PREFACE

Recently Tibetan medicine, one of the most ancient traditional medical systems inthe world, has been gaining in popularity among people all over the world. Currentlythere are institutions of Tibetan medicine worldwide, offering hospital, clinical, andeducational services as well as performing research based on Tibetan medicine. In additionto presentations on Tibetan medicine in international academie conferences dealing withTibetan studies, workshops and conferences exclusively on Tibetan medicine have been heldin Tibet and abroad. Besides the institutions in the areas where the Tibetan people live (TibetQinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan), traditional Tibetan hospitals, colleges, and researchinstitutes have been established all over China. The Beijing Hospital of Tibetan Medicinenow promoted as a hospital that includes ethnic medicines of many other minority groupsis open to the public for outpatient visits, and has 200 beds for inpatient care. Here, patientscan receive treatment that integrates Tibetan medicine, other minority medical techniquesmodern biomedicine, or traditional medicine of the Han nationality (commonly known astraditional Chinese medicine)

People's awareness ofTibetan medicine has gradually increased. However, only those whohave sought the help of Tibetan medicine to relieve health problems have some knowledge of itstechniques and theories. Most people only have a superficial understanding or are even ignorantabout Tibetan medicine, Furthermore, quite a large number of people even say that Tibetanmedicine is “superstitious”, “non scientific", “backward”, “tainted with religion", and so on.

It is true that since the Tubo Dyasty was established in the 7" century, Buddhism hasplayed an important role in Tibet, diffusing to all aspects of life in Tibetan society, includingthe medical world and people's habits and customs.
To remedy the wrong ideas about Tibetan medicine that exist in some people's brain, itis best if people can experience the benefts of Tibetan medicine in person. Unfortumately, itis practically impossible for everyone to have such an opportunity, especially in the West. Analternative approach is to learn Tibetan medicine through books. Popularization of commonknowledge about Tibetan medicine is an effective approach to remedy incorrect ideas aboutTibetan medicine. Among others, Dr Huang Fu-kai's An /llustrated Guide to Health Cultivationin Tibetan Medicine, is a distinguished example of popular knowledge about Tibetan medicinemade available to the general public.

FOREWORD

Every civilization contributes her traditional medicine.

According to the archeologists, since 40,000 to 50,000 years ago there have been peopleliving on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, Knowledge of health maintenance and the treatmentof disease accumulated over this long period of time. As cultural relics and literature revealaround 2,000 to 3,000 years ago the ancestors of the present Tibetan people had mastered aconsiderable amount of medical knowledge, which formed the basis for the maturation of Tibetan medicine in later centurles

In the 7" century A.D., King Srong Btsan Sgam Po did all he could to make his kingdomprosperous. He is credited with not only opening a new era in the history ofTibetan civilizationbut with raising the standard of medicine. He invited prominent doetors from all areas of thekingdom to help compile the early Tibetan medicine classic Mi jigs pa mtshon cha (The FearlesWeapon. In the 8"" century, the fundamental classic Rgyud bzhi (The Four Medical Tantras) waswritten by Gyuthog Yontan Gonpo. This book established Tibetan medicine as a completesystem. Since it holds the fundamentals for the later development of Tibetan medicine, thisbook is often seen as the origin and core of Tibetan medicine and the author Gyuthog YontanGonpo is known as the father of Tibetan medicine. In the subsequent 1,200 years, numerousinterpretations, elaborations, and commentaries on this book were published. As a resultTibetan medicine was propelled from one peak to another.

From a contemporary medical perspective, traditional Tibetan medicine not only has a sounotheoretical system, but also contributes important knowledge in the felds of internal medicinesurgery, gynecology, pediatries, disease prevention and health maintenance. Tibetan medicine isextremely profound and comprehensive, especially in its understanding of embryology and urinardiagnostics, which are considered the most highly developed of all traditional medical systemsKnowledge from these felds are still of great academic and practical value.

Originating from the experiences of generations of Tibetan doctors, knowledge of healthmaintenance is abundant and unique. It forms an important segment of Tibetan medicine. Asthe opening of The Four Medical Tantras goes, “To prevent and treat disease, the people shouldread this book; to live longer, the people should read this book; to get the Dharma, wealthand health, the people should read this book; to help all sentient beings escape from thesufferings of disease, the people should read this book." At the end of The Four Medical Tantrasit summarizes, “Lengthy though The Four Medical Tantras is, it talks about only two conditions.

healh and disease" The 13" through 18" chapters of Decriplion Tintra in The four Mead/ommm de ds ease dane ineiples of health maintenance and health maintenance through musnor ope aecmme 2y hpter is on prevention of discase. The 71" chapter of the Secre 7mmnim>e soproeraet7ine zs is on nursing, and the 90" is on preventing aging, There are numemiplaces in other chapters that offer insights into health cultivation and disease prevention. Tpresent book is a refinement and summary of the chapters on heath maintenanee in 7he ,i/edca/ 7amras, with wisdom on health maintenance from generations of prominent Tibea,doctors included.

This book is also ilustrated with vivid pictures in the colorful style of the Tibetan peoplIn the 17" century, Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho sponsored and designed the now famous medicim.Thangkha series, which was then called Sman thang, Sman means medicine and thang is aabbreviation of thangkha, an art form unique to Tibetan culture, Simply stated, a thangkha ;a kind of seroll. Thus $man thang refers to a medical scroll, something we might compare toa teaching wall chart. The text portions of the Sman thang are mainly from the text Baidurysngon po (Blue Lapis Lazul), complemented with information from Sman dpyad zla ba i rgyal pMedical Investiganons ofthe Lunar King,. The dimensions of the original Sman thang are basicallthe same for each piece, about 30 - 43 cm x 90 . 100 cm. There are eighty Sman thang in all andare a perfect combination of Tibetan art and medical scholarship. These comprehensive chartinterpreted the profound contents of The Four Medical Tantras with original images. Sangs rgyargya mtsho once said, “To make The Four Medical Tantras more accessible, and help those frombeginning students to knowledgeable scholars understand medicine, we produced this thangkseries. With these charts, the contents of The Four Medical Tantras will be as clear as an emblifower on the palm, and a student can see it clearly at a glance.

In order to increase the dissemination value, we have selected a large number of imagefrom Sman thang to help introduce the concepts of health cultivation in Tibetan medicine. lrorder to help readers learn more about the cultural background of the Tibetan concepts of healtleultivation, other Tibetan art forms such as frescos, Thangkha, and folk decorations have beerused in the book, We tried our best to achieve excellence both in the text and the illustrations, thusmaking the Tibetan concepts of health maintenance accessible and helpful to everybody.

When explaining the causes of disease The Four Medical Tantras says, “In the sky thbirds fly, on the ground the shadows attend by; sentient beings live with seeming joy, for theiignorance disease goes by." With calmer hearts and easier access to Tibetan wisdom of healtlcultivation as described in this book, we eliminate our ignorance of illness bit by bit, and dravcloser to eternal wellness and true joy.

FOREWORD

Tibetan culture and the form of Buddhism practiced by the Tibetan people have become verypopular in the West in the past few decades. As access to the Himalayan region has inereased, so hastravel to this amazing area. People from Western countries are attracted to the beauty and purity of theregion and the kindness and open-heartedness of the people that live there. In recent years the artistitstyles of' Tibet have also become inereasingly popular, with paintings and seulptures in high demand.

The aim of this book is to introduce another important aspect of Tibetan culture, its medicine. Likeall medical systems, the way 'Tibetan doctors understand and treat disease reflects how they understandand relate to the world. Some of these influences are cultural, some come from religion, and others fromthe geographical conditions of the area. As the title suggests, the authors attempted to present materialthat is accessible and even useful to everyday people, as opposed to technical medical theories andtechnigues. It is the hope of the authors that this book will serve two purposes. One, to contribute to theunderstanding of Tibetan culture imn those who are fascinated by it already, And secondly, to provide aframework for understanding health and some methods and theories that will help achieve good health.

At the same time, it must be remembered while reading this book that the medical system of Tibetgrew out of and reflects a very unique culture and envronment. Some of the treatments suggested inthe text will sound strange to Western readers. Not all aspects of a traditional medical system are able tobe transmitted to another culture. iffering tastes, social norms, and availability of certain resources cancontribute to difculty in transmission of a medicine.

With this in mind, it is better to approach this book from two angles, a cultural angle and a healthangle. The entire book is a valuable and fascinating look at Tibetan medicine, gives insight into how itwas shaped by the unique culture and geography of'Tibet, and how medicine conversely helped to shapethe culture of'Tibet. The majority of the book is a valuable resource for those who wish to use the naturawisdom of'Tibetan medicine to enhance their health. If some sections are encountered that seem strangor not useful to your health, simply look on them through the lenses of cultural education.

Carl Stimson

Chapter 1 The Birthof Life

Formation of the Embryo /04

The Fish Stage of Development/13

The Turtle Stage of Development/16

The Pig Stage ofDevelopment/ 19

Preparations for Labor/24

The Advent of a Life /31

Chapter 2 General Knowledge of Life

Body Metaphors /42

The Three Factors /53

Life Process /63

Constitutional Tyes / 68

Chapter 3 Diseases

General Pathology/ 80

Beginning oflllness /85

General Treatment Knowledge /100

lreatment Principles /105

Chapter 4 Health Cultivation Habits

Seasonal Health Cultivation /114

Daily Health Cultivation /123

Behavior in Accordance with Buddhist leachings/142

Chapter 5 Health CultivationThrough Diet

Drink/158

Grains /172

Meat /179

Fats /204

Vegetables and Seasonings /210

Cooked Dishes /215

Food Amount and Dietary Taboos /224

Chapter 6 Health CultivationThrough Sex

General Knowledge About Sex/236

Healthy Sexual Behavior /241

Common Male Sexual Diseases /245

Common Female Sexual Diseases /250

Infertility and Strengthening Yang/261

Chapter 7 Tibetan MedicinalBathing

The Origin of Tibetan Medicinal Bathing/274

Natural Springs / 279

Man-made Medicinal Baths/286

Indications for Tibetan Medicinal Bathing/297

The Procedure of Tibetan Medicinal Bathing/304

Chapter 8 Signs of Life

Auspicious Signs/316Signs of lllness /330Signs of Death /343

The End of Life /351

Chapter 9 Health Cultivation Advice

The Development and History of The Four Medical Tantras /358

A Summary of Health Cultivation /363The Four Medical Tantras 1 369

Index by Books,Terms andPerson's Name/379

General index/380

Language: English
ISBN:  978-7-117-09101-5/
Publication Date: 2008
Number of Pages:380