medicine in situ panchen tradition

Journal of theInternational Association

of Tibetan Studies

Issue 7 — August 2013

ISSN 1550-6363

An online journal published by the Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL)

www.jiats.org

http://www.jiats.org

Editor-in-Chief: David GermanoGuest Editor: Karl Debreczeny

Book Review Editor: Bryan J. CuevasManaging Editor: Steven Weinberger

Assistant Editors: Naomi Worth, Ben Nourse, and William McGrathTechnical Director: Nathaniel Grove

Contents

Articles

• Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas in History: A Brief Note (pp. 1-16)– Elliot Sperling

• Si tu paṇ chen and the House of Sde dge: A Demanding but BeneficialRelationship (pp. 17-48)

– Rémi Chaix

• The Prolific Preceptor: Si tu paṇ chen’s Career as Ordination Master in Khams andIts Effect on Sectarian Relations in Sde dge (pp. 49-85)

– Jann Ronis

• Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest: Si tu paṇ chen, Monastic Ideals,and the Buddha’s Biographies (pp. 86-124)

– Nancy G. Lin

• Si tu paṇ chen and His Painting Style: A Retrospective (pp. 125-192)– Tashi Tsering

• Si tu paṇ chen’s Artistic Legacy in ’Jang (pp. 193-276)– Karl Debreczeny

• Mercury, Mad Dogs, and Smallpox: Medicine in the Si tu paṇ chenTradition (pp. 277-301)

– Frances Garrett

• Si tu paṇ chen on Scholarship (pp. 302-315)– Kurtis R. Schaeffer

• Notes Apropos to the Oeuvre of Si tu paṇ chen Chos kyi ’byunggnas (1699?-1774) (4): A Tibetan Sanskritist in Nepal (pp. 316-339) (forthcoming)

– Peter Verhagen

ii

Other Articles

• Arriving Ahead of Time: TheMa ’das sprul sku and Issues of Sprul skuPersonhood (pp. 340-364)

– Marcia S. Calkowski

• The Significant Leap from Writing to Print: Editorial Modification in the FirstPrinted Edition of the Collected Works of Sgam po pa Bsod nams rinchen (pp. 365-425)

– Ulrich Timme Kragh

• In the Hidden Valley of the White Conch: The Inscription of a Bhutanese PureLand (pp. 426-453)

– Bryan Phillips and Lopen Ugyen Gyurme Tendzin

Book Reviews

• Review of A Noble Noose of Methods, The Lotus Garland Synopsis: A MahāyogaTantra and Its Commentary, by Cathy Cantwell and Robert Mayer (pp. 454-464)

– Giacomella Orofino

Abstracts (pp. 465-469)

Contributors to this Issue (pp. 470-473)

iii

Mercury, Mad Dogs, and Smallpox:-

Medicine in the Si tu paṇ chen Tradition

Frances GarrettUniversity of Toronto

Abstract: Si tu paṇ chen (1700-1774) was an active student, teacher, andpractitioner of Tibetan medicine. This paper discusses a few features of the Si tutradition of medicine, based on a study of several works attributed to Si tu and tohis students. It begins with an overview of Si tu’s own medical practice and thestate of institutional and textual medicine in his day, and then addresses distinctivefeatures of the Si tu medical tradition by examining its dominant and authoritativetexts. The paper then focuses on three topics – the use of mercury, the treatmentof mad dogs, and remedies for smallpox – proposing characteristics of a distinctiveSi tu medical tradition.

IntroductionFamous for his contributions to art and grammar, Si tu paṇ chen (1700-1774) isalso claimed by Tibetan medical historians as one of the great figures of medicine.He was a major supporter of institutional medicine, sponsoring the reprinting of anumber of important medical works and establishing a medical college at Dpalspungs monastery. Not only did he support the medical tradition administratively,he was also an active student, teacher, and practitioner of medicine. This paperwill discuss a few features of the Si tu tradition of medicine, based on a study ofseveral works attributed to Si tu and to his students. I will begin with an overviewof Si tu’s own medical practice and the state of institutional and textual medicinein his day.1 I will then comment on some distinctive features of the Si tu medical

1 I am grateful to Dr Dorjee Rapten Neshar, Karl Debreczeny, Jann Ronis, and E. Gene Smith fortheir assistance with this article. By “institutional medicine” I am referring to larger-scale medicaltraditions organized and supported by major institutions, and by “textual medicine” I am referring tothe academic and often rhetorical presentation of medicine as found in texts. Both of these may becontrasted to an “on-the-ground” practice of medicine on a smaller or more individualized scale, whichwould have been, and still is, conducted by doctors and other sorts of healers whose traditions andbehaviors are not necessarily represented in Tibetan texts. For more on such ideas, see Don Bates, ed.,Knowledge and the Scholarly Medical Traditions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).

Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013): 277-301.http://www.thlib.org?tid=T5749.1550-6363/2013/7/T5749.© 2013 by Frances Garrett, Tibetan and Himalayan Library, and International Association of Tibetan Studies.Distributed under the THL Digital Text License.

http://www.thlib.org?tid=T5749

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tradition by examining the kinds of texts dominant in this tradition and the textualsources its practitioners considered authoritative. Where, among the vast body ofTibetan literature that had accumulated by the eighteenth century, did Si tu andhis students find authoritative information about healing illness? In the second partof this paper, I will focus in particular on three topics – the use of mercury, thetreatment of mad dogs, and remedies for smallpox, allowing me to characterizefurther a distinctive Si tu medical tradition.

I will begin with a fewwords about Si tu’s own experience withmedical practice.Si tu’s Autobiography and Diaries2 records his lifelong fascination with healingand gradual exposure to medical scholarship. Si tu seems to have received littleformal medical education before adulthood, although in his early twenties, he isalready familiar with various healing techniques.3 On a trip to Nepal in hismid-twenties, he is asked by the Nepali king to help with a several-year epidemicoutbreak of something like cholera. Si tu, although not well versed in medicineaccording to his diaries, prepares some empowered water (’khrus chu) to addressthe outbreak. The Nepali king gives Si tu and his assistant two white horses, andthey circle the town distributing the water.4 (In this remedy, which is more typicallyoffered by bla mas than by doctors, the afflicted patient takes in and then spits outthe water, whereupon his or her illness is also thought to be expelled.) As a youngman on pilgrimage, Si tu makes sure to visit sites of importance to medicalpractitioners, such as a footprint of theMedicine Buddha he travels to see in CentralTibet.5 It is not until his late twenties that Si tu receives the authorizationtransmission (lung) to study the Four Tantras (Rgyud bzhi).6 Despite his lack offormal training, however, he had already acquired a reputation for skill at healingand was involved in religious rites, such as the medicine empowerment (sman

2 Si-tu paṇ-chen Chos-kyi-’byuṅ-gnas [Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas], The Autobiographyand Diaries of Si-tu Paṇ-Chen, ed. Lokesh Chandra, Śatapiṭaka Series (New Delhi: New DelhiInternational Academy of Indian Culture 1968).3 Here I am contrasting formal medical education, by which I mean the study of the canon of medical

literature, with practical training in healing techniques that are widely part of the religious canon; Situ’s biography shows that he first took an early interest in ritual healing practices, only later turning toformal study of the canon of medical literature.4 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 119. It is difficult to tell from this text what Si tu’s age

is at any given point in the autobiography, so my presentation here is approximate.5 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 131-32.6 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 130. In many respects considered the chief Tibetan

medical text even today, the Rgyud bzhi (or in full, the Bdud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsangba man ngag gi rgyud (Delhi: Bod kyi lcags po ri’i dran rten slob gner khang, 1993; Lha sa: Bod ljongsmi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 1982 and 2000) was arranged in the eleventh century by the physicianG.yu thog yon tan mgon po (1112-1203), probably following a long period of development.Commentarial writing on this seminal work continues to the present day. The Rgyud bzhi has onehundred and fifty six chapters arranged in four volumes: the Rtsa rgyud [Root Tantra]; the Bshad rgyud[Explanatory Tantra], with a description of the human body and basic details on causes of disease andprinciples of therapeutics; the Man ngag rgyud [Secret Oral Tantra], with specific instructions andmethods of diagnosis; and the Phyi ma rgyud [Concluding Tantra], with detailed information ontreatment methods. Translation of portions of the Rtsa rgyud and the Bshad rgyud are available inEnglish in Barry Clark, trans., The Quintessence Tantras of Tibetan Medicine, (Ithaca: Snow LionPublishers, 1995).

278Garrett:Medicine in the Si tu paṇ chen Tradition

sgrub), that are common to religious and medical practitioners.7 Despite feelinguntrained in medicine, he was nevertheless already renowned for his mastery ofnonmedicinal healing remedies: when called upon by the Sde dge king to treat apainful stomach disorder (glang thabs) about which the medical tradition has muchto say, Si tu treats the king not with medicine but with a exorcism ritual (gto bcos).8His drive to expand his medical knowledge leads him to train in and translateChinese medical texts9 and talk to visiting Nepali doctors about their healingtechniques,10 and, finally, Si tu writes that in his early thirties, he really starts tolearn Tibetan medicine.11 From that point on, he begins giving frequent MedicineBuddha initiations and treating patients using Tibetan medicine.12 It is not onlyTibetan medical scholarship that Si tu eagerly devours, however, for during histravels in Nepal and China he continues to study the medical traditions of thoseregions. By his thirties, he is studying Chinese medicine with Chinese doctorsduring his visits to Lijiang (Li kyang hu) and elsewhere,13 and his healing techniquesfrom that point appear to have been a combination of remedies from Tibetanmedicine, Chinese medicine, and other techniques he picked up on his travels.14

Over the next two decades of his life, Si tu acquires and translates numerousmedical prescriptions from regions all around Eastern Tibet, and he also recordsmedical information brought to him by visitors from those regions.15 He writes ofreceiving many letters of appreciation for his medical treatment from patients,16and he mentions having many students of medicine, several of whom becameprominent physicians in their own right as well as prolific authors. By his fifties,Si tu is fully occupied by medical practice, study, and scholarship. In hisAutobiography he records time spent in the mountains collecting medicinal herbswith students17 and meetings with doctors nearly every day to discuss medicinesand healing remedies, covering subjects such as treatments meant to completely

7 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 173.8 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 179.9 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 150 (for training in Chinese medicine) and 183 (for

translating Chinese medical texts).10 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 171.11 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 183.12 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 207, 218. Later in his life he also began giving G.yu

thog snying thig initiations; see Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 286.13 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 183. Another reference to his study of Chinese

medicine can be found at Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 150.14 See below for more on this, and also his offering of a Chinese health tonic to the Sde dge king at

Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 285.15 See for example the mention of travel to acquire medical remedies in Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi

’byung gnas, ’Brum bcos sogs rgya bod kyi sman bcos sna tshogs phan bde’i ’byung gnas, in Ta’i situ pa kun mkhyen chos kyi ’byung gnas bstan pa’i nyin byed kyi bka’ ’bum (Collected Works of theGreat ta’i si tu pa kun mkhyen chos kyi ’byun gnas bstan pa’i nyin byed) (Sansal, Dist. Kangra, H.P.:Palpung Sungrab Nyamso Khang, 1990), 318. A Nepali scholar brings him medical teachings at Si-tupaṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 171.16 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 302.17 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 334-5.

279Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013)

eradicate smallpox epidemics or sexually transmitted diseases (reg dug), eyesurgery, the preparation of pills targeted at disease-causing serpent demons (klusman ril bu), and the healing properties of various kinds of offering rituals, suchas those involving mdos, gto, or gtor ma.18 By his sixties, he is teaching Chineseas well as Tibetan medicine, and he is frequently called upon to treat illnesses ata distance.19Near the end of his life, he turns again to work with mercury and otherrare metals in the creation of precious pills, at that time being able to use his cachewith the Sde dge king to obtain from the royal home these expensive materials inexchange for treating the king with highly valued remedies.20

Si tu’s Autobiography portrays him as a doctor of especially broad medicalexpertise. Unlike most doctors, who may specialize in only one form of diagnosis,such as pulse diagnosis, or one form of treatment, such as moxibustion, Si tu hada rare breadth of expertise, displaying facility with of all kinds of diagnostic andtherapeutic techniques, including many techniques more common among tantricadepts than doctors, such as exorcisms, ransom offerings or “stick therapy” (dbyugbcos),21 and his large-scale healing ceremonies were requested by royalty throughoutTibetan regions.22Not only was Si tu a renowned practitioner of medicine, however,he was also a scholar. He revised and taught important medical works, such as theInstructions of the Great Zur-mkhar Mñyam-ñid-rdo-rje on Medical TreatmentComprising the Ma yig, Bu yig, and Kha ’thor Collections [Bye ba ring gsal] andthe Four Tantras,23 and he was called upon to verify the authenticity of medicalmanuscripts.24At the end of his life, Si tu reports irregularies in his pulse and urine,and dreams portending imminent death, and despite repeated long-life ceremonies(tshe sgrub) performed on his behalf, he died at age ninety-four.25 His studentsreport that his body stayed warm, in a posture of meditation, for six days. On the

18 About eradicating smallpox, see Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 408; on sexuallytransmitted diseases, see 409; on meeting a specialist in eye surgery, see 453; on klu sman, see 408;on offering rituals, see 418 and 431. Si tu not only received visits from doctors but traveled to seekthem out; in addition to his travels in Nepal and China, he mentions traveling to Lha sa to meet withdoctors there at Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 440.19 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 408, 450, and 467.20 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 617.21 See passages about Si tu performing or teaching “stick therapy” at Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography

and Diaries, 457 and 489. “Stick therapy” is a remedy practiced by ’Brug pa bka’ brgyud tantricpractitioners (rtogs ldan) which involves beating the patient with a stick aiming to hit certain key partsof the body, beating out the illness (Dr Dorje Rabten Neshar, personal communication, 2/19/09).22 In addition to examples of this above, see also his successful healing of the gravely ill king of

Gling through a large ritual ceremony at Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 535 and furthertreatments of the Sde dge king at 617 and 681.23 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 625. The Bye ba ring gsal can be found as Zur-mkhar

Mñam-ñid-rdo-rje [Zur mkhar mnyam nyid rdo rje], Bye Ba Riṅ Bsrel (Instructions of the GreatZur-mkhar Mñam-ñid-rdo-rje on Medical Treatment Comprising the Ma yig, Bu yig, and Kha ’thorCollections) [Bye ba ring bsrel], Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod 58 (Leh: S.W. Tashigangpa, 1974).24 Si tu is asked to check the manuscript of the Zla ba’i rgyal po at Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography

and Diaries of, 694.25 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 724.


seventh day the heat left his body. Many people came to pay their respects, and agolden stūpa was erected to hold his remains.26

Medical Writing in Si tu’s DaySi tu’s combination of religious and medical erudition was, in fact, not so unusual.By the fifteenth century, two major schools of Tibetan medicine had arisen, theByang and the Zur. The leaders of these traditions were scholars of religion andmedicine alike, highly placed in both administrative hierarchies. By Si tu paṇchen’s time, the Byang tradition had largely died out, and it was with a branch ofthe Zur tradition that Si tu was most closely allied. The Zur had been founded byZur mkhar mnyam nyid rdo rje (1439-1475), also known for both religious andmedical scholarship, his medical writings relying heavily on Buddhist tantras.27Mnyam nyid rdo rje wrote widely on pharmacy and materia medica, in particular,and his famous Instructions on Medical Treatment is one of Si tu’s most widelycited sources. By the sixteenth century, a branch of Zur tradition lineage holdershad developed, dominated by a series of scholars from the ’Bri gung bka’ brgyudschool; this branch therefore became known as the ’Bri gung school of Tibetanmedicine. Although Si tu’s sources varied widely, he relied heavily on writers ofthis ’Bri gung school.

By Si tu’s time, a vast amount of medical writing in Tibetan had accumulated,and while there is no clear indigenous categorization of medical genres, there areseveral recognizable types of medical literature. Commentaries on the Four Tantrasform one genre of medical writing, of course, and yet most texts in most periodsof history are focused on nosology, pharmacy, and materia medica, including whatwe todaymight call magical or ritual healing. These works are listings, descriptions,and classifications of specific diseases (i.e., nosology) or catalogs of therapeuticprescriptions, some of which involve combining medicinal substances to makepills or decoctions, for instance, but others of which involve meditation, mantrarecitation, amulets, or talismans. These kinds of texts often read something like areference work, with little of what wemight think of as “medical theory,” andmostsuch works are presented in a style that lacks the thematic or taxonomic organizationof classical expositions of the Buddhist path or tenet systems. Short and longdescriptions of diagnostic techniques, remedies or recipes, some with their own“colophons” noting authors or sources, are strung together, one after another, toform a collection that may have served its users as a sort of reference book or thatmay have served as a way of canonizing the sources that a particular author ortradition felt to be authoritative. In addition to these genres, a recent article byJanet Gyatso highlights the development of a particular approach to medical writingthat seems to have arisen in the sixteenth century, the nyams yig, or “writing from

26 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 728.27 For more on this tradition, see Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho,Gso rig sman gyi khog ’bugs (Dharamsala:

Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute, 1994), 329 onwards. See also Mnyam nyid rdo rje’s biography inBkra shis tshe ring, bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i ched rtsom gces btus (Lha sa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpeskrun khang, 1994).


experience.” Gyatso suggests that this genre may have supplanted the authority ofthe Four Tantras itself, those works that were “based on hands-on experience”now considered more useful to the actual practice of medicine.28 Indeed, medicalwriting of the Si tu tradition relies heavily on a series of works referred to as nyamsyig.

Si tu paṇ chen’s Collected Works include a few texts explicitly on medicaltopics, including a small catalog of the thirteenth-century Eighteen AdditionalPractices (Cha lag bco brgyad) (a work the reprinting of which Si tu sponsored),29a compilation of remedies from Tibetan, Chinese, and Indian sources on a varietyof ailments,30 a short work devoted to healing with mantras,31 and several workson related topics of astrology or ritual, which might be considered “medical,” andwhich certainly cover healing techniques. Despite their inclusion in Si tu’s CollectedWorks, most of these texts are in fact attributed to his students, although the writingsof these students are clearly recorded as “the teachings of Si tu.” All of this is tosay that we have more information about a general “Si tu tradition,” as documentedby a number of his students, than we do about the actual medical writings of Si tuhimself. In this wider tradition we find, then, beyond Si tu paṇ chen’s CollectedWorks, a work on how to recognize medicinal plants and their efficacy,32 acollection of practical instructions following the arrangement of the third and fourthbooks of the Four Tantras,33 a collection of various instructions for the purificationof mercury and the ritual and contemplative consecration practices (sman sgrub)

28 Janet Gyatso, “The Authority of Empiricism and the Empiricism of Authority: Medicine andBuddhism in Tibet on the Eve ofModernity,”Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and theMiddleEast 24, no. 2 (2004): 86. Gyatso notes that many works called nyams yig may have been given thatdesignation retroactively, which does seem likely, given that in the Si tu tradition one prominent sourceis the nyams yig of G.yu thog (e.g., G.yu thog’s work, the Bu don ma, is sometimes called a nyamsyig). Although there are many citations in the Si tu sman bsdus e wam [Compendium of Situ’s Medicine:E and Wam] from works referred to as nyams yig, it is not always clear what texts these refer to.Sometimes the Sman bsdus e wam [Compendium of Medicine: E and Wam] provides a bit of authorialinformation, referring, for example, to Dkon rgyal ba’s nyams yig, or Phyag rdor mgon po’s nyamsyig.29 I have written about this collection in Frances Garrett, “Buddhism and the Historicizing ofMedicine

in Thirteenth Century Tibet,” Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity 2, no. 2 (2007): 204-224. It isinteresting that Si tu sponsored the reprinting of this text, given its criticism by Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho;this and other criticism make evident Si tu’s rivalry with the Central Tibetan tradition.30 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Rgya bod kyi sman bcos.31 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas,Mantra zhes pa’i sman bcos skor, in Ta’i si tu pa kun mkhyen

chos kyi ’byung gnas bstan pa’i nyin byed kyi bka’ ’bum (Collected Works of the Great ta’i si tu pakun mkhyen chos kyi ’byun gnas bstan pa’i nyin byed) (Sansal, Dist. Kangra, H.P.: Palpung SungrabNyamso Khang, 1990).32 Yid-lhuṅ ’Jam-dbyaṅs [Yid lhung ’jam dbyangs] et al., Nus Pa Rkyaṅ Sel Gyi Sman Ṅo Gsal Byed

(Instructions for Recognizing Various Medicinal Plants According to the Methods Taught by Si-TuPaṇ-Chen Chos-Kyi-’Byuṅ-Gnas) [Nus pa rkyang sel gyi sman ngo gsal byed], Smanrtsis ShesrigSpendzod, 145 (Leh: J.P. Tashigang, 1986).33 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Man ngag rgyud dang phyi ma rgyud kyi lhan

thabs kyi tshul du bkod pa phan bde’i nor bu’i bang mdzod, Bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i gna’ dpe phyogsbsgrigs dpe tshogs 3 (Pe cin: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2004).


required for making precious pills (rin chen ril bu), including the famous blackpill (about which I will say more below), and others.

Certainly the most significant work of the Si tu tradition, however, is the giantpublication known as the Compendium of Situ’s Medicine: E and Wam, runningover 1600 folio sides in two volumes.34 The text was compiled by one of Si tu’sclosest students, Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, who was bornabout 1700 in Sde dge. The first part, the “E” volume, is a catalog organizednosologically, that is, by disease type, covering descriptions of diseases and theirtaxonomic relations to each other and a wide range of healing techniques. Thecatalog is based loosely on the Four Tantras tradition, but it is not a commentaryon the Four Tantras – I will return to this point in a moment. The second part, the“Wam” volume, is mainly a collection of medical remedies – it lacks much of thefirst volume’s nosological and taxonomic information about disease conditions,instead recording, in more than 1,000 pages, a vast assortment of treatmenttechniques for various conditions.

Sources of Knowledge in the Si tu TraditionOne of the most interesting and valuable things about the Compendium of Situ’sMedicine (Si tu sman bsdus) is that it is just that, a collection – not only of diseaseconditions and their remedies, but also, more important from our perspective, it isan anthology of citations from a wide range of source materials, spanning hundredsof years of writing on both medical and religious topics. A survey of these sourcescan tell us much about the ’Bri gung school of Tibetan medicine with which Si tuand his students were allied. For text critical purposes, moreover, and also giventhat some of these sources may no longer exist, the Compendium’s thoroughrecording of these citations is especially valuable.

Not surprisingly, the Four Tantras is one of the Compendium’s central sources:under the heading of a given disease condition, the text will sometimes (but notalways) begin with a presentation of that topic according to the Four Tantras.Interestingly, however, the Four Tantras does not dominate this collection.35Moreextensively cited than the Four Tantras is another work of the same period, andby the same “author”: this is the Yutok Manuscript (G.yu thog shog dril),36 which

34 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 2 vols., Smanrtsis ShesrigSpendzod, 55-56 (Leh: T.Y. Tashigang, 1973).35 It is clear that the Rgyud bzhi, famously called the most important text in Tibetan medicine, is in

fact only one of very many authoritative sources for the Si tu medical tradition, one that may bequestioned, moreover, and one that simply may not be an adequate guide for the practicing doctor. Thisfact suggests that we need to think carefully about the nature of the dominance of the Rgyud bzhi inTibetan medical history: although it may be true that medical students even today are required tomemorize the famous work, in what way is it actually held to be authoritative?36 The Shog dril skor gsum las gser gyi thur ma’i lde mig rnam drug can be found in Yon tan mgon

po (1112-1203), G.yu thog sman yig phyogs bsgrigs, Bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i gna’ dpe phyogs bsgrigsdpe tshogs 58 (Pe cin: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2007), 315-30. This text is commented on in Mi phamrgya mtsho, G.yu thog shog dril skor gsum gyi ma bu don bsdeb tu bkol ba, in gsung ’bum: mi phamrgya mtsho (The Expanded Redaction of the Complete Works of ’Ju Mi-Pham Series) [Gsung ’bum


is one of the most extensively cited sources in the Compendium’s first volume.But beyond the works of G.yu thog, the array of sources cited in the Compendiumis truly extraordinary, ranging widely both temporally and geographically, fromthe earliest periods of medical writing to Si tu’s own time, and from Tibet to Indiato Nepal to China.37 I will briefly survey these sources in the following paragraphs.

Beginning with writings considered to be earlier than the Four Tantras, worksby Padmasambhava, for example, are considered especially helpful in theCompendium,38 particularly in the section in rims nads. There is at least one citationfrom a ninth-century work by Gnubs sangs rgyas ye shes.39 The Bstan’gyur-canonized Eight Branches (Aṣṭāṇgahṛdayasaṃhitā), a work of IndianĀyurveda that is thought to be one of the Four Tantras’s main sources, is cited afew times, once at great length,40 and a general “Indian tradition” of treatment isoften cited.41

Sources from the next several centuries are especially common. Medicaltreatments of Rang byung rdo rje (1284-1339), the third Karma pa, are discussedon several occasions.42 Rang byung rdo rje was responsible for transmission of the

mi pham rgya mtsho] (Paro, Bhutan: Lama Ngodrup and Sherab Drimey, 1984-1993). I have beenunable to obtain a copy of the Shog dril skor gsum in time to examine it for this paper. G.yu thog’s Budon ma is also cited.37 This range is all the more remarkable if we compare the text to Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho’s Man

ngag lhan thabs [Concise Instructions for Medical Application], a work that is roughly similar instructure and content, and one with which the Sman bsdus e wam is often compared. The Man ngaglhan thabs is radically different in the very small number of sources it cites explicitly.38 Padmasambhava is cited often, most commonly his Bdud rtsi bum pa, e.g. Karma nges legs bstan

’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 137, 87, 202, 315, 406, 90.39 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 489. The text cited

is the Gso ba dkar po lam gyi sgron ma, not known to exist now.40 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 418 and 2: 53. On

the Eight Branches and its influence on Tibetan medicine, see R.E. Emmerick, “Sources of theRgyud-Bzhi,” in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft (suppl. III), no. 2 (1977):1135-42, Ronald Eric Emmerick and R.P. Das, Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṇgahṛdayasaṃhitā. The RomanisedText Accompanied by Line and Word Indexes, Groningen Oriental Studies XIII (Groningen: EgbertForsten, 1998), Claus Vogel, Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṇgahṛdayasaṃhitā: The First Five Chapters of Its TibetanVersion, Abhanglungen für die Kunde Des Morgenlandes 37, no. 2 (Wiesbaden: DeutscheMorgenländische Gesellschaft, Komissionsverkag Franz Steiner GMBH, 1965), Frances Garrett,Religion,Medicine and the Human Embryo in Tibet, Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism (Abingdon;NewYork: Routledge, 2008). Although this work played a critical role in early Tibetan medical history,by Si tu’s time it seems to have retained little influence. E.g., see also a reference to this work in theautobiography of Blo gsal bstan skyong (b. 1804), who claims that while the Eight Branches is theprimary work of Tibet’s early medical history, at the time of Blo gsal bstan skyong’s own life, atransmission of instructions concerning that text is no longer extant. Blo gsal bstan skyong, Rang girnam thar du byas pa shel dkar me long, in On the History of the Monastery of Zhwa-lu: Being theTexts of the Zhwa lu gdan rabs and the Autobiography by Zhwa-lu-Ri-sbug Sprul-skuBlo-gsal-bstan-skyong, Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod 9. (S.W. Tashigangpa. Leh, 1971), 505. I amgrateful to Ben Wood for this reference.41 For example, see Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 534,

546 and 2: 361. In addition to these, Dar ma mgon po, eleventh-century author of two still-extantnosological texts central to a distinctive Bo dong medical tradition, is also referred to at least once; Situ sman bsdus e wam, 1: 313.42 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 506, 522, 523.


infamous “black pill” recipe for refining mercury and other metals, to a lineagethat reached the founder of the Zur tradition of Tibetanmedicine, Zur mkhar mnyamnyid rdo rje (1439-1475) in the fifteenth century, passing eventually to the Zuroffshoot school, that of the ’Bri gung bka’ brgyud, and thus to the Si tu tradition.Also from the fourteenth century, Rin chen rgya mtsho’s Drongtsé Scripture(’Brong rtse be bum) is utilized,43 as is the work of medical scholar Brang ti dpalldan ’tsho byed.44

Two of the most important of the Compendium’s sources are Mnyam nyid rdorje’s fifteenth-century Instructions onMedical Treatment and the writings of Phyagrdor mgon po, a sixteenth-century physician about whom little is known.45 As thesources come closer to Si tu’s own time, several Bka’ brgyud scholars are cited,including the great ’Bri gung bka’ brgyud scholar, ’Bri gung rig ’dzin chos kyigrags pa (1595-1659), and Mi pham dge legs rnam rgyal (1618-1685), a ’Brug pabka’ brgyud scholar known, like Si tu, for his mastery of grammar and medicine.While some of the sources I have mentioned above are by authors known mainlyfor their contributions to medicine, the Compendium clearly does not rely only onsuch medical works, as in fact there are many works primarily known as part ofthe religious canon that are authoritative sources for the Si tu tradition. In additionto those mentioned above, the Compendium refers to various revealed treasures(gter ma), including the works of Gu ru chos dbang (1212-1270), Ra mo shel sman(thirteenth century), Padma gling pa (1450-1521), as well as the treasure traditionin general.

In this quick survey we have heard the names of various scholars consideredauthoritative in matters medical and religious, but it is important to note that theCompendium of Situ’s Medicine does not simply accept the views of these sourcesuncritically, nor are the citations provided entirely without commentary orevaluation. Throughout the work, Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin comments on wherethe reader should look to find the most authoritative or effective information on agiven topic. In general, he says, we can consider authoritative the practicalinstructions provided in the third and fourth books of the Four Tantras and theinformation in the second book on themedicinal properties of individual substances,but for some topics, such as the treatment of certain gnyan nads, he urges thepractitioner to consult treasure texts. Similarly, while famous medical scholarshave authored important precious pill remedies, Karma nges legs bstan ’dzinreminds us that many such treatments have been provided by ḍākinīs. The treatmentof certain poisons, venereal diseases, and smallpox, moreover, are often best doneusing Chinese medicine,46 and it is the Uygurs who know how to treat authorization

43 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 232.44 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 2: 302.45 His works are cited as Phyag rdor mgon po’i gces btus or generically as the Phyag sman pa’i lugs.46 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 8. On Chinese remedies

for venereal diseases, also see Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam,1: 533. On Chinese treatments of smallpox, see Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, ’Brum bcos sogsrgya bod kyi sman bcos sna tshogs phan bde’i ’byung gnas, 212, 216.


transmission disease.47 Chinese and Mongolian methods of moxibustion may beespecially helpful for some conditions,48 and the mantras and amulets of Nepalior Indian yogis are recommended for others.49

The Compendium has a wealth of information for the textual historian, in otherwords, as well as a perspective on how Tibetan doctors regarded the authority oftexts, both particular texts and also literature in general. Karma nges legs bstan’dzin comments that remedies for fluid retention found in the work of Zur mkharblo gros rgyal po are derived from that of the thirteenth-century treasure revealerRamo shel sman, for example.50He provides a comparative assessment of remediesfor certain epidemic diseases in the Four Tantras and the treasure tradition,51 andvarious comparative assessments of the Four Tantras and the Instructions onMedical Treatment. He compares several traditions of the practice of suckingdisease out through the skin (’jib), recommending one as “the easiest.”52 Karmanges legs bstan ’dzin is highly critical of Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho’s work, theConcise Instructions for Medical Application, for ignoring a host of essentialsources.53 He criticizes practicing doctors of his own day for no longer studyingmedical literature.54 Despite placing great importance on textual study, he alsocalls upon his own life experience, commenting that while the medical treatisescertainly offer many remedies, he has experienced some things as a doctor thatcannot be found recorded in texts.55

Mercury, Mad Dogs, and SmallpoxI would like to turn now to the content of medical works in the Si tu tradition,addressing three topics that are of special interest to me and that may providesomething of the flavor of Si tu’s medical tradition. The first of these is the processof treating mercury for use in pills, a technique that is the focus of several worksof the Si tu tradition and one that he describes practicing throughout hisAutobiography.56Methods for preparing and using mercury are said to have comefrom India, passing through the hands of the third Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje,substantially developed by Zur mkhar nyams nyid rdo rje, and then moving along

47 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 2: 425.48 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 593.49 See for example Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 2: 321,

349, 361.50 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 97.51 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 137.52 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 601.53 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 8.54 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 202.55 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 516.56 For example, see Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 282.


a lineage of ’Bri gung bka’ brgyud teachers to Si tu and his students.57 Whiletechniques of mercury usage are described in the Four Tantras, Zur mkhar nyamsnyid rdo rje and the later ’Bri gung bka’ brgyud tradition are especially famousfor the development of the tradition of mercury purification known as btso thaland its subsequent use in the so-called precious black pill (rin chen ril nag). Asdescribed in the Si tu tradition’s Instructions for the Preparation of Mercury Pellets, the process takes place over a series of astrologically scheduled steps, beginningwith the gathering of ingredients and followed by detoxification of the mercury.Detoxification is a difficult procedure over which there has been some controversyin Tibet, as is indicated by this work’s careful negotiating of varying sources.58 Inbrief, mercury is detoxified by a lengthy process of cooking the substance over afire in stages, in combination with various groupings of other substances. Afterdetoxification themercury is ready for use inmedicinal preparations, and ingredientsshould be mixed and ground while recitingmantras and propitiating the MedicineBuddha. The mixture should be shaped into pills, which should then be consecratedby the creation of the set of material objects required for ritual ceremonies (amaṇḍala, gtor ma, inner offerings, and so on) and their use in the performance ofa “medicine empowering” (sman sgrub) or “medicine sādhanā” ritual involvingcontemplative and ritual exercises. The powerful effects of this ritual process arethen “poured into” the pills. I will not say more now about the process of mercurypreparation and the very complicated recipes that describe the creation of preciouspills using mercury, but it is important to note simply that the Si tu tradition is onein which this practice is of special significance and in which it has therefore beenaddressed in special detail.

A second topic of interest is that of treating “dog poison” (khyi dug). Tibetanmedicine has a well-developed science of “mad dogs” (khyi smyon), providingdetailed instructions on how to recognize a mad dog by visual examination, lookingat the color of its eyes and fur and a special downward curl to its tail, and by systemsof “chemical” analysis, such as by collecting the dog’s saliva and dropping it ona crystal to see if it turns black. There are also long descriptions of the behavioral

57 A lineage of this transmission can be found in Sde-dge Druṅ-yig Gu-ru-’phel [Sde dge drung yiggu ru ’phel], Srid Gsum Gtsug Rgyan Si Tu Chos Kyi ’Byuṅ Gnas Kyi Źal Luṅ Dṅul Chu Btso ChenRil Bu’i Sbyor Sde Zab Bdun Bdud Rtsi’i Thig Le (Instructions for the Preparation of Mercury PelletsAccording to the Teachings of the Great Si-Tu Paṇ-Chen Chos-Kyi-’Byuṅ-Gnas) [Srid gsum gtsugrgyan si tu chos kyi ’byung gnas kyi zhal lung dngul chu btso chen ril bu’i sbyor sde zab bdun bdudrtsi’i thig le], Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod 139 (Leh: T. Sonam and D.L. Tashigang, 1985), 8-10. Thistext is authored by a student of Si tu named Gu ru ’phel. Following this work in the same publicationare several other shorter texts also on mercury use. Mention of Si tu’s own experience with mercurypreparation can be found at Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 282. On the use of mercuryin precious pills, also see Yonten Gyatso, “The Secrets of the Black Pill Formulation,” TibetanMedicine,no. 13 (1991): 38-55. In addition to being the subject of Gu ru ’phel’s work above, the use of mercuryand creation of precious black pills are discussed elsewhere in the Si tu medical corpus: for example,see Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Rgya bod kyi sman bcos, 302-19. Following this, on 319-334,is another short work on the topic, said to be notes on the Dngul chu btso bkru chen mo, which is theclassic text on this tradition of mercury purification by O rgyan pa rin chen dpal (1229-1309).58 For example, see the comparison between techniques of O rgyan pa with those of Zur mkhar pa,

in Sde dge drung yig gu ru ’phel, Dngul chu btso chen, 68.


traits of a mad dog, the stages of illness that may take place in a person and, ofcourse, remedies for treatment of disease caused by dog bite. This subject receivesmore than ten pages of attention in the Compendium of Situ’s Medicine, a fairlylarge section, falling within the context of remedies for poisoning of all types.59The signs of illness and characteristics of resulting wounds are discussed in theFour Tantras, the Compendium tells us, but, as is the style in this work, a numberof other sources are cited as well, including the Instructions on Medical Treatmentand various works by authors such as Phyag rdor mgon po, Gong sman dkonmchogbde legs, an unnamed “Indian master,” and the great ’Bri gung abbot, scholar andtreasure revealer (gter ston), Rin chen phun tshogs chos kyi rgyal po (1509-1557).Most of the remedies are heavily ritualized, requiring the creation of purifiedspaces, mantra recitation, propitiation of deities, or circumambulation, as well asthe wearing of protective amulets or talismans.

Amid several pages of scriptural citation, the text records a bit of “oral advice”on healing mad dogs in which the consumption of an “edible letter” (za yig)preparation is recommended. This is a practice, found across hundreds of years ofTibetan “occult” or “magic” literature, that involves the consumption of small rollsof paper inscribed with Tibetan graphemes, written with ink prepared from blood,musk, or other ingredients, and often stuffed with various substances. These edibleamulets serve a wide range of practical needs, from increasing one’s wisdom orwinning arguments, to protecting against thieves, contagious disease, spiritpossession, or dog bite. Edible letter technologies also often involve visualizationsand other ritual practices. These practices are found most widely, but notexclusively, in treasure literature60 and are most common in Rnying ma and Bka’brgyud writings. Mi ’gyur rdo rje, a master of occult technologies whose collectedworks include hundreds of edible letter recipes, has written an entire text on thetreatment of mad dogs in which edible letters may be recommended;61 his worksare widely cited by those whowrite on edible letter practices from this point onward.I have written elsewhere about this practice of eating letters, noting particularlyits wide acceptance by Eastern Tibetans or those who have spent much of theirlives in that region, and discussing also its possible connections to similar Chinesepractices.What is striking about Karma nges legs’s mention here of an edible letterremedy is that this is, I believe, the only edible letter remedy mentioned in themore than six-hundred folios of the first volume of the Compendium of Situ’sMedicine. This is fascinating, given that it is a prominent practice in the writings

59 The section on dog poison begins at Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu smanbsdus e wam, 1: 535.60 For example, the writings of the fourteenth-century Rdo rje gling pa, the fifteenth-century Ratna

gling pa and Padma gling pa, the seventeenth-century Klong gsal snying po and Mi ’gyur rdo rje – allof these Rnying ma scholars – feature edible letter practices. The practice can also be found in theworks of Bka’ brgyud writers. Some of these authors are also known as authors of medical works. SeeFrances Garrett, “Eating Letters in the Tibetan Treasure Tradition,” Journal of the InternationalAssociation of Buddhist Studies 32, no. 1-2 (2009[2010]): 85-113.61 Mi ’gyur rdo rje, Khyi smyon bcos pa’i thabs lag tu blang pa’i rim pa bzhugs so, Rin chen gter

mdzod chen mo 73, ed. ’Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas, 393-97 (Paro: Ngodrup and SherabDrimay, 1976-1980).


of other authors in Si tu’s own lineage and in closely affiliated traditions, and it isa technique about which he had been taught early in his life.62What could accountfor this absence? I cannot answer this question now, but we can at least say thatthe massiveCompendium and the other writings of the Si tu tradition, which appearto so comprehensively survey available healing techniques, are indeed presentingonly a selective survey of methods known at the time.

The final topic I will comment on is smallpox (’brum nad). Smallpox iscategorized in Tibetan medicine as a gnyan disease of epidemic proportions,meaning that it is a “spreading,” “contagious” or “epidemic” (rims) conditioncaused by gnyan spirits. In his Autobiography, Si tu mentions being called uponby doctors in search of remedies for smallpox, and he refers these callers to textson the topic he has written in reaction to epidemics he was concerned about in bothKhams and Central Tibet;63 so renowned was he for his knowledge of smallpoxtreatment, he was commissioned by the king of Sde dge to compose texts on hismethods.64 Smallpox is discussed in great detail in several works of the Si tutradition, and, interestingly, this is a subject for which the tradition seems especiallyto rely on Chinese expertise. The tradition’s longest work on the topic begins witha description of a Chinese text that provides diagnostic tips, dietaryrecommendations, and treatments for those in the early stages of smallpoxinfection.65 Later in this work, too, recommended remedies are said to be those ofChinese doctors.66 Smallpox was evidently a problem (as it had been for doctorsin the region for more than a century)67 that was for Si tu and his students worthyof special research; the Compendium argues that when hoping to treat smallpoxsuccessfully it is especially important to study the relevant literature carefully.68

The special attention paid in the Si tu tradition to treatment of serious epidemicdisease in general is likely a reaction to the rising occurrence of plague insoutheastern Khams, which appears to have passed along the Pu’er-Tibetan teatrade routes during the eighteenth century and to the smallpox epidemics that sweptAsia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Yunnan-Tibet tea trade routes,

62See a reference to his learning about “edible letter” at Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries,173.63 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 272-73.64 Si-tu paṇ-chen, Autobiography and Diaries, 299.65 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Rgya bod kyi sman bcos, 212.66 See a reference to doctors from Tsa’i na on Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi ’byung gnas, Rgya bod kyi

sman bcos, 216, and on 220, a reference to a medical treatise from Ma ha tsa’i na that was translatedby Si tu in li kyang hu. Karl Debreczeny tells me that Tsa’i na is a term found in Chinese Buddhistdocuments meaning “Great China” (Da cina), thought to derive from ancient Sanskrit references toChina; it also appears in the Chinese translations of the Avataṁsaka Sūtra and the Ratnagarbha-dhāraṇīSūtra. (Email communication, 1/10/09.)67 See Olaf Czaja, “The Making of the Blue Beryl: Some Remarks on the Textual Sources of the

Famous Commentary of Sangye Gyatsho (1653-1705),” in Soundings in Tibetan Medicine:Anthropological and Historical Perspectives: Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the InternationalAssociation for Tibetan Studies, Oxford, 2003, ed. Mona Schrempf (Brill, 2007), 355-356.68 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 202-203.


which date back to the eighth century, carried disease as well as tea; the route hasbeen called a “natural plague focus” by the medical historian Ji Shuli.69 The townof Lijiang, where Si tu is known to have studied Chinese medicine in the first halfof the 1700s, was the center of the Pu’er-Tibetan tea business, which was itselfparticularly active during the eighteenth century. Plague epidemics are known tohave ravaged the area in the 1790s;70 a decade later, in some nearby areas “’nineout of ten’ houses were left empty by disease.”71 Smallpox was greatly fearedaround Asia and also in Europe during these centuries, and for many, the onlyinterventions available were the gods.72

In the Compendium, Karma nges legs writes passionately about the smallpoxepidemic that has pervaded his region, leaving it bereft even of qualified doctors.He writes that he presents his text in the hopes that available practitioners may beable to address the spreading disease. Karma nges legs laments the fact that withqualified doctors either dead or in quarantine, available healers are not learned inthe textual canon and so do more harm than good. He says that by the time of thistext’s writing, in 1756, he has witnessed four or five outbreaks of smallpox in hisregion, and he claims to have seenmany people healed by the remedies he describesin the text. He thus compiles remedies in theCompendium, he says, out of a feelingof compassion for themany patients suffering smallpoxwho are otherwise discarded“like sick animals.”73

ConclusionsThe Si tu tradition of medicine was distinctive in several ways. It drew on anunusually vast body of source material, calling upon the religious canon as oftenas the medical canon for effective healing remedies and thus questioning themonolithic authority often attributed to the Four Tantras. More remarkable thanthis diversity, however, is the tradition’s geographic reach, with Chinese, SouthAsian, and other medical traditions sometimes proving more influential even thanthe Tibetan classics. This is a diversity I have not seen in medical writings fromCentral Tibetan authors, and it emphasizes the need to understand Tibetan medicalknowledge and practice as being as widely diverse as we know religious traditionsin Tibet to be. There is no single Tibetan medical tradition, in other words, andfuture research in the area should be aimed at further articulating this diversity.My survey of the Si tu tradition has also emphasized how a medical traditionresponds to local and historical circumstances. The reality of horrifically devastatingpandemic outbreaks in eighteenth-century Asia is reflected in the urgency with

69 Cited in Carol Benedict, Bubonic Plague in Nineteenth-Century China (Stanford: StanfordUniversity Press, 1996), 195 n. 18.70 Carol Benedict, Bubonic Plague in Nineteenth-Century China, 29.71 Carol Benedict, Bubonic Plague in Nineteenth-Century China, 31.72 David Arnold, Colonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in Nineteenth-Century

India (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 126.73 Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas, Si tu sman bsdus e wam, 1: 202-04.


which Si tu and his students studied and wrote about the treatment of smallpoxand other epidemic diseases. This too reminds us of the importance of situatingour study of Tibetan medical traditions locally and historically. Although Tibetanscholars produced vast bodies of medical literature that may be understood fromvarious theoretical, rhetorical, or intertextual perspectives, it is also true that thesescholars faced the very real threats of disability and death in the bodies of particularpeople who lived in particular places at particular times.


GlossaryNote: The glossary is organized into sections according to the main language ofeach entry. The first section contains Tibetan words organized in Tibetanalphabetical order. Columns of information for all entries are listed in this order:THL Extended Wylie transliteration of the term, THL Phonetic rendering of theterm, the English translation, the Sanskrit equivalent, the Chinese equivalent, otherequivalents such as Mongolian or Latin, associated dates, and the type of term.

Ka

TypeDatesOtherEnglishPhoneticsWylie

AuthorKarma Ngelekkarma nges legs

AuthorKarma NgelekTendzin

karma nges legs bstan’dzin

AuthorKarma NgelekTendzin TrinléRapgyé

karma nges legs bstan’dzinphrin las rab rgyas

Name genericKarmapakarma pa

Termlumenklu sman

Termpills targeted atdisease-causingserpent demons

lumen rilbuklu sman ril bu

PersonLongsel Nyingpoklong gsal snying po

PersonKön Gyelwadkon rgyal ba

OrganizationKagyübka’ brgyud

AuthorTrashi Tseringbkra shis tshe ring

Kha


PlaceKhamkhams

Term“dog poison”khyidukkhyi dug

Term“mad dog”khyinyönkhyi smyon

TextKhyinyön ChöpéTaplaktu LangpéRimpa Zhukso

khyi smyon bcospa’i thabs lag tublang pa’i rim pabzhugs so

Termempowered watertrüchu’khrus chu

Ga


Person1212-1270Guru Chöwanggu ru chos dbang

PersonGuru Pelgu ru ’phel

PersonGongmen KönchokDelek

gong sman dkonmchog bde legs

Terma painful stomachdisorder

langtapglang thabs

Placelinggling

TextGya Bökyi Menchörgya bod kyi smanbcos


http://www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/#essay=/thl/ewts/

http://www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/#essay=/thl/phonetics/

TextFour TantrasGyü Zhirgyud bzhi

Nga


TextNgülchu TsotruChenmo

dngul chu btso bkruchen mo

TextNgülchu Tsochendngul chu btso chen

Cha


TextEighteen AdditionalPractices

Chalak Chogyécha lag bco brgyad

Ja


EditorJamgön KongtrülLodrö Tayé

’jam mgon kong sprulblo gros mtha’yas

Termthe practice ofsucking disease outthrough the skin

jip’jib

Nya


Termnyamyiknyams yig

Termnyengnyan

Terminfectious diseasenyennégnyan nad

Termnyen nadgnyan nads

PersonNyamnyi Dorjémnyam nyid rdo rje

OrganizationNyingmarnying ma

Ta


Textual GroupCollected Works ofthe Great Ta’i si tupa kunmkhyen choskyi ’byun gnasbstan pa’i nyinbyed

Tai Situpa KünkhyenChökyi Jungné TenpéNyinjekyi Kabum

ta’isi tu pa kun mkhyenchos kyi ’byung gnasbstan pa’i nyin byedkyi bka’ ’bum

Termtreasure revealertertöngter ston

Termrevealed treasuretermagter ma

Termtogto

Termexorcism ritualtochögto bcos

Termtormagtor ma

Termtantric practitionertokdenrtogs ldan

Title collectionTengyurbstan ’gyur

Da


Place“Great China”Da Chinda cina

PersonDarma Gönpodar ma mgon po


TextDütsi Nyingpo YenlakGyepa SangwaMenngakgi Gyü

bdud rtsisnying po yan lagbrgyad pa gsang baman ngag gi rgyud

TextDütsi Bumpabdud rtsi bum pa

Termdömdos

PersonDorjé Lingpardo rje gling pa

PlaceDegésde dge

AuthorSde-dge Druṅ-yigGu-ru-’phel

Degé Drungyik GuruPel

sde dge drung yig guru ’phel

Na


TextInstructions forRecognizingVarious MedicinalPlants According totheMethods Taught bySi-Tu Paṇ-ChenChos-Kyi-’Byuṅ-Gnas

Nüpa KyangselgyiMenngo Seljé

nus pa rkyang sel gyisman ngogsal byed

PersonNup Sanggyé Yeshégnubs sangs rgyas yeshes

Pa


Person1450-1521Padma Lingpapadma gling pa

PublicationPlace

Chi. BeijingPechinpe cin

MonasteryPelpungdpal spungs

Pha


PersonChakdor Gönpophyag rdor mgon po

TextChakdor GönpöChetü

phyag rdor mgon po’igces btus

Name genericchakmenpé lukphyag sman pa’i lugs

TextConcluding TantraChimagyüphyi ma rgyud

Ba


TextBudönmabu don ma

OrganizationBodongbo dong

PublisherBökyi Chakpo RidrenTenlop Nerkhang

bod kyi lcags po ri’idranrten slob gner khang

SeriesBökyi Sowa RikpéNapéChokdrik Petsok

bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i

gna’ dpe phyogsbsgrigs dpe tshogs

PublisherBöjong MimangPetrünkhang

bod ljongs mi dmangsdpe skrunkhang


LineageJangbyang

TextInstructions of theGreat Zur-mkharMñyam-ñid-rdo-rjeon MedicalTreatmentComprising the Mayig, Bu yig, andKha ’thorCollections

Jewa Ringselbye ba ring gsal

PersonDrangti Penden Tsojébrang ti dpal ldan’tsho byed

Termlamabla ma

AuthorLosel Tenkyongblo gsal bstan skyong

Term“stick therapy”yukchödbyug bcos

OrganizationDrigung’bri gung

OrganizationDrigung Kagyü’bri gung bka’ brgyud

Person1595-1659Drigung RindzinChökyi Drakpa

’bri gung rig ’dzinchos kyigrags pa

OrganizationDrukpa Kagyü’brug pa bka’ brgyud

TextDrumchö SokgyaBökyi Menchö NatsokPendé Jungné

’brum bcossogs rgya bod kyisman bcos sna tshogsphan bde’i ’byunggnas

TextDrumchösok GyaBökyi Menchö NatsokPendé Jungné

’brum bcossogs rgya bod kyisman bcos sna tshogsphan bde'i 'byunggnas

Termsmallpoxdrumné’brum nad

TextDrongtsé ScriptureDrongtsé Bebum’brong rtse be bum

Ma


PlaceMaha Tsenama ha tsa’i na

TextSecret Oral TantraMen Ngak Gyüman ngag rgyud

TextMenngak Gyü DangChima GyükyiLhentapkyi TsülduKöpa Pendé NorbüBangdzö

man ngag rgyud dangphyi ma rgyud kyilhan thabs kyi tshul dubkod pa phan bde’inor bu’i bang mdzod

TextConciseInstructions forMedicalApplication

Menngak Lhentapman ngag lhan thabs

TextMentra ZhepéMenchö Kor

mantra zhes pa’i smanbcosskor

AuthorMigyur Dorjémi ’gyur rdo rje


Person1618-1685Mipam GelekNamgyel

mi pham dge legsrnam rgyal

AuthorMipam Gyatsomi pham rgya mtsho

PublisherMirik Petrünkhangmi rigs dpe skrunkhang

Termmedicineempowerment

mendrupsman sgrub

TextCompendium ofMedicine: E andWam

Mendü Ewamsman bsdus e wam

Tsa


PlaceTsenatsa’i na

Termtsotelbtso thal

TextRoot TantraTsagyürtsa rgyud

Tsha


Termlong-life ceremonytsedruptshe sgrub

Za


Term“edible letter”zayikza yig

LineageZurzur

PersonZurkhar NyamnyiDorjé

zur mkhar nyams nyidrdo rje

Author1439-1475Zurkhar NyamnyiDorjé

zur mkhar mnyamnyid rdo rje

PersonZurkharpazur mkhar pa

PersonZurkhar LodröGyelpo

zur mkhar blo grosrgyal po

TextDawé Gyelpozla ba’i rgyal po

Ya


AuthorYilhung Jamyangyid lhung ’jamdbyangs

Person1112-1203Yönten Gönpoyon tan mgon po

PersonYutokg.yu thog

TextYutok Nyingtikg.yu thog snying thig

TextYutok MenyikChokdrik

g.yu thog sman yigphyogs bsgrigs

Person1112-1203Yutok Yönten Gönpog.yu thog yon tanmgon po

TextYutok ManuscriptYutok Shokdrilg.yu thog shog dril

TextYutok ShokdrilKorsumgyi MabuDöndeptu Kölwa

g.yu thog shogdril skor gsum gyi mabu don bsdeb tu bkolba


Ra


PersonRamo Shelmenra mo shel sman

TextRanggi NamtarduJepa Shelkar Melong

rang gi rnam thar dubyaspa shel dkar me long

Person1284-1339Rangjung Dorjérang byung rdo rje

PersonRatna Lingparatna gling pa

PersonRinchen Gyatsorin chen rgya mtsho

Title collectionRinchen TerdzöChenmo

rin chen gter mdzodchen mo

Person1509-1557Rinchen PüntsokChökyi Gyelpo

rin chen phun tshogschos kyirgyal po

Termprecious black pillrinchen rilnakrin chen ril nag

Termprecious pillsrinchen rilburin chen ril bu

Term“epidemic”rimrims

Termepidemic diseaserimnérims nad

Termrims nads

Termsexually transmitteddiseases

rekdukreg dug

La


Termauthorizationtransmission

lunglung

Sha


TextShokdril Korsumshog dril skor gsum

TextShokdril KorsumléSergyi Turmé DemikNamdruk

shog dril skorgsum las gser gyi thurma’i lde mig rnamdrug

TextExplanatory TantraShegyübshad rgyud

Sa


AuthorSanggyé Gyatsosangs rgyas rgyamtsho

Buddhist deityMedicine BuddhaSanggyé Menlasangs rgyas sman bla

PersonSitusi tu

Person1700-1774Situ Penchensi tu paṇ chen

AuthorSitu Penchen ChökyiJungné

si tu paṇ chen chos kyi’byunggnas

TextCompendium ofSitu’s Medicine: Eand Wam

Situ Mendü Ewamsi tu sman bsdus ewam


TextInstructions for thePreparation ofMercury PelletsAccording to theTeachings of theGreat Si-TuPaṇ-ChenChos-Kyi-’Byuṅ-Gnas

Si Sum Tsuk Gyen SituChökyi JungnekyiZhellung NgülchuTsochen Rilbü JordéZapdün Dütsi Tiklé

srid gsum gtsug rgyansi tu chos kyi ’byunggnas kyi zhal lungdngul chu btsochen ril bu’i sbyor sdezab bdun bdud rtsi’ithig le

Textual GroupThe ExpandedRedaction of theComplete Works of’JuMi-Pham Series

Sungbum MipamGyatso

gsung ’bum: mi phamrgya mtsho

TextSowa Karpo LamgyiDrönma

gso ba dkar po lamgyi sgronma

TextSorik MengyiKhokbuk

gso rig sman gyi khog’bugs

Ha


PlaceLhasalha sa

A


PersonOrgyenpao rgyan pa

Person1229-1309OrgyenpaRinchen Pelo rgyan pa rin chendpal

Sanskrit

TypeDatesSanskritEnglishPhoneticsWylie

TextaṣṭāṇgahṛdayasaṃhitāEight Branches

TextAvataṁsaka Sūtra(Chi. Huayan jing)

Termḍākinī

Termmaṇḍala

Termmantra

PersonPadmasambhava

TextRatnagarbha-dhāraṇī sūtra (Chi.Baozang tuoluonijing)

Termsādhanā

Termstūpa

Chinese

TypeDatesChineseEnglishPhoneticsWylie

PlaceLijiangLikyanghuli kyang hu

PlaceYunnan


BibliographyArnold, David. Colonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in

Nineteenth-Century India. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

Bates, Don, ed. Knowledge and the Scholarly Medical Traditions. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Benedict, Carol.Bubonic Plague in Nineteenth-Century China. Stanford: StanfordUniversity Press, 1996.

Bkra shis tshe ring. bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i ched rtsom gces btus. Lha sa: Bodljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 1994.

Blo gsal bstan skyong. Rang gi rnam thar du byas pa shel dkar me long. In Onthe History of the Monastery of Zhwa-lu: Being the Texts of the Zhwa lu gdanrabs and the Autobiography by Zhwa-lu-Ri-sbug Sprul-skuBlo-gsal-bstan-skyong. Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod, 9. Leh: S.W. Tashigangpa,1971.

Clark, Barry, trans. The Quintessence Tantras of Tibetan Medicine. Ithaca: SnowLion Publishers, 1995.

Czaja, Olaf. “TheMaking of the Blue Beryl: Some Remarks on the Textual Sourcesof the Famous Commentary of Sangye Gyatsho (1653-1705).” In Soundingsin TibetanMedicine: Anthropological andHistorical Perspectives: Proceedingsof the Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies,Oxford, 2003, edited by Mona Schrempf, 345-370. Leiden: Brill, 2007.

Emmerick, R.E. “Sources of the Rgyud-Bzhi.” In Zeitschrift der DeutschenMorgenländischen Gesellschaft (suppl. III), no. 2 (1977): 1135-42.

Emmerick, Ronald Eric, and R.P. Das. Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṇgahṛdayasaṃhitā. TheRomanised Text Accompanied by Line and Word Indexes, Groningen OrientalStudies XIII. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1998.

Garrett, Frances. “Eating Letters in the Tibetan Treasure Tradition.” In Journalof the International Association of Buddhist Studies 32, no. 1-2 (2009[2010]):85-113.

———. “Buddhism and the Historicizing of Medicine in Thirteenth CenturyTibet.” In Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity 2, no. 2 (2007): 204-224.

———. Religion, Medicine and the Human Embryo in Tibet. Routledge CriticalStudies in Buddhism. Abingdon; New York: Routledge, 2008.

Gyatso, Janet. “The Authority of Empiricism and the Empiricism of Authority:Medicine and Buddhism in Tibet on the Eve of Modernity.” ComparativeStudies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 24, no. 2 (2004): 83-96.


G.yu thog yon tan mgon po (1112-1203). Bdud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pagsang ba man ngag gi rgyud. Lha sa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang,2000.

Karma nges legs bstan ’dzin phrin las rab rgyas. Man ngag rgyud dang phyi margyud kyi lhan thabs kyi tshul du bkod pa phan bde’i nor bu’i bang mdzod.Vol. 3, Bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i gna’ dpe phyogs bsgrigs dpe tshogs. Pe cin: Mirigs dpe skrun khang, 2004.

———. Compendium of Situ’s Medicine: E and Wam (Si tu sman bsdus e wam).2 vols. Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod, 55-56. Leh: T.Y. Tashigang, 1973.

Mi pham rgya mtsho. G.yu thog shog dril skor gsum gyi ma bu don bsdeb tu bkolba. In gsung ’bum: mi pham rgya mtsho (The Expanded Redaction of theComplete Works of ’Ju Mi-Pham Series) [Gsung ’bum mi pham rgya mtsho],661-750. Paro, Bhutan: Lama Ngodrup and Sherab Drimey, 1984-1993.

Mi ’gyur rdo rje. Khyi smyon bcos pa’i thabs lag tu blang pa’i rim pa bzhugs so.In Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo 73. Edited by ’Jam mgon kong sprul blo grosmtha’ yas, 393-97. Paro: Ngodrup and Sherab Drimay, 1976-1980.

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———. Mantra zhes pa’i sman bcos skor. In Ta’i si tu pa kun mkhyen chos kyi’byung gnas bstan pa’i nyin byed kyi bka’ ’bum (CollectedWorks of the Greatta’i si tu pa kun mkhyen chos kyi ’byun gnas bstan pa’i nyin byed). Sansal,Dist. Kangra, H.P.: Palpung Sungrab Nyamso Khang, 1990.

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Vogel, Claus. Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṇgahṛdayasaṃhitā: The First Five Chapters of ItsTibetan Version. Abhanglungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 37, no. 2.Wiesbaden: DeutscheMorgenländische Gesellschaft, Komissionsverkag FranzSteiner GMBH, 1965.

Yid-lhuṅ ’Jam-dbyaṅs, Ṅag-dbaṅ-rgyal, Bkra-śis-’bum, and Lha-ru Kun-khyab[Yid lhung ’jam dbyangs, Ngag dbang rgyal, Bkra shis 'bum, and Lha ru kunkhyab].Nus Pa Rkyaṅ Sel Gyi SmanṄoGsal Byed (Instructions for RecognizingVarious Medicinal Plants According to theMethods Taught by Si-Tu Paṇ-ChenChos-Kyi-’Byuṅ-Gnas) [Nus pa rkyang sel gyi sman ngo gsal byed]. SmanrtsisShesrig Spendzod 145. Leh: J.P. Tashigang, 1986.

Yon tan mgon po (1112-1203). G.yu thog sman yig phyogs bsgrigs. Bod kyi gsoba rig pa’i gna’ dpe phyogs bsgrigs dpe tshogs 58, 315-30. Pe cin: Mi rigs dpeskrun khang, 2007.

Yonten Gyatso. “The Secrets of the Black Pill Formulation.” Tibetan Medicine,no. 13 (1991): 38-55.

Zur-mkharMñyam-ñid-rdo-rje [Zur mkhar mnyam nyid rdo rje]. Bye Ba Riṅ Bsrel(Instructions of the Great Zur-mkharMñyam-ñid-rdo-rje onMedical TreatmentComprising the Ma yig, Bu yig, and Kha ’thor Collections) [Bye ba ring gsal].Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod 58. Leh: S.W. Tashigangpa, 1974.


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