A Study On Traditional Tibetan Monastic Medical Schools In Amdo

Tibetan medicine, one of the world’s ancient traditional medical systems, is still practiced throughout Tibetan regions of Asia even today. Tibetan medicine emerged from the societies of the Tibetan Plateau during the period of the7th to9th centuries. Up to the18th century, with the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan medicine became more and more popular not only in Tibetan-speaking areas such as those of Tibetan areas of China today (Tibetan Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan) but also in Himalayan regions such as Ladakh and Sikkim in India, western and northern parts of Nepal, Bhutan, as well as in the Mongolian-speaking areas in both China, Mongolia, and parts of the Russian Federation, including Buryatiya, Tuva and Kalmykiya. The rapid dissemination of Tibetan medicine, especially after the18th century in Amdo (northeastern Tibetan Plateau) and Mongolian areas, owes much to Sman Pa Grwa Tshang, the traditional Tibetan monastic medical school.Sman pa Grwa Tshang is a transliteration from the Tibetan language. Sman pa means practitioner of Tibetan medicine, and Grwa Tshang refers to school in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. Sman pa Grwa Tshang refers to Tibetan medical schools that are located in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries (principally of the Gelugpa sect), where medical education, clinic treatment and medicine production take place. It has played a significant role in the training of medical professionals, and is itself an embodiment and outgrowth of the institutionalization of the educational system within the Gelugpa sect in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. The model of Sman pa Grwa Tshang first took shape from the famous Chapori Tibetan medical school, established in Lhasa by Desi Sanggy Gyamtso (Tib:sde srid sangs rgys rgya mtso) in1696. Later, the model spread to Amdo, Mongolian areas and China’s cities like Beijing and Chengdu. It is said there are around60Sman Pa Grwa Tshangs throughout Tibetan and Mongolian areas. After the emergence of Sman Pa Grwa Tshangs, Tibetan medical education became more systematic and well organized, compared with the education module of lineage-based medical knowledge transmission. Many scholars were trained, and many books were written, translated and complied in Sman Pa Grwa Tshangs. Studies on its formation, development and regulations are now becoming a key subject in the history of Tibetan medicine.This dissertation focuses on the following points:first, the creation and rise to prominence of Sman Pa Grwa Tshangs model and its establishment in the Amdo area; second, a specific analysis of the two most important Sman Pa Grwa Tshangs inside Kunbum and Labrang Monsteries, with discussion on their regulations and functions, and detailed introduction on several key persons from different times and areas. Finally, the author discusses the features of this institution in terms of its geographic distribution, its contributions to the rapid dissemination of Tibetan medicine in Mongolian areas, the relationship between Tibetan and "Mongolian medicines", and its status quo and future. To achieve this, the author consulted Tibetan historical documents mainly within annals of monasteries, histories of teaching methods, documents on geography and sacred places, rules and regulations of monasteries, official documents (for examples, those found from the archives of Tibet), biographies of Tibetan scholars (especially learned monks), Tibetan literature collected in monasteries, and travel notes by foreign travelers to Tibetan areas. Primary fieldwork in such schools also informs the dissertation as a whole.