The Paintings in this Presentation
The photographs used to illustrate these presentations were taken by Frances Garrett in 2001. The thangkas photographed are displayed at the Medical History Museum at the Factory of Tibetan Medicines on Nyagrel Road in Lhasa. The dating of this set of thangkas is not known, although they do not appear to be old. (The Lhasa Mentsikhang does own an old set of thangkas, but it was in storage during the summer of 2001.) This set of medical thangkas is different from the one shown in Tibetan Medical Paintings and the set in the Tibetan Medical Thangka of the Four Medical Tantras. It is interesting to note that this set was clearly done by a less experienced painter than the other two available sets. This fact is evident by the poor use of space and generally poorer illustrations on the part of the artist. Since it is clear that all artists made efforts to stick strictly to a traditional painting of the thangkas, a further study of the differences between the available sets and reasons for these differences may be interesting.
A Presentation on Tibetan Medical Thangkas
This presentation has been prepared by Leah Stokes, University of Toronto, as part of an undergraduate research project under the supervision of Frances Garrett.
Medical Instruments – Thangka Thirty Six
This presentation explores Thangka Thirty-Six, which pertains to Surgical Instruments used in Tibetan medicine for external therapy. External therapy is defined in the Tibetan text Rgyud bzhi as: “a substance which eliminates diseases through the exterior of the body and cures them is called external therapy.” Within Tibetan medicine, there are two types of external therapy practiced: one involves general practices, while the other deals with the specialized use of surgical instruments. The following Thangka illustrates these tools used in Tibetan medicine practices. Although there are very many tools shown here, it is important to remember that this extreme form of external therapy is rarely performed.
On medical instruments, also see the video, Traditional Tibetan Medical Instruments.
Root Tantra – Thangkas 1-4
These paintings are illustrations of the contents of the Root Tantra, which is the first in the Four Tantras. Essentially, the Root Tantra gives a general outline of all the central concepts in the Four Tantras; it is much like an index to Tibetan Medicine. The first thangka is an illustration of the palace of Bhaisajyaguru. The second thangka introduces the concept of the three humours and explains that their balance creates homeostasis. The third thangka concerns the diagnosis process within the medical tradition. Finally, the fourth thangka discusses the treatment process. Thangkas two to four are drawn in tree diagrams, which provides a logical system of categorization within the medical tradition. Since these paintings are the first in the set and are concerned with broad concepts in Tibetan medicine, this presentation is likely a good introduction into to both Tibetan medicine and Tibetan medical thangkas.
Materials for Medicines – Thangkas 27 & 34-35
This presentation is a brief introduction to some of the materials that are used within the Tibetan medical tradition to make medicines. The first thangka depicts nectarous, wood and plateau medications along with herbal ingredients. The other two paintings show a variety of other drugs used within medicines to treat a variety of disorders, including those relating directly to the three humours. The Tibetan practice of making medicines is a complex one full of rituals and blessings in order to increase the potency of the medication. It is interesting to note that many of the ingredients used throughout Tibetan medicine and discussed within the Four Tantras are common to Western naturopathic medicine.
Anatomical Paintings – Thangkas 6-9 & 14-16
This presentation is a brief introduction to some of the anatomical paintings included within the full set of Tibetan medical thangkas. Included are paintings depicting bloodletting points, metaphors used to explain body structure, skeletal anatomy, the life-span principle, the white channels and the vulnerable points. The bloodletting thangkas are of particular note since they are rarely documented in critical sources on Tibetan medical thangkas. This presentation also provides a sense of the variability between different sets of the paintings, as they seem to differ to a greater extent than other thangkas.
For some comments on the body in Tibetan medicine, see Anatomy and Physiology in Tibetan Medicine. For a short video explanation of the practice of describing anatomy using architectural and political metaphors and similes, as is depicted in Thangka 8, see Teaching About the Body Using Similes.
Metaphors of Body Structure – Thangka 8
This detailed presentation explores a thangka that equates aspects of the human body metaphorically to substances and objects in the world.
Sources and Further Reading on Tibetan Medical Thangkas, by Leah Stokes
Averdon, J. et al. The Buddha’s Art of Healing. Rizzoli: New York, 1998.
This book was created to accompany a display of a set of medical thangkas in Russia. Since the exhibit did not contain a complete set of the Tibetan medical thangkas, the book does not include all the paintings in the set. If one examines Dorje & Meyer’s Tibetan Medical Paintings alongside The Buddha’s Art of Healing it becomes quickly apparent that this book borders on plagiarism (although Meyer was involved with this project.) For this reason, this is not text is not very reliable from an academic perspective, though would be good for a casual introduction to the topic. There is also some information on Buddhism in Russia.
Dash, V.B., Encyclopaedia of Tibetan Medicine. Sri Satguru: Delhi, 1995, Volume 4.
This book is the fourth in a series of 15 volumes contained in the Encyclopaedia of Tibetan Medicine. This volume contains the final chapters of the Rgyud Bzhi (The Four Tantras) beginning at chapter 22 and ending with chapter 31. These sections include the topics of surgical instruments, preventative medicine, modes of treatment, and the role of the physician. This book contains the Tibetan text, a Sanskrit restoration as well as an English translation. Although I have not viewed other volumes, this seems to be a fairly accurate translation and would likely be helpful with further academic research.
Dhonden, Yeshi. Healing from the Source. Snow Lion: New York, 2000.
This book, translated by B. Alan Wallace, is Dr. Yeshi Dhonden’s second (see his 1986 Publication Healing from the Source.) Since Dr. Dhonden has studied Tibetan medicine for his entire life and was the personal physician to the Dalai Lama, he should be taken as an expert in the field and an excellent source. This book goes into considerable detail on health and balance within the body according to Tibetan principles, elucidating the practices currently in use in the discipline. The third part of the book, entitled “Healing from the source” contains interesting information not found in other sources including chapters on being a Tibetan physician and the Tibetan view of AIDS and cancer. The book also has an excellent index and medical glossary with Tibetan, English and Sanskrit translations.
Dorje, Gyurme and Meyer, Fernand. Tibetan Medical Paintings. Serindia: London, 1992.
This book, which is divided into two volumes, is generally considered the definitive source on Tibetan medical thangkas, and not surprisingly these volumes are excellent for academic research. The “Plates” book contains an excellent introduction to Tibetan medical texts and paintings along with an in-depth overview of the arrangement and contents of the Four Tantras. The rest of this first book contains colour photographs of a set of medical thangkas, and a full-page description of each painting. The second book, “Text,” contains black and white copies of the paintings. Each distinct part of the paintings is labeled and translated into English, providing an clear exposition of the thangkas as they relate to the Four Tantras. Although this is a critical source, my studies of other texts have led me to the conclusion that this set of thangkas is incomplete (it contains 77 as opposed to 80 paintings.) For a full set of the medical thangkas, see Tibetan Medical Thangka of the Four Medical Tantras. The paintings contained within this text are the same set as the ones contained in The Buddha’s Art of Healing.
Jingfeng, Cai. Tibetan Medical Thangka of the Four Medical Tantras. People’s Publishing House of Tibet: Lhasa, 1987.
This book contains the most complete information I have seen on the Tibetan Medical thangkas; although, it is not the most comprehensible. The text contains an introductory essay on the medical thangkas, a small full colour photograph of each thangka and a short description of each thangka followed by close-ups with descriptions of each figure in the paintings. This book contains the full set of 80 medical thangkas, which is not avaliable in any other source I’ve encountered. Since this text was originally published in Chinese and Tibetan, and afterwards translated into this English-Tibetan version, the text is fairly confusing and poorly written. For this reason, this source is crucial to understanding the full set of thangkas; but, is almost useless as a source of English information on Tibetan medicine. The thangkas contained in this text are a different set from the set shown in Tibetan Medical Paintings as well as the set shown in these presentations.