Tibetan medicine was first used in 300 BC and the complete medical system was finalized in the seventh century at the height of the Tubo Kingdom. The medical theories are compelling. For example, the fifth tangka painting of "The Four Medical Tantras" illustrates how a human embryo grows through the phases of fish, tortoise and pig before becoming a human.
This concept coincides with the Western idea of evolution and has fascinated the medical world for centuries, especially considering that Tibet has the highest number of elderly people above the age of 100 in China.
However little is known about the details of this ancient craft and access to information has been always a challenge.
Next week, the book "Explanation of the Eighty Mantang in the Four Medical Trantras: Light of the Blue Glaze" Changpa Trinley and his students have been working on for more than 10 years will be finally published.
The 10-million word Tibetan-Chinese-English explanation of the 80 tangka paintings (called mantang in Tibetan) in the Tibetan medical classic "The Four Medical Tantras" (Sibu Yidian) by the Ethnic Publishing House will reach the country's major bookstores when all 3,000 copies are printed on October 20.
"Its publication means great importance to the promotion and popularization of traditional Tibetan medicine, not only inside China, but also throughout the world," said Trinley, one of the leading Tibetan doctors in the country.
"I hope to pass on the merits of my teachers and lay a foundation for the further development of Tibetan medicine," Trinley told China Daily during an interview in Lhasa in early August.
"The book weighs 8 jin and 8 liang (4.4 kilograms)! This is an auspicious figure for any newborn baby, though we didn't design it to be that way," said Tseten Jigme, chief doctor with the hospital who has been aiding Trinley for 13 years. "This will be an important reference for the research, teaching and clinical practice of Tibetan medicine."
First compiled in the 8th century by Yuthok Nyima Yonten Gonpo, "The Four Medical Tantras" was improved and explained in the following centuries. In the 1690s, Desi Sangye Gyatso, a high-ranking official under the Fifth Dalai Lama, created 79 tangka paintings to summarize and explain the classic work. The 80th and last tangka is about famous Tibetan doctors. Together they offer a key and gateway into the immense treasure trove of Tibetan medicine, a creation of the Tibetan people based on the local geological conditions while absorbing medical sciences from neighbouring cultures.
Trinley memorized "The Four Medical Tantras" some 60 years ago. Although he became totally blind in 1998, 77-year-old Trinley can still recall from his memory details of the paintings and passages from the classics. His assistant Tseten Jigme and others looked through various references to draw up the draft. Then the teacher and disciples discussed the details before finalizing the words.
The same subject has been covered by Trinley in the late 1970s and on several other occasions. But by far, the new book offers the most comprehensive explanation, illustrating the tangkas in more than 5,000 photos, which are all based on the copies treasured at the Medical King Hill Public Benefit Medical School founded in 1769.
The ancient Tibetan texts were difficult to understand for modern doctors and the previous copies were too simple to cover the extensive content of this classic work, said Trinley.
According to Gonpo Dargye, editor of the book with the publishing house, each painting's brief introduction is given in Tibetan, Chinese and English. But the detailed explanations are only in Tibetan. Dargye hopes to include Chinese and English details in the coming two years.
"We still need to find some experts to better translate the book, because it is quite different from other medical books," said Dargye.
The Chinese Government has always paid great attention to preserving and developing traditional Chinese culture, in which the Tibetan medicine is a "precious pearl," said Lhapa Phuntsog, vice-president of the China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture.
Since China's opening and reform in the 1970s, the salvaging and promotion of Tibetan medicine has gained unprecedented attention, said Phuntsog at a news conference held by the Information Office of the State Council on Monday in Beijing about the opening of a forum on Tibetan culture in the capital.
Many classic works about Tibetan medicine, such as "The Four Medical Tantras" and its various explanations, have been collected, studied and republished. In addition, many schools now train medical staff in Tibet.
The Tibetan Medical Institute of the autonomous region is the top higher education facility about Tibetan medicine in China. Other universities throughout the country, such as the Central University of Nationalities in Beijing, also have departments or majors in Tibetan medicine.
A total of 1,378 medical institutes on levels of the autonomous region, prefecture, county and township have been established.
While the infant mortality rate dropped from 43 per cent before 1959 to 3.1 per cent in 2005, the autonomous region's average life span has reached 67 from just 35.5 in the 1950s, Phuntsog said.
"Traditional Tibetan medicine is becoming ever more popular among the people. This is the best development period for Tibetan medicine throughout history," said Phuntsog.
(China Daily 10/11/2006 page13)
