Socio-Economic Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China Part One

Hofer, Theresia

doi:10.1163/157342108x381250

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…That some knowledge may have been lost seems probable considering the politically contentious nature of Tibetan medicine due to its relationship with Tibetan Buddhism. During the Cultural Revolution many practitioners were persecuted and their knowledge lost (Hofer 2008). Even today the official Tibetan medical system is being modified to comply with the official political view of materialistic medicine, downplaying the spiritual aspects of Tibetan medicine (Janes 1995;Adams 2001Adams , 2004.…”

Section: Medicinal Plant Knowledge and Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, even where official health care is available, there may be great qualitative differences as some Tibetan doctors are much more highly regarded than others. Such perceived differences in quality also influence people's health care seeking behaviour (Janes 2002;Hofer 2008).…”

Section: Sources and Types Of Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This fits well with a general perception of the role of traditional medical systems to treat chronic diseases which biomedicine is perceived as being unable to deal with (Cantwell 1995;Janes 1999Janes , 2002WHO 2002). Other factors which have previously been shown to influence Tibetans' choice of medical treatment are prices and subsidy schemes (which mostly favour biomedicine), availability, language issues and the possibility to use Tibetan or biomedical treatment as a marker of ethnic and social identity, and of people's engagement with modernity (Janes 2002;Glover 2005;Hofer 2008). …”

Section: Sources and Types Of Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

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Medicinal Plant Knowledge Among Lay People in Five Eastern Tibet Villages

2010

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Tibetans in five villages in the Mount Khawa Karpo area of the Menri (Meili Xueshan in Chinese) range, Northwest Yunnan, People's Republic of China, were interviewed about their knowledge of a number of medicinal plants and their uses. There was large variation in people's knowledge with significant differences among the villages and between men and women. Most of the reported knowledge focused on a small number of commercial plants and their uses. In comparison with Tibetan doctors, villagers generally knew fewer applications and focused on general health remedies. Many people collected medicinal plants for their own use as well as for sale, but also obtained medicinal plant remedies from markets and Tibetan doctors, and often used traditional Tibetan healthcare in conjunction with biomedical treatment.

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Section: Medicinal Plant Knowledge and Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sources and Types Of Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sources and Types Of Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

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Medicinal Plant Knowledge Among Lay People in Five Eastern Tibet Villages

2010

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“…It was not until the following decade that a number of Tibetan dictionaries and illustrated atlases that include modern anatomical and other biomedical terminology were published in China.61 55 E.g., Bsam gtan 1997. 56 E.g., Janes 1995Janes , 2001Adams 2000;Adams and Li 2008;Adams, Schrempf, and Craig 2011;Hofer 2008aHofer , 2008bHofer , 2011Kloos 2008Kloos , 2011. 57 E.g., Jäschke (1881Jäschke ( ) 2003Das (1902Das ( ) 1989Tashi Tsering 1997;Roerich 1983-93.…”

Section: Tibetan Anatomical Terminology: An Overview Of Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerable Parts

Sabernig

2017

ASME

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In Tibetan medicine, ‘vulnerable parts’ (gnyan pa gnad) are bodily structures which should not be damaged. Most of these anatomical locations are important in terms of surgical care and the management of wounds. They are described in the primary classical text of the Tibetan medical tradition, the Four Treatises (Rgyud bzhi), and in far more detail in its respective commentaries. A list of these more than three hundred delicate spots is included in at least two sixteenth-century commentaries, but its origin remains unclear. With the help of the medical ‘scroll paintings’ (thang ka) accompanying the seventeenth-century Blue Beryl (Vaiḍūrya sngon po) commentary to the Four Treatises, we can identify the locations of many of these vulnerable anatomical structures. However, it is uncertain if these identifications have remained consistent over time. With increasing integration of Tibetan medical practices into the Chinese health care system, it became necessary to find and define new terms. A veritable revolution in Tibetan medical terminology has taken place over the past several decades. Through a careful examination of these ‘vulnerable parts’ of the body, including an exploration of three examples, this article examines the shift of anatomical designations and the coining of new terms for anatomical details in classical and modern publications. Correctly identifying the vulnerable parts matters a great deal, especially with regard to patient safety.

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“…For anthropological references to precious pills, see Craig and Adams 2008;Craig 2011;Hofer 2008;Kloos 2012;Prost 2008;Samuel 1999. At the Men-Tsee-Khang in Dharamsala, the precious pills containing tsotel are: Rinchen Drangjor Rilnag Chenmo, Rinchen Ratna Samphel, Rinchen Tsajor Chenmo, Rinchen precious stones among their elaborate mineral, herbal, and blessed ingredi ents and are difficult and time-consuming to make.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Social Life of Tsotel

Gerke¹

2013

Asian Med

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No other compound in Tibetan medical pharmacology seems to be as fascinating, con troversial, and enigmatic as tsotel (btso that, lit. 'cooked ash'), the processed mercury sulphide ash that provides the base material of many of the popular Tibetan 'precious pills' (rin chen ril bu). The compound contains-apart from numerous herbs and other ingredients-eight metals and eight rock components. Tsotel practices, which can be traced back to the thirteenth century in Tibet, are considered the pinnacle of Tibetan pharmacology. The commercial value of tsotel gives it a strong economic and social life of its own. This paper analyses the social life of tsotel from an anthropological perspec tive and sketches key aspects of tsotefs biography, which in one way or the other are linked to medical, political, and religious perceptions of mercury: tsotel events with their political and institutional agendas; the value of tsotel as a medical, religious, and politi cal commodity; safety and toxicity debates; and tsoteCs religious and political efficacy. I argue that the social life of tsotel is increasingly linked to perceptions of toxicity and safety because of its chief ingredient, mercury, being contested in a globalised arena of tightened international regulations as well as the recent attention given to heavy metal toxicity issues in Asian medicines. Also, several fundamental misconceptions of the substance of mercury itself, its processed form of mercury sulphide, and of the con tamination of herbal ingredients with heavy metals will be highlighted. Examples are based on ethnographic fieldwork with Tibetan medical practitioners and pharmacolo gists in India and Nepal.

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Socio-Economic Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China Part One

Cited by 17 publications

References 4 publications

Medicinal Plant Knowledge Among Lay People in Five Eastern Tibet Villages

Medicinal Plant Knowledge Among Lay People in Five Eastern Tibet Villages

Vulnerable Parts

The Social Life of Tsotel

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