Tibetan Medicine
01 · Historical Records
As early as the 8th century, Yutok Yonten Gonpo discussed the bloodletting therapy in the 'Four Medical Tantras'. The famous 17th-century Tibetan medical scholar Dima Danzin Pengcuo elaborated on it in his work 'Teachings on Bloodletting Therapy: Clarifying Errors,' and the 101 bloodletting points selected in that book are still used by Tibetan medicine practitioners today.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Tibetan bloodletting therapy (called 'Darika' in Tibetan) is one of the external therapies of Tibetan medicine. It is a therapy in which a knife or needle instrument is used to cut or prick the veins and, in a few cases, the arteries of the patient to release diseased blood and the noxious qi that travels with the blood, thereby achieving the aim of curing disease. Tibetan bloodletting therapy has a long history. Tibetan medicine has more than 200 kinds of instruments for external treatment, among which the knives commonly used in Tibetan bloodletting are the feather-shaped knife, oblique-bladed knife, axe-bladed knife, crescent knife, and sickle-shaped knife. Bloodletting therapy is generally performed on a Tibetan bloodletting chair; the Tibetan medicine taken before bloodletting is the Three-Fruit Decoction. A patient who is to undergo Tibetan bloodletting therapy must decoct and take the Three-Fruit Decoction — prepared from Terminalia chebula (golden hook), Terminalia bellirica (hairy hook), and Phyllanthus emblica (emblic myrobalan) — five days in advance; the time of bloodletting is then chosen according to Tibetan astrological and calendrical calculation. The concrete implementation steps are, in order: the vein-distension method, the knife-entry method, identifying the point location, observing the appearance of the blood, determining the volume of blood to be let, and the concluding sedation method. Once the diseased blood has been released, the effects of relieving pain and eliminating disease can be achieved. Within ten days from the day of bloodletting, the patient should rest and strictly avoid acidic foods. In addition, bloodletting therapy is not suitable for pregnant women, people who faint at the sight of blood, people over 70 years of age, those who are extremely emaciated, those with an empty stomach, or those who are excessively tense. Tibetan bloodletting therapy strictly follows the theories of Tibetan medicine and applies treatment according to pattern differentiation based on the patient's specific condition and individual differences; it has remarkable efficacy and possesses both scientific and practical value. The bloodletting instruments carry strong Tibetan craft characteristics, and the timing of bloodletting strictly follows the theory of traditional Tibetan astrological and calendrical calculation, giving the therapy a pronounced Tibetan cultural character. The diseases it targets are common and frequently occurring conditions among the peoples of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; moreover, the instruments are easy to carry and the operation is simple, suiting the actual conditions of the plateau, where the land is vast and the population sparse and medical resources are limited. The therapy therefore has socioeconomic value.
Preparing with San Guo Tang
Five days of San Guo Tang—three myrobalans—are taken beforehand, and the moment of cutting is then fixed by Tibetan calendrical reckoning.
Raising the pulse
The first step, with the patient seated in a purpose-built chair: the practitioner raises the vessel and fills it so there is somewhere for the knife to go.
The incision
The vessel is opened to let out diseased blood with the poison travelling with it; when the colour turns bright red the cut is closed.
Locating the vessel
The points to be opened are fixed: a hundred and one recorded in the seventeenth-century manual are still used by Tibetan practitioners.
Judging the blood
The colour and texture of the blood are watched as it flows, and the change in colour decides when to stop—too much is harm in itself.
Measuring the blood and calming treatment
The amount drawn is judged by the practitioner and the treatment closed with calming measures; ten days of rest follow, with no sour food and a list of those who must not be bled at all.
The form of the bleeding knives
Of more than two hundred instruments used in Tibetan external treatment, the bleeding knives come in feathered, bevel-edged, axe-edged, crescent and sickle forms.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Bloodletting therapy is used in Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Gansu, and parts of Yunnan; Qinghai is one of the birthplaces and places of transmission and dissemination of this therapy. The diseases it targets are common and frequently occurring conditions among the peoples of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; the instruments are easy to carry and the operation is simple, suiting the actual conditions of the plateau, where the land is vast and the population sparse and medical resources are limited. It is therefore most often performed locally at grassroots Tibetan medicine institutions.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine · Tibetan Medicine.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Qinghai Province is one of the birthplaces and places of transmission and dissemination of this therapy; its clinical application range is mainly in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region, including Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Gansu, and parts of Yunnan. To promote the protection and transmission of bloodletting therapy, the Qinghai Provincial Tibetan Hospital has taken active measures in areas such as discipline building and clinical practice. The inheritors of this therapy have also continuously pursued theoretical study, promoted Tibetan bloodletting therapy at relevant hospitals and grassroots Tibetan medicine institutions, and published 'A Collection of Points for Tibetan Bloodletting Therapy'. Gama Cuoni (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Tibetan ethnicity, born in July 1953, from Yushu City, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. Representative inheritor of Tibetan Medicine (Tibetan Medicine Arura Processing Technique), a third-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item. Chief physician and professor. At the age of 18, he studied Tibetan medicine under the folk Tibetan physicians Gasen, Gama Tudeng, and Kaluo. He subsequently studied under the Tibetan medicine master Cuoru Cailang, inheriting the Arura processing technique of Tibetan medicine and the compounding technique of the 'Seventy-Flavor Pearl Pills.' He is expert in the collection, identification, screening, compounding, ingredient dosing, processing, and variety verification of raw Tibetan medicinal materials. He has accumulated Tibetan medicine processing techniques and clinical experience. He has long undertaken undergraduate university teaching. He has served as chief editor of several monographs, including 'Special Treatises on the Principles of Tibetan Pharmacy' and 'Tibetan Medicine Processing Techniques', and participated in compiling several textbooks, including the 'National Syllabus for Undergraduate Tibetan Medicine Education'. He has published more than forty papers, including 'A Brief Discussion of the Efficacy of Tibetan Medicines' and 'The Theory of the Five Sources.' Twenty-six Tibetan medicine textbooks he authored received the second prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award and the first prize of the Provincial Teaching Achievement Award. He has trained a large number of students majoring in Tibetan medicine. Nyima Cairang (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Tibetan ethnicity, born in July 1981, from Guide County, Qinghai Province. From the age of 9, he studied Tibetan medicinal substances and bloodletting therapy under his maternal uncle Gongque Yapai. At the age of 20, he was admitted to the Tibetan Medicine College of Qinghai University. After beginning work, he went successively to Tibet and Gansu to study and practice Tibetan bloodletting therapy under renowned senior Tibetan physicians, developing his own distinctive style of Tibetan bloodletting therapy. He has published five academic monographs, including 'A Study of the Golden Needle in Tibetan Medicine'. He developed a copper human-body model for Tibetan bloodletting and applied it in teaching. Representative inheritor of Tibetan Medicine (Tibetan Bloodletting Therapy), a fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item. He has led or participated in nine national-level research projects and holds four authorized patents. He has trained more than one hundred students and more than twenty professional backbones.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Qiangbachilie 01-0220
- Nimaciren 01-0221
- Suolangqimei 01-0222
- Gawu 01-0223
- Duoji 01-0224
- Tangka Angwengjiangcuo 01-0225
- Gesangnima 01-0226
- Mima 03-1450
- Gesangciren 03-1451
- Lixianjia 03-1452
- Danzengpengcuo 03-1453
- Suolangdunzhu 03-1454
- Luosangduoji 03-1455
- Baimajiacuo 03-1456
- Eri 03-1457
- Gamacuoni 03-1458
- Sangjie 03-1459
- Nima 03-1460
- Zhandui 04-1947
- Mingzhu 05-2957
- Suonanwangjie 05-2958
- Nimacairang 05-2959
- Dansongzhaba
- Yujue
- Duojierenqing
- Cirenluobu
- Kanzhaojia
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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