LHASA — An international symposium opened in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region on Thursday to shed light on the growing global interest in traditional Tibetan medicine and its illustrations drawn on thangka, a traditional style of Tibetan painting.
Held in the regional capital Lhasa, the second international academic symposium on The Four Treatises of Tibetan Medicine and Tibetan medical thangka brought together more than 200 experts from China, Britain, Germany, Austria, Mongolia and Nepal.
Discussions centered on the historical evolution of the classic treatises, the iconographic interpretation of Tibetan medical thangka, and pathways for modern clinical application and international cooperation. At the symposium, a research center for Tibetan medical thangka was also inaugurated.
Written between the 8th and 12th centuries, The Four Treatises of Tibetan Medicine is the most influential foundational work on traditional Tibetan medicine. It was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2023.
Based on the treatises, the 80-scroll Tibetan medical thangka paintings serve as a visual teaching complement, covering diagnostics, pharmacology, preventive care and medical ethics. The medical thangka scrolls were also added to China's national documentary heritage list in 2023.
Among the participants at the symposium was Katharina Anna Sabernig, a lecturer from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, who first encountered Tibetan medical murals at Labrang Monastery in Gansu province in 1994. She later returned and began exploring the works.
"I saw these murals and I started to get deeper and deeper and to understand all this," Sabernig recalls.
Mary Caroline Wyatt, a scholar with dual British-Greek citizenship, began collaborating on an English translation of texts about Tibetan medical thangka last September. She said that complete English versions have long been scarce.
"Our translations target professional readers so we've preserved many specialized, traditional terms," says Wyatt.
The event was hosted by the regional health commission and coorganized by the regional Tibetan medicine hospital and Xizang University of Tibetan Medicine.
Xizang has formulated and implemented a series of policies aimed at promoting Tibetan medicine and encouraging innovation. According to a government white paper released last year, the region has 51 public Tibetan medicine institutions, employing 5,287 professionals and operating 3,260 beds, up from 28 institutions, 2,232 professionals and 1,364 beds in 2012.
In April, China rolled out its first national recommended standard for ethnic medicine disease classification and coding for Tibetan medicine.
Tsering, president of the regional Tibetan medicine hospital, says inscriptions on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and China's national documentary heritage list have brought Tibetan medicine to a broader global audience.
"We will make the most of these opportunities to promote academic exchanges and clinical collaboration worldwide," Tsering says.
XINHUA
