TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods

Ⅸ-2Traditional MedicineHaiximengguzuzangzuzizhi, QinghaiBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

As early as the 8th century AD, the Tibetan medical scholar Yutok Yonten Gonpo discussed poultice (compress) therapy in the Four Medical Tantras; with the opening of salt-transport routes, the edible and medicinal use of blue salt spread throughout Haixi, Haibei, Hainan, and Huangyuan. The local gazetteer Dangar Ting Zhi (Gazetteer of Dangar Department) records this in greater detail: Dangar City in Qinghai was the salt capital of the blue-salt trade. Since the Ming dynasty, the Ded Mongolian people became the new masters of the salt lakes, including Chaka; they not only fully inherited the tradition of using salt for medicinal purposes in China's ethnic medicines but also incorporated the refined and distinctive understanding derived from Gobi steppe nomadic life, giving rise to the blue-salt medicinal craft centered on Ulan, Dulan, and Delingha in Haixi, spread throughout Qinghai, with influence extending to Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Gansu, Sichuan, and elsewhere.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The blue-salt medicinal craft is one of the oral and external treatment methods of Tibetan-Mongolian medicine: it is a non-drug therapy in which specially prepared blue salt is heated and applied to the affected parts of the patient's trunk and limbs, or to specially effective acupoints selected by the physician through pattern differentiation and treatment, in order to prevent and cure disease. After special processing, it can also be used as a common diuretic in orally administered prescriptions. The blue-salt medicinal craft has a long history. Chaka Salt Lake is the resource repository for blue-salt medicinal material, located in Chaka Town, Ulan County, Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. 'Chaka' is Tibetan for 'salt pool' (salt lake). The common implements of the blue-salt medicinal craft include jars and pots, iron or copper shovels, copper pots, and heating devices such as microwave ovens. When administering treatment, an auspicious 'nectar' time is selected in accordance with Tibetan medical astrological and calendrical calculation. The concrete steps of practice are, in order: screening the patient, high-pressure baking, identifying the acupoint or body part, examining the complexion, determining the temperature, and the calming (zhen) therapy. From the day the blue-salt medicinal craft is administered, within ten days the patient should pay attention to rest and strictly avoid acidic and cold-natured foods. This therapy is not suitable for pregnant women, people who faint at the sight of blood, people over 80 years of age, the extremely emaciated, or those with an empty stomach, nor for ulcerated areas or areas of redness, swelling, heat, and pain on the patient's body. The implements of the blue-salt medicinal craft are easy to carry, the therapy is simple to perform, and its curative effect is good. Against common plateau diseases such as rheumatic arthritis, spinal disease, osteoarthrosis, gynecological wind (feng) disease, and acute and chronic cold-type pain, its clinical application shows marked results, and it is warmly welcomed by patients of all ethnic groups. This therapy carries strong Tibetan-Mongolian craft characteristics; its practice strictly follows the theory of traditional Tibetan-Mongolian medical astrological and calendrical calculation, and the cultural features of the Tibetan and Mongolian peoples are prominent. It has played an important role in disease prevention and treatment among the people of the plateau region and also has considerable value for health preservation and care.

Choosing an auspicious hour

Before treatment begins, an auspicious moment is fixed by Tibetan calendrical reckoning, as in other Tibetan medical practices.

High-pressure roasting of the salt

The salt is roasted hot in a jar or copper vessel, a necessary preliminary — too fierce and the drug loses its character.

Choosing points or sites

Either specific points are chosen by syndrome or the affected area itself is treated — both routes are open.

Reading the complexion and fixing the heat

The patient's colour informs how hot the application should be and how long it is kept.

The calming application

The concluding step — hot salt laid over the site or the point, driving out cold and easing pain.

Yanfu, the salt poultice

A Tibetan external application described in the Four Tantras, the line from which the salt treatment descends, and usable internally as a diuretic once prepared.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The medicinal tradition of the blue-salt craft spread in step with the salt-transport routes: since the Ming dynasty, when the Ded Mongolian people became the masters of the salt lakes including Chaka, they carried the edible and medicinal use of blue salt along the salt roads throughout Haixi, Haibei, Hainan, and Huangyuan. Today the centers of practice still focus on the three points of Ulan, Dulan, and Delingha in Haixi; the craft has spread throughout Qinghai and reached as far as Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Gansu, and Sichuan, and it is also used among folk Tibetan-Mongolian practitioners in Tibet and Yunnan. Chaka Salt Lake is the source of medicinal material on which this craft depends; 'Chaka' is Tibetan for salt lake, and blue salt taken from the lake must be processed before it can be used medicinally. The northwest plateau has a cold climate with frequent rheumatism and cold-type pain, which is precisely why this therapy, based mainly on hot compresses and oral administration, is especially well suited to the region.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Today the blue-salt medicinal craft is still widely applied in folk Tibetan-Mongolian medical institutions and among folk Tibetan-Mongolian practitioners in Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan. Protecting the blue-salt medicinal craft is conducive to preserving and transmitting the ancient and excellent Tibetan-Mongolian medical culture and the fine traditional medicinal culture of China, and has important practical significance for safeguarding the health of people of all ethnic groups on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods (Haiximengguzuzangzuzizhi, Qinghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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