Tibetan Medicine
01 · Historical Records
By the 8th century CE, it had formed a complete theoretical system and unique methods of diagnosis and treatment. The research method of Sowa Rigpa theory runs through the objective analysis of the origin, essence, and characteristics of the five basic elements and the changes produced when different elements combine (empirical verification); this understanding is sublimated into the physician's subjective intuitive grasp of the internal laws of the five elements (inner realization). On the basis of a profound analysis of the characteristics and interactions of the five elements, it understands the relationship between the human body and mind and between humanity and the universe, forming its own distinctive holistic view.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
With the spread of Tibetan culture, it has gradually radiated to Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Beijing, and other places, and is shared by multiple ethnic groups. Sowa Rigpa is theoretically grounded in Bon medicine and has been continuously refined in different historical periods. Its theory is based on the holistic view and philosophical thought of the high harmony and unity of the human body and mind and of humanity and the universe. It analyzes the dynamic laws of the five elements and their interactions, taking them as the common material-energy foundation of humanity and nature; in the human body these correspond to the three life energies of "Lung" (wind), "Tripa" (fire), and "Beken" (earth and water). Sowa Rigpa holds that the continuation of life and health is a dynamic equilibrium formed by the unity of opposites of the three life energies; when this equilibrium is disrupted, disease arises. Sowa Rigpa diagnosis understands the state of balance and health of the human body through observation, inquiry, and palpation. It regulates the balance of life through methods such as diet, behavior, medication, medicinal bathing, fire moxibustion, and the elevation of the mind. This heritage project embodies the Tibetan people's views of life, nature, and the universe. It is integrated with cultural customs such as astronomy and calendrical calculation, ritual beliefs, and behavioral norms, and is widely disseminated through traditional cultural expressions such as Tibetan opera, thangka, and murals. This heritage project plays a guiding role in the people's medical care and health.
Internal evidence on the five elements
Its method moves from objective analysis of the five elements and their combinations to the physician's intuitive grasp of their inner law, and from there to the relation between body and cosmos.
Balance of wind, bile and phlegm
Wind, bile and phlegm are the body's three energies; health is their dynamic balance, and illness begins where the balance breaks.
Inspection, inquiry and palpation
Diagnosis proceeds by inspection, inquiry and palpation to learn the state of balance, seeking the point of disturbance rather than naming a disease.
Regulating through diet, conduct and medicine
Balance is regulated through diet, conduct, medicine, bathing, fire and the raising of the mind—all everyday measures rather than emergency ones.
Hearing, thinking and cultivating
Transmission runs through hearing, reflection and cultivation, joining knowledge to insight and marking the Bon medical foundation the teaching rests on.
Spread through opera, thangka and murals
Its ideas spread through thangka painting, murals and opera, and with Tibetan culture reached Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Beijing, to be shared by many peoples.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Sowa Rigpa is a body of knowledge and practice, based on traditional Tibetan culture, for understanding the phenomena of life, the laws of disease, and strategies of recuperation. Created and developed in adaptation to the plateau environment and in interaction with nature and history, it has been transmitted from generation to generation. It is one of the five fields of knowledge of Tibetan culture, mainly distributed in the Tibetan-inhabited areas of Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan in China, with the agricultural and pastoral areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as its core transmission region, and it has two major schools, the Northern and the Southern.
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
Its transmission requires the methods of "hearing," "reflecting," and "practicing"; while mastering the relevant knowledge, it emphasizes the enlightenment of wisdom and the thorough comprehension of the true meaning of life. Particularly in the special living environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this heritage project plays a positive role in improving population quality, extending lifespan, standardizing behavioral ethics, promoting social harmony, respecting the natural environment, and protecting ecosystems. Qiangba Chilie (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): He mastered everything: Tibetan medical theory, history, the doctrines of various schools, clinical practice in all specialties, materia medica, prescriptions, pharmaceutical preparation, astronomy, and calendrical calculation, becoming a Tibetan medical master recognized today. Qiangba Chilie not only inherited the essence of traditional Tibetan medicine but also played an important role in promoting the modernization of Tibetan medicine. In 1962, as director of the Tibetan Hospital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, he broke through obstacles and vigorously promoted specialized outpatient clinics and introduced advanced testing methods and instruments, changing the habits of traditional Tibetan medicine. In 1974, when the Tibetan medicine class of the Lhasa Municipal Health School enrolled students and began teaching, Qiangba Chilie undertook the compilation of eleven courses, including fundamentals of Tibetan medicine, physiology, surgery, and the five-views studies. He carefully studied and interpreted the classic Tibetan medical work "Four Medical Tantras," organized and compiled the "Eighty Colored Thangkas of Tibetan Medicine," served as chief editor of "Tibetan Man Tang Detailed Explanation: Light of Blue Beryl," and compiled and published Tibetan medical textbooks such as "Chinese Tibetan Medicine" and "Internal Medicine of Tibetan Medicine," making outstanding contributions to the recovery, revitalization, and development of the Tibetan medical cause in Tibet. Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in 1929, died in 2011, a native of Lhasa, Tibet. He is a representative inheritor of Tibetan Medicine, a first-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item. Nyima Ciren (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in 1959, a native of Lhasa, Tibet. He is currently president of the Tibetan Medical College of Tibet, holder of a master's degree in Tibetan medicine, and doctoral supervisor. The Tibetan medical mercury refining method has a history of more than a thousand years and is the core technique in the preparation of Tibetan medicines. Nyima Ciren has also engaged in Tibetan medical teaching and research, publishing a large number of professional academic papers, such as "The Map of the Human Form," and has written several monographs, including the "Tibetan Medical Numerals Dictionary," "Five Kinds of Sanskrit Combined Reading Primer," and "Tibetan Mercury Refining Method." He led the development of Tibetan medicines for treating hepatitis A and B, which were included in the National Spark Program projects 206 and 209; he studied in depth the more than twenty diabetes cases described in ancient Tibetan medical texts and researched and prepared a series of new medicines. Nyima Ciren carefully collected and organized 260 secret prescriptions of the late Tibetan medical master Cuoru Cailang, promoting the transmission and development of Tibetan medical science. He is a representative inheritor of Tibetan Medicine (Lhasa Northern School Tibetan Medicine Mercury Refining Method), a first-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item.
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)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。