that the egalitarian tendencies within Buddhism are “contradicted by various external factors (the rise of patriarchy, the role of popular conceptions regarding defilement and so forth). To give one example, civil war in later medieval Japan did probably more to lower the status of women than any sexist teaching (p. 333-334). H.H. Dalai Lama candidly admits that “in the past the position of woman may have been neglected or not given much thought (Dalai Lama 2002: 172-173). He further states that “it is very important for women to try to appropriate all their rights... I have been continually making an effort for the female side, and they also must take the full initiative¯ that’s important.” (Dalai Lama 2002: 176-177). Women have to work out their salvation and Buddhism has enough potential for the empowerment of women. The reviewer is full agreement with Faure when he affirms: “We should not underestimate the powerful message of liberation of Mahayana Buddhism; a message that often offsets androcentric or misogynistic tendencies.” (p.330). While talking about the Buddhist stand on the issue of gender discrimination, H.H. Dalai Lama makes it clear that “as far as the presence of Buddha nature is concerned, there is no difference. Nor is there an difference in terms of potential that an individual has for generating the highest altruistic aspiration to attain Buddhahood or insight into the ultimate nature of reality and so forth (Dalai Lama 2002: 174). It is the task of enlightened Buddhist scholars, seers and practitioners to narrow and eventually obliterate the gap between the cultural practice and the ultimate ideal insofar as the position of woman in Buddhism is concerned. Bernard Faure’s book is an important addition to the growing corpus of literature on Buddhism. Provocative in tone, pithy and precise in style, the book is replete with thought provoking statements made with no holds barred. The scholarly nature of the work is seen through notes and bibliography that run into about 120 pages.

References 1. Ahmad, Akbar S. 1993. Postmodernism and Islam. Penguin Books, New Delhi. 2. Dalai Lama 2002. Power of Compassion. Harper Collins Publishers, India. 3. Deniger, Wendy and Brian K. Smith. The Laws of Manu. Penguin Classics, New Delhi. 4. Edwards, Felicity. Spirituality, Consciousness and Gender Identification: A Neo-Feminist Perspective in Ursula King (ed.). Religion and Gender , Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, U.K.

188 TIBET JOURNAL 5. Goldenberg, Noami, 1995. The Return of the Goddess: Psychoanalytic Reflections on the Shift from Theology to Thealogy in Ursula King (ed.), Religion and Gender , Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, U.K. 6. King, Ursula 1995. Gender and the study of Religion in Religion and Gender, Ursula King (ed.), Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, U.K. 7. Moghissi, Haideh 2000. Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism . Oxford University Press, Karachi. 8. Sherbok, Dan Cohn 1999. Judaism . Routledge, London. 9. Weil, Simone 2001. Oppression and Liberty. Routledge Classics, London. ¯

D.R. Chaudhry

Heinrich Harrer: An Obituary 6th July 1912 – 7th January 2006 “For the first time I am unable to plan, as in the past, the basis and conditions for the success of an expedition. Instead, I have learned to enjoy each day as a gift. What then unavoidably happens I can only await in peace and trust.” So wrote Heinrich Harrer, in advanced age in 2002, as the closing words of his autobiography of his long, eventful and adventurous life. From an early age Harrer had lived for adventure. Harrer is best known for his part in first ascent of the notorious North Face of the Eiger and his classic book “Seven Years in Tibet”. In total he wrote nearly thirty books during six decades of expeditions to the Andes, Amazon, Alaska, Congo, New Guinea, Nepal, French Guyana, Greenland, Sudan, Borneo, India, Ladakh, Andaman Islands, Uganda, Kenya, Sikkim and Bhutan. He was born in the simple home of Josef and Johanna Harrer in the Hamlet of Obergossen near Knappenberg which lies above the town of Hüttenberg in the province of Carinthia, Austria. His father was a Post Office official who at times worked on mail trains. The inside of the small crowded family house, he recalled, was a sort of traditional Austrian fairy-tale dwelling where he would often sleep in a hay loft above a stall containing a goat, a cow and a sheep. He was the eldest of four and had two sisters and a brother. The family having moved to Bruck, he excelled at school sports and dreamt of becoming a forester, but aged 13 he settled on becoming a teacher because he was especially keen on geography. He developed an immense desire to visit new and strange places. His first adventures into the mountains, the Julian Alps, at the age of 15, he described as “An unbelievable new world.” In 1927 he moved to Graz and joined an Alpine Club where he found much of great interest in the library – especially in books about the expeditions of the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin in Tibet. Aged 16 he scrimped together enough money to buy skis and was soon winning competitions – his mother making use of the leaves from the laurel wreaths he won, for cooking! He prepared for the 1936 Winter Olympics but due to the international political situation the Austrian team was not to participate. Harrer went on to establish a ski school, which prospered, and one day, his future first wife, Lotte Wegener, enrolled on a course. She was the granddaughter of the arctic explorer Prof. Alfred Wegener, the propounder of the theory of continental drift. (Their marriage was not to survive the separation of Harrer’s years’ in wartime internment). Harrer always sought new challenges and climbed all the classic routes in the Dolomites where he got to know fellow mountaineer Fritz Kaspareck. They often discussed their dream of climbing in the Himalayas - but how to get there? They had no money and were unknown and so they decided to get themselves noticed. All the major alpine ascents had been climbed apart from the biggest and hardest, namely the deadly North Face of the Eiger. So on 21st July 1938, having driven on Harrer’s motorbike to Grindelwald, Switzerland, having camped in a small tent, the pair set off on the ascent. In order to save weight, Kasparek had the only crampons to lead on the ice work, whilst Harrer would tackle the rock sections in nailed boots. That night they bivouacked and next day the German climbers Anderl Heckmair and Wiggerl Vörg overtook them. Caught in a violent thunderstorm they teamed up and reached the top on the 24th at 3.30 p.m. too exhausted to realise their success. Suddenly famous, they were usurped by politicians as symbolic heroes and taken to the German Athletics Festival in Breslau where they were congratulated by an enthusiastic crowd and introduced to Adolf Hitler. Harrer was determined on reaching the Himalayas and, to that end, turned down many job offers. However, he accepted the main role in a film “Easter Ski Trip” which was to be made d uring his honeymoon. On the first day of filming a longed for telegram arrived asking if he was ready to go on a reconnaissance climb to Nanga Parbat, at 26,658 feet the world’s ninth highest peak – a quick decision was required as the ship left Antwerp in a week. This opportunity was worth everything to Harrer who cancelled the film contract, his teaching career and even his honeymoon. He immediately set off for Munich where he met the 40-year-old expedition leader Peter Aufschnaiter.

190 THE TIBET JOURNAL Harrer wondered how “such an old man” could lead an expedition on a mountain that had already killed 26 mountaineers. The other two climbers were Dr Ludwig “Lutz” Chicken and Hans Lobenhoffer. At the expedition’s end, having explored the Diamir ridge, they travelled to Srinagar and hearing of the immediate threat of war, they set off for Karachi and the ship “Uhlenfels”. However, the ship had been instructed not to approach Indian harbours. Unable to find other transport, Harrer, Chicken and Lobenhoffer attempted to reach Persia and home. Their attempt came to an end when, after a night in the open, they were arrested for not having proper papers. All their possessions were confiscated. They were sent to the Central Internment Camp, Ahmednagar, east of Bombay. Here 500 German and 30 Austrian civilians were held under the Geneva Convention as “Prisoners-of-War.” Aufschnaiter had his books, including a copy of “Colloquial Tibetan”, and maps returned via the censor who thought that as the camp was close to the Indian Ocean they posed no harm, little realising that the prisoners would eventually be transferred to the foot of the Himalayas. In New Year 1941 the internees were moved to Deolali, which provided an escape opportunity. Lobenhoffer and Harrer jumped from the back of a moving army truck, but they were seen and were recaptured. Deolali was unbearably hot and dusty with accommodation in basic huts, so all went on hunger strike. Consequently, the authorities directed an interned architect to design a new camp at Premnagar, Dehra Dun, Mussoorie, 120 miles from Tibet, to where they were moved. Harrer was determined to escape. He tried again in June 1943. He had few resources, so crept one night with his friend Rolf Magener to the Italian sector to meet an Italian army general by the name of Marchese who could finance escapes but needed a companion experienced in Himalayan travel. They escaped at night by putting a ladder over the sentry-post roof. Twelve days later they reached the Ganges; after six more Marchese, now totally exhausted, told Harrer to go on alone. Suddenly Indians confronted and arrested them. One, who spoke perfect English, was the chief Forester for Tehri-Garwhal. That night Harrer again escaped but two days later blundered into a village and was recaptured. Later, along with Harrer and Aufschnaiter, five others also resolved to escape – they were Rolf Magener, Heins von-Have, Friedel Sattler, Bruno Treipl and Hans Kopp. They broke out of camp disguised as an Indian wire repairing party – a common enough sight - with Magen er and von-Have dressed as British Officers in charge. On April 29th, 1944 at 2.30 p.m., having stopped to ‘examine’ the wires, they boldly marched through the main gate with the guard prese nting arms. It was a heart stopping procession none of them would ever forget. They split, with Magener and von-Have heading for Burma and an eventual successf ul escape to Japan. The others travelled to the Himalayas. At Nelang, Sattler, badly affected by altitude sickness, turned back. At the Tsangchokla pass, the remaining four crossed into Tibet on May 17th. The Tibetans ordered them out, so they travelled westwards to the river Sutlej. Treipl, suffering from altitude sickness, his goal of reaching the Japanese via the Gobi now seeming impossible, gave up. Without Aufschnaiter’s spoken Tibetan the remaining three would have got nowhere. At Tradom, they requested permission to travel to Lhasa and waited months for a reply. In November Kopp’s patience ran out. He had been offered work in neutral Nepal where he thought to claim asylum. Near Kathmandu, he was given a military escort and taken directly to the British Embassy where he was arrested and reinterned. The remaining two, Harrer and Aufschnaiter were both hardy, experienced mountaineers , mentally and physically fit for a lonely and strenuous life at altitude. Not obtaining permission to travel to Lhasa, they were ordered to leave for Nepal in December. Upon reaching Kyirong, they appealed to be allowed to stay. Their request was again referred to Lhasa. Nine months later, they learned the war was over, but did not return to India, as they knew that POWs would not be immediately released. Without permission, they set off for Lhasa across the Changtang plateau, correctly reckoning that an approach to Lhasa from the northwest might go unchallenged. Their compass and map, the local nomads and yak dung fires enabling them to survive an incredible, grim mid-winter journey. Accompanied by a guide and a donkey, they reached Lhasa on 15th January, 1946 dressed as nomads in tattered sheep skin chupas. Days later, the 11 year old Dalai Lama heard of their

OBITUARIES 191 arrival and asked his parents to entertain them. The British Indian authorities repeatedly requested their return but the pair remained in Lhasa due mainly to the sympathetic intervention of Mr Arthur Hopkinson, the British Political Officer of Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, who himself ha d been a prisoner of war during the First World War and who had then made an unsuccessful escape attempt. Harrer ’s time in Tibet is well known from his book “Seven Years in Tibet” and can be referred to for further details. Harrer and Aufschnaiter remained in Lhasa until October 1950 when China annexed the country. Harrer went to the Chumbi Valley on the border with Sikkim, from where he secretly liaised between the young Dalai Lama and the American authorities in an attempt to reach a settlement with the Chinese who had deliberately stalled their army on the Tibetan border and demanded negotiations. The Americans advised that as a last resort Harrer should escort the Dalai Lama to India into exile. In the event the Dalai Lama, fearing reprisals, returned to Lhasa. Harrer, meanwhile, left Tibetan soil in March 1951 not to return for thirty years. His Holiness the Dalai Lama fled into exile some eight years later. Upon returning to Austria in 1952, Harrer met his 12-year-old son, Peter, for the first time and he met his parents again after an absence of as many years. Austria at this time was still occupied and split into four zones of Allied control. As a routine check Harrer was interviewed both by the British and the Austrian authorities on his return to post-war Austria. Much nonsense has been written in recent years about his membership of the Schutz Staffel of the NSDAP (commonly referred to as the SS of the Nazi party). Just before the release of the Hollywood film “Seven Years in Tibet” certain members of the press had started a witch-hunt against Harrer which was quite undeserved. He admitted to having joined the SS in 1938 so as to take up employment as a ski instructor for them (although he never gave a single lesson as he soon departed for Nanga Parbat) and his membership had been backdated to 1933 in order to speed up his application for marriage. In old age and with hindsight he admitted that this had been a mistake of youth. However, he did no harm to anybody and there is nothing to remotely suggest that he did. In his autobiography “Mein Leben” (My Life) he wrote “Was it youthful opportunism or blind determination, to subordinate oneself all for sporting objectives?... It was, in any case, a mistake. When today, 60 years later, I reflect upon my motivation of then I do it from the experience, that one acts differently in youth than in old age.” Back home in 1952, he was approached by book publishers to tell his tale in “Seven Years in Tibet” (five of his fellow escapers were also to write books). The publisher who obtained worldwide rights was from Liechtenstein and Harrer bought a house there where he spent much time for the rest of his life. In the same year he visited the renowned Swedish explorer Sven Hedin. In 1953 he gave a lecture at the Royal Festival Hall, London, where he received a letter beforehand from his former Camp Commandant, Colonel Williams, which Harrer read out “As commander of your prison camp in India I had to take the blame for your successful escape from headquarters in New Delhi. Not only that, but adding insult to injury, tonight I even had to pay to listen to you as to how you did it.” Following this he travelled to Peru from when on he devoted his life to exploration and reporting. He undertook a lecture tour of the USA and wrote an article about Tibet for the National Geographic. Subsequently he started a TV series in German called “Heinrich Harrer Reports.” When the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in March 1959 Harrer was sent to India by the British newspaper The Daily Mail to report the story. He accompanied His Holiness to Mussoorie and whilst there Harrer visited his old internment camp and found a pawpaw tree laden with huge fruit that he had grown from seed years before when he was a prisoner. In 1958 he became Austrian golf champion and in 1962 he went on a seven-month expedition to Western New Guinea and made the first north to south crossing of the country. In August that year he married Carina Haarhaus in Kitzbühel. Over the years he was to write many books about his adventures around the world. In his later years he often visited the Kingdom of Bhutan about which he published his final book in 2005. An English translation of his 2002 autobiography may possibly be published later this year.

192 THE TIBET JOURNAL In 1992 he opened the Heinrich Harrer Museum in Hüttenberg, which was attended by the Dalai Lama. In 1997 he advised on the production of the Hollywood movie “Seven Years in Tibet.” In November 2002 he lectured to a sell-out audience at the Royal Geographical Society, London, and said, “With a portion of impudence one can even reach regions that are out of bounds. I have secretly crossed at least eight times the so-called ‘inner line’, and I think unless you cross inner lines you cannot encounter great adventure. It is not for me to encourage disobedience, but if some of you need advice how to do it, I would gladly give it.” To anybody who knew Heinrich Harrer, this statement might best sum up his iron-willed character. Of his erstwhile climbing companions, Dr Lutz Chicken is the last still alive, whilst of his fellow escapees, the last alive is Bruno Treipl.

References Brauen, Martin. (ed). 2002. Peter Aufschnaiter’s Eight Years in Tibet, Orchid Press, Bangkok, Thailand. Chicken, Lutz. 2003. Durchs Jahrhundert. Mein Leben als Arzt und Bergsteiger , Edition Raetia, Bozen, Italy. Harrer, Heinrich. 1953. Seven Years in Tibet , Rupert Hart-Davis, London.

——2002. “Mein Leben.” Ullstein, Munich, Germany. Kopp, Hans. 1957. Himalayan Shuttlecock, Hutchinson, London. Magener, Rolf. 2001. Our Chances Were Zero, Leo Cooper / Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley. (Originally published as “Prisoners’ Bluff ”, Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1954). Sattler, Friedel. 1956. Flucht durch den Himalaja. Und Erlebtes beim Maharadscha von Bundi, Das Bergland-Buch, Salzburg, Austria. Republished 1991 by Edition Dax, Hamburg, Germany.

Interviews with former internees 1. Rolf Magener (aged 89), Heidelberg, Germany. 23rd June, 1999 2. Heinrich Harrer (aged 91), Knappenberg, Austria. 12th May, 2003 3. Bruno Treipl (aged 88), Salzburg, Austria. 21st May & 30th August 2004 4. Peter Schümmer (aged 92), Cologne, Germany. 13th June & 27th August 2004

— Roger Croston

OBITUARIES 193

HENRY GEORGE “Hank” BAKER: An Obituary 23rd June 1918 - 15th January 2006 Henry Baker, who died aged 87, following a long illness, was one of the last half dozen eyewitnesses who travelled to the capital city, Lhasa, of an independent Tibet, before the Chinese annexation of that country in 1950. Born on 23rd June 1918 into a Methodist family in Ryde, Isle of Wight, he was the eldest of seven children, having four brothers and two sisters. One brother was to predecease him by a day. From working as a shop assistant, he was enlisted for 6 years into the Supplementary Reserve of the Infantry of the Line, Hampshire Regiment, in Newport Isle of Wight on 7th September 1936. “One day my grandfather came to me and said, ‘You are coming with me lad!’ He took me down the road into a building to see a gentleman I did not know. The next thing I discovered was that I’d been signed into the army. I suppose it was one less mouth to feed.” Initially based at Winchester, then, because he had a private interest in radio and electronics, he was re-enlisted into The Royal Corps of Signals, Reg ular Army, on 1st December 1936 and trained at Catterick Camp, Yorkshire, before transferring to Aldershot and then to India in December 1938. INDIA Upon arrival in India Baker was immediately posted from Karachi to Bannu on the notorious North West Frontier and on to the Ahmedzai Salient for six month operations in outposts such as Mir Ali, Damdil, Tal and Razmak. In this short period four hundred soldiers were killed or injured by skirmishing tribesman. On one occasion British and Indian troops were holed-up in a fort, so some Gurkhas who were with them “Decided to show us how to sort them out. They dashed off downhill with their Kukris to reappear some time later bearing several severed heads!” Baker was seriously injured during an attack when a gun carriage exploded and he was hospitalised for six months. After recuperation he was posted to Southern Command Signal Company, Jubbulpore, as wireless operator from where he was to tour with a mobile station to Lahore, Delhi, Peshawar and Kohat using camel, mule and lorry transport. In September 1940, he caught malaria, After recovering, he made acquaintance on air with a former Royal Signals man, now a civilian employed by Government of India, who had operated the British Mission’s radio in Lhasa, Tibet, since 1937. This link was regarded as vital as there were strong rumours that Chinese troops were becoming active on the Tibetan border. POSTED TO LHASA The British Mission in Lhasa had been established in 1936. The radio station used equipment set up in the Mission’s Deyki Lingka house by lieutenants Sidney Dagg (later Lt. Col.) and Evan Yorke Nepean (later Lt. Col. Sir, Bt.), both of the Royal Corps of Signals. Towards the end of 1941, the regular radio operator became seriously ill and was sent down to Calcutta for treatment and had to be relieved. “One morning my sergeant sent for me and gave me 24 hours leave to consider volunteering to take over the radio station – being told that if I declined, as there was a war on, I would be posted there anyway!” Having “volunteered” Baker was examined by three doctors who told him how lucky he was, but who would have marked him “unfit” had he not wanted to go. “I was given a trade test to make sure I could run the station at Lhasa. Needless to say none of the items I was tested on were anything like what I found there.” On 20th of October 1941 he was posted on what would be the greatest adventure of his life. “I am sure that anyone seeing me as I left Jubbulpore must have thought I was crazy as I had been despatched carrying my kit bag, a rolled up army greatcoat and, for some unknown reason, six pith helmets.” In 1941 it was almost impossible for anyone, let alone an uncommissioned soldier, to be posted to then almost inaccessible and near mythical, forbidden capital city of Tibet, Lhasa.

194 THE TIBET JOURNAL Baker proceeded to The Great Eastern Hotel, Calcutta, where he met the Civil Surgeon Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet, Captain Dr Harry W.G. Staunton of the Indian Medical Service. Staunton proclaimed him “Just skin and bone,” and said “You’ll never survive a severe winter trek over the Himalayas” – a journey he himself had often made – adding, “We’ll send you back in the morning.” However, Delhi HQ informed Staunton that nobody else was available and Baker had to go. Next day the pair proceeded to Siliguri by train and from there some 70 miles by taxi to Gangtok the capital of Sikkim where they were invited by Sir Basil Gould - known to all as “B.J.” - the Political Officer Sikkim Bhutan and Tibet, to stay at the British Residency. Gould had led the 1936 Political Mission to Lhasa, which had established the British presence there and he had been knighted for his good offices when attending the Installation of the current Dalai Lama in Lhasa in 1940. Taking one look at Baker, Gould immediately sent for the local doctor, Dr Hendricks, who also declared Baker quite unfit and asked Delhi for a replacement, but General Villumy at HQ, Delhi gave the same response as before and instructed that Baker be sent as soon as possible. During three days’ acclimatisation at 8,000 feet in Gangtok he was introduced to the Maharaja of Sikkim. “I still had not been given any details about getting to Lhasa, except my telegra m from Delhi which said ‘You will fly from Gangtok. Your luggage will go by camel caravan’. Staring at the paper, an incredulous Gould told Baker that he had been told utter rubbish and that he faced an arduous trek over the Himalayas. Never having ridden in his life, Baker set out on the 21 days’ pony trek to Lhasa. Dr Staunton accompanied him half way as far as Gyantse. At Karponang Dak Bungalow, Staunton warned him “The next two days over the high Himalayan passes would prove if I was going to Lhasa or back to India in a pine box!” However Baker was more worried about his body being devoured by the local vultures. He was immensely impressed by the Chomolhari Mountain Range towering to over 24,000 feet. “At the village of Phari my pony suddenly took off – the saddle having slipped. Staunton reprimanded me that I ought not to show off how well I could now ride. I protested that I was not showing off but that I was simply unable to stop the pony.” Suffering intense cold at heights of over 15,000 feet, he survived and “With a very sore posterior reached the British Indian Army Garrison Fort at Gyantse.” “After a brief welcoming ceremony, as a new visitor I was invited to inspect the Indian Army Garrison’s Escort Troops. After which it was a luxury to sleep in a nice warm bedroom in a very comfortable bed. After several days’ rest, I travelled on alone with a young Tibetan Christian missionary and his family. No foreigners were allowed to travel beyond Gyantse without govern ment permission. The going was very hard - breathing was difficult crossing the Karo La pass at 16,600 feet with heavy snowfall necessitating frequent dismounting to walk”. Baker found the Tibetans most friendly and he slept in village homesteads whe re he began to appreciate and learn more about the land, its people and their customs. At the first house he asked about toilet facilities and was directed to the roof where he was “Shown a slit in the floor which was above a manure room – there was no door - it was a case of pulling down your trousers and squatting in full view of anyone who wanted to watch. Unfortunately, as I was not Tibetan, I was the centre of attraction.” Nearing Lhasa, arrangements were made for passage across the fast flowing Tsangpo River at Chushul in yak hide coracles about ten feet square. A 15-mile trip was made downstream. Having spent the night in Nam village, a large group of Tibetan horsemen arrived to escort Baker into Lhasa, and thanks to the missionary who translated for him, he got through the greetings ceremony of exchanging long white silk scarves. Arriving at the city’s outskirts Baker was impressed with views of the Potala Palace and he was introduced to leading government officials and taken to the Deyki Lingka, the British Mission’s residency, only to discover that the then British Head of Mission, Rai Bahdur Norbhu Dhondup Dzasa who was a Tibetan was a three days’ journey away on a gambling spree. Just outside the residence, in the same compound, he was directed to the small brick building containing the radio station that was to become his home. On the ground floor was a petrol engine that drove the generator which charge d the batteries and supplied power to the buildings and the wireless station, which was upstairs in the living quarters.

OBITUARIES 195 “As soon as everyone had left me, I bolted the large entrance doors downstairs, went upstairs and cried like a baby. To think that I had survived the journey; that I had volunteered for it; was completely alone with no one to talk to; and I now realised that the nearest European to me was many a day’s journey away. I had no idea what to do other than to keep things going and keep in contact with Jubbulpore. Each morning I transmitted weather reports and sent ciphered messages from Rai Bahadur Norbhu Dhondup Dzasa who was later to receive the OBE.” “The large radio batteries were in a bad state – a relay in the charger had been wedged with a piece of wood and they had been overcharged, so I sent for replacements. When new ones arrived weeks later I emptied the old batteries into the garden but the acid seeped into the Kyi Chu River and killed a whole load of fish which was not a very bright idea in a strictly Buddhist country.” I also ordered new radio valves but when they arrived, their cartons had been opened, and they had been replaced by stones – the Tibetans at times could be terrible thieves. The Chinese also had a radio station in Lhasa, but of such antiquity, that it was a wonder it worked at all. I intercepted it and obtained and decoded their information before it had even reached China!” Baker settled into life in Lhasa and got to know several notables including the Dalai Lama’s father and the Commander of the Tibetan Army. He was kept company by various nobles who spoke English and he was invited to some of the many picnics and parties in which Lhasans greatly liked to indulge themselves. Early in 1942 after seven months in Lhasa, Baker was unexpectedly recalled when the usual radio operator returned and Baker was posted to The British Residency, Sikkim to work radio until the war’s end and where he used his technical skills to help Sir Basil Gould establish both a Tibetan language broadcasting station and a Tibetan language newspaper. SIKKIM In Sikkim Baker became good friends with the Maharaja and his children and on many occasions he would go riding with them before having breakfast at the Palace, Gangtok. “On one occasion when an English lady aristocrat was staying at the British Residency, Gangtok, Sikkim, Sir Basil Gould had her room painted and decked out in her favourite colour, blue. One morning her aide went to Sir Basil with a complaint. Apparently the cook, who was always up to some sort of trick or other, had gone a little too far this time by having the toilet rolls dyed the same colour at the carpet factory, not realising the dye would come out.” Baker was invited by the Maharaja to many events at the Palace. “On one occasion I was invited to witness the annual War Dance, peculiar to the northern Buddhists of Sikkim. A festival to celebrate the spirit of the War God Kangchen-Dzod-Nga when Maha-Kala, the Commander-inChief of all the guardians of the faith and overlord of all spirits, orders Dzod-Nga to bring peace, prosperity and security to the people.” He attended the wedding of Jigme Dorje, the son of Raja S.T. Dorji, agent to the Maharaja of Bhutan, Kalimpong, to Tessala (Tsering Yangzom). He kept the many invitation cards, embossed with the gold crest of the Maharaja, which, framed and mounted, took pride of place in his later homes alongside a Tibetan ‘Wheel of Life’ Thanka scroll. Baker was given a privilege granted to a very select few – a Permanent Frontier Pass author ising him to enter Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet and he was instructed to make and wear what were probably the most unusual shoulder epaulets in the history of the British Army. They had sewn into them the words “British Political Service Tibet”. This was for tours of duty as radio operator in Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam with Sir Basil Gould along with dignitaries from Government of India such as the Vicereine Lady Linlithgow. On leaving Sikkim on 8th November 1945, Baker received a letter from Mr S.J.L. Olver at The (British) Residency, Gangtok. “On the eve of your departure on leave, I should like to record my appreciation of your work here; and I am sure that the Political Officer would wish to do the same were he here. To have kept the transmitter and generating plant in more or less constant operation over the last four years was a very considerable feat, accomplished in difficult working conditions and bad weather, and in the face of a perennial shortage of spares and equipment. Should regular broadcasting from Gangtok eventually be introduced, it will be on the basis of your pioneering work.”

196 THE TIBET JOURNAL He had requested 6 months home leave to get demobbed and inten ded to accept a job as a civilian wireless operator for the government of Tibet. In 1944, the American and British Indian Governments had supplied a limited quantity of radio equipment to the Tibetan Government (via Ilya Tolstoy and Brooke Dolan) and had planned the establishment of several wireless stations along the Tibetan border in an attempt to help Tibet protect herself from Chinese incursion as well as to help everyday traders. However, Baker was relieved in Sikkim by Robert Ford (author of “Captured in Tibet” who is still alive) who had recently been demobbed from the RAF. Ford later set up a radio station on Tibet’s eastern border at Chamdo. He was captured by the Chinese and held prisoner for five years. KENYA & USA Having returned to England, the newly married and demobbed Baker took a job at Nairobi airport, Kenya, as Communications manager for the British Overseas Airways Corporation where his son was born in 1948. Returning to England a few years later, he and his family emigrated to the USA. Baker started a small business making and selling rubber stamps, later taking a job with Eddystone Radio and then Voicewriter Engineering where he worked on developing dictating machines. He moved to another firm to develop television studio communication equipment and became a technical writer. Leaving the electronics industry Baker joined the New Jersey Police Force at Succasunna in 1963 and later the New Hampshire Police Force, meanwhile running his own electrical repair shop as a sideline. From patrolling areas of high crime he became a Justice of the Peace in August 1985. Having been overseas for many years Baker lost contact with most of his family and in his 70s, following the death of his wife, he moved to the northeast coast of England where he married for the second time but was again widowed shortly later. He was to eke out his final years in poor health and had almost lost the will to live when, in 2002, it became known to researchers that he, one of the last few European eyewitnesses of the old Tibet, was still alive. Baker was given a new lease of life. His recollections were very detailed and he was delighted to be visited and interviewed at length by independent researchers, academics from The Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (Sikkim), The Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford and the daughter of his travelling companion in Tibet, Captain Harry Staunton. Henry Baker was deeply saddened by the destruction wrought upon Tibet by the Chinese Cultural Revolution. His opinion was that the old feudal Tibet he witnessed needed to change but from within. At the end of his life he was encouraged and hopef ul the progress made in recent years by China’s rebuilding and restoration of many things that had been destroyed. Henry is still remembered by elderly people in Sikkim. Photographs he had bought in Sikkim from Tsetan Tashi (1912-1972) - then Private Secretary to the Maharaja’s son, Prince Paljor Namgyal - during the war, where the climate has since destroyed a number of photographic prints, form part of a current photographic exhibition at the Namgyal Institute in Sikkim. Many people were thrilled to see long lost images of their parents and grandparents. Throughout his life Baker retained his interest in amateur radio and was still active with Morse code until the last year of his life. He is survived by a son in the USA and a sister and a brother. Following the death of Heinrich Harrer on the 7th of January and that of Henry Baker on the 15th, only five living Westerners remain who witnessed the old Lhasa, one in Great Britain, one in Germany and three more in the USA.

— Roger Croston

Contributors Alessandro Boesi, Biologist (University of Milan, Italy), Ph.D. candidate (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris, France), has carried out extensive fieldwork in the Himalayan and Tibetan regions (1994, Ladakh; 1995, Nepal; 1996, Ladakh; 1998, Nepal; 1999, Khams; 2000, Khams; 2001, Nepal) focusing his interest in the study of the Tibetan conception, classification and exploitation of the natural world and of the materia medica of Tibetan medicine. Alex McKay is a research fellow in Indo-Tibetan history at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London, and an affiliated fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden, The Netherlands. He is the author of Tibet and the British Raj: The frontier cadre 1904-1947 (Curzon 1997) and the editor of the 3-volume History of Tibet (RoutledgeCurzon 2003). Colin Millard received his PhD, entitled ‘Learning Processes in a Tibetan medical school’, from the anthropology department of Edinburgh University in 2002. He has carried out research on traditional medical practice in India and Nepal. His present research concerns are Tibetan medical practice and ritual, the Bon religion of Tibet, and complementary and alternative medicines in the UK. Denise M. Glover holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Washington (Seattle, WA, USA), where she is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology. She conducted dissertation research in rGyal thang, southern Khams, in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Her dissertation, titled Up From the Roots: Contextualizing Medicinal Plant Classifications by Tibetan Doctors in Rgyalthang, PRC (2005), examines plant classifications as well as the social and cultural milieu in which they occur. She currently resides outside of Seattle, WA with her children August and Saveria, a small flock of parrots, a restless cat, and her husband, Glen Avantaggio. D.R. Chaudry is a well-known columnist and reviewer in the Indian media world. He retired as a Reader at the Dyal Singh College of Delhi University. He has published several articles and over 100 reviews and review articles in the leading English national dailies, including Times of India and The Tribune. Also he has three books in his credit, the latest being Education and Social Change, Radhakrishan Publications, Delhi, 2000. Francesca Cardi Frances Garrett is Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on Tibetan religious history and its relations with other forms of Tibetan intellectual and literary culture, such as medicine. Geoff Childs is an assistant professor of anthropology and environmental studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and Beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal (2004, University of California Press) as well as several articles on demography, history, and culture in Tibetan societies. His current research centers on aging and inter-generational relations in Tibet.

Georgios Halkias is currently working on his D.Phil. at the Oriental Instutute, Oxford University. His areas of research interest include Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan history & culture, and contemporary Tibetan developments. Martin A. Mills is a social anthropologist specialising in religious and ritual traditions, his research interests being born of extensive fieldwork amongst the Tibetan Buddhist communities of Ladakh and Zangskar Regions and the Tibetan refugee communities of India and Nepal. His first major monograph, Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism: the Foundations of Religious Authority in the Gelukpa Order , has been published by Curzon Press. He is presently working on a second monograph, on the transformation and globalisation of the Dalai Lama’s theocracy brought on by the Tibetan diaspora of 1959. Olaf Czaja is a PhD candidate at the Leipzig University/ Germany. His main interest are Tibetan history, medicine and art. Yonten Gyatso is a Tibetan traditional doctor and an independent researcher living in Chicago. He studied Tibetan medicine at the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute (TMAI), Dhramsala, India, and graduated in 1987. He served at the institute’s research department for many years before becoming an independent researcher. His main interest is in classical Tibetan medical literature, Tibetan pharmacology and translation. His most important work is the development of a modern herbarium at the TMAI’s plant research section and he has done extensive field study in Nepal and Indian Himalayas. He can be contacted at [email protected]

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e Essence of Ambrosia , Taranatha, Trans. by Will Baker e Tibetan & Tibetan Muslims , Dr. Abu Bakr Amir-uddin Nadwi e mKhas dbang Dhi: tsa A lag dGe ’dun chos ’phel dang mjal skabs kyi gleng mol ( A Dialogue with the Great Scholar Dhitsa Alak Gedun Choephel ), Tethong Rakra Thupten Chodar

e Rang nyid ngo sprod ( An Autobiography ), Tarawa Tenzin Choenyi

e Bod kyi brda sprod nag t ik ( A Commentary to Tibetan Grammar ), Sangay Tandar Naga

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