Immersive Traditional Tibetan Medicine

by Wang Qinghua

“Some Tibetan medicines can relieve COVID-19 symptoms and prevent the disease from progressing，”claimed Zhong Nanshan， an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering， at a March 20 online meeting with a novel coronavirus prevention and control expert team from Gansu Province.

“Further research can be conducted on the effectiveness of Tibetan medicine to treat novel coronavirus pneumonia with specific focus on its effects in relieving symptoms， shortening the fever period， and even reducing the viral load，” he added. “Effective drugs will help not only people in Gansu and other parts of China， but people around the world as well.”

Today， ancient Tibetan medicine culture is looking to make a comeback.

Healthy Bathing Festival

In the seventh month on the Tibetan calendar， Tibetans traditionally celebrate the Bathing Festival， known as “Garma Ri Gi” in Tibetan. The festival kindled development of Tibetan medicinal bathing. Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa （Tibetan medicine） was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in November 2018.

The UNESCO resolution stated that the heritage project has been passed across generations in daily life， religious rituals， folkloric activities， and medicinal practices， and that it has been incorporated into the curricula of modern medical colleges as a complement to formal education.

A beautiful legend describes the origin of Tibetan medicinal bathing. Long ago，a famous doctor living on the QinghaiTibet Plateau was said to be known far and wide as the “King of Medicine，” because he so deftly protected the health of locals. After his death， a plague broke out on the plateau， and the herders began praying to the King of Medicine to save them.

The King of Medicine appeared in a dream to a little girl who had fallen ill. He told her that a bright star would appear in the southeast sky that night and that its reflection off the river would cure her. She rushed to bathe in the river and recovered immediately. Everyone else followed suit， and the plague soon vanished.

Due to its special geographical environment， the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has many natural hot springs. The water contains rich mineral elements that are beneficial to human health with many potent antiviral and therapeutic effects.

To better utilize the mineral components in hot spring water， Tibetans formulated various bathing prescriptions with plateau herbs to treat many diseases. The practice of medicinal bathing aims to use warm herbal water or steam to help people adjust body balance and promote blood circulation.

The great popularity of the Bathing Festival lifted the practice of medicinal bathing to the level of clinical treatment in Tibetan medicine.

Centuries-old Tibetan Medicine

In ancient times， Tibetans on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau learned the different effects of various herbs and minerals as they explored nature. Through hunting， they also discovered the pharmacological effects of some animals.

According to historical documents， Tibetan medical theories are even older than the current Tibetan language system. Medical theories from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were recorded and shared in ancient Zhangzhung characters as early as 1800 B.C.

This indicates that Tibetan medicine originated at least 3，800 years ago. The founding of the Tibetan Tubo Kingdom in the first half of the 6th century and the creation of modern Tibetan script in the 7th century enabled Tibetan medicine to be passed down to this day.

As early as the 3rd century B.C.， Tibetans realized that any potent treatment would have side effects. By the 8th century， Tibetan medicine uncovered much of the mystery of human embryology. In the 17th century， the Fifth Dalai Lama stressed the importance of the development of Tibetan medicine. He founded numerous Tibetan medicine schools and commissioned many painters to draw medical thangka paintings to integrate Tibetan medical theories and techniques with traditional Tibetan painting art. This strategy inspired thangka works that also served as intuitive and vivid teaching materials.

Tibetan medicine rose from a religious cultural atmosphere. At first， Tibetan medicine was inherited and passed down through temples. Many classic Tibetan medical texts were written in the form of Buddhist scriptures.

Today， the religious ritual of consecration is still maintained when producing Tibetan medicine， which is believed to make the medicine more effective.

In addition， traditional Tibetan medicine practitioners also read Buddhist scriptures while treating patients to enhance the effectiveness. Tibetan people are strongly influenced by religion， and their great faith in the harmonious coexistence of various creatures and their admiration for the power of nature have long played a key role in maintaining public health in the region.

Inheriting Tibetan Medicine

On May 20， 2006， Tibetan medicine became one of the first items added to the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China. The local government of Tibet Autonomous Region has introduced a series of protection and inheritance measures to increasingly improve support for the development of Tibetan medicine. The policy has led to great strides in the practice， education， scientific research， and industrial development of Tibetan medicine.

The current Tibetan medical education system covers all stages of academic training， ranging from vocational high school to doctoral degree， and a complete theoretical system has been established. A total of 94 independent Tibetan hospitals operate across China. As of the end of 2018， Tibet had a total of 50 public Tibetan medical institutions with 2，412 beds.

A medical and health service system combining traditional Chinese medicine， Western medicine， and Tibetan medicine has been radiating from Lhasa in recent years， covering both urban and rural areas in the autonomous region.

The rapid development of Tibetan medicine in recent years has fueled cultural exchange in Tibetan medicine as well. Tibetan medicine has drawn increasing attention from the international medical community.

Every year， various international conferences on Tibetan medicine are held. Many foreign experts and scholars visit Tibet to study its traditional medicine. Students from around the world flock to Tibet to learn about its medical practices.

To accelerate incorporation of the unique treatment concepts and methods of Tibetan medicine， many countries including the United States， Italy， Japan， India， and Thailand have established Tibetan medicine research institutions.

“Tibetan medicine is shifting from experience-based medicine to evidencebased medicine，” explained Zhong Nanshan. “It is great that medical experts are using evidence-based science to test the efficacy of traditional medicinal practices that have been passed down across generations. I believe that folk medical practices from Gansu， Tibet， Qinghai， Yunnan， and other regions each have some unique medical value， or they would have never been passed on for so long.”