Professional Documents
Culture Documents
www.brill.nl/asme
Abstract
The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine is the illustrative material to all four volumes of Tibetan medicines
locus classicus, the Four Tantras (rGyud bzhi ), and their commentary, the Blue Beryl (or: Lapis
Lazuli, Vaidurya sngon po). It is kept at the collection of the History Museum of Buryatia in
Ulan-Ude. It took more than sixteen years (from 1687 until 1703) to complete the full set of
these medical paintings. The following includes a brief description of the contents of the Atlas,
how the copy was brought from Tibet to Buryatia, how it was transferred to the Tsugol manba
datshang and to the Aschagat medical school and nally, how it got to the Museum of Atheism
in Ulan-Ude.
Keywords
Tibetan medicine, Tibetan medical paintings, atlas of Tibetan medicine, visual aids, instructional guide, rgyud bzhi, Vaidurya sngon po, Blue Beryl
DOI: 10.1163/157342008X307938
348
349
Chagpa Choinam was chief disciple (slob mai gtso bo) of the regent of
Tibet, Desi Sangye Gyatso. The medical paintings were a key component of
classical Tibetan medical education, and they are still used as visual aids for
the in-depth study of both theory and practice of the Tibetan medical systems
and traditions, not only in Tibet but also in the vast cultural space of the
Mongolian world.
How did the copy of The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine nd its way
to Buryatia?
At present, there are three known sets of the medical paintings in existence:
two of them are in Lhasa and one, reproduced in part here, is in Buryatia. We
still have no denite information about who initiated the copying of the
Tibetan medical paintings. It is also not entirely clear yet how the set got
to Buryatia. Most likely it was the tshannid khenpo lharampa (mtshan
nyid mkhan po lha ram pa) Agvan Dorjiev (18541938), one of the most
important gures in the history of Tibet and Russia at the beginning of the
twentieth century.5 Agvan Dorjiev was born in the Buryat village of Khari
Shibiri, Zaigraev region, near the Aschagat datshang. The Buryat Lama
Namanai Gegen took him as a novice, ordained him as a monk and sent him
secretly to Tibet.
In Lhasa, Agvan Dorjiev entered the Goman datshang (sgo mang grwa
tshang) at the prestigious monastic university Drepung (bras spungs). Here
he studied Buddhist philosophy and received the highest degree of geshe lharampa (dge shes lha rams pa). Selected as one of seven outstanding scholars to
become tutor to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama Nawang Lobsang Thubten Gyatso
(ngag dbang blo bzang thub brtan rgya mtsho, 18761933), he specialised in
the eld of Buddhist philosophy and literature. He came to enjoy high status
and soon became an advisor in all matters of policy for the Tibetan government. He travelled to China, Russia and France to learn their policies, their
governmental structure and lifestyles.6 As a highly-educated scholar, Agvan
Dorjiev had a unique knowledge in classical Buddhist sciences, including
Tibetan medical culture. He knew the rich Tibetan collections. He also knew
about access to the medical paintings in the depository of the Chagpori medical college of Lhasa.
5
6
350
For more information, see Bolsokhoeyva 2004a; Bolsokhoeyva 2006, pp. 7884; Bolsokhoeyva 2007, pp. 2845, 291.
8
Gammermann and Semichov 1963, p. 6.
9
Baldanzhapov 1982, p. 15.
10
Ibid.
11
Snelling 1993, p. 233.
351
nised as a reincarnation of the Ganjurba (literally: Connoisseur of the Kanjur) from Dolonor. At the medical faculty of the Aschagat monastery, the
medical illustrations played an important role in classical medical education
and were used as visual aids or illustrative commentaries on the theory and
practice of Tibetan medicine. Here Buryat artists and emchis copied the
32 plates from The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine under the guidance of L. D.
Endonov (18701937?),12 who was a director of the medical school in Aschagat from 1926 until its closing in 1936. It was subsequently destroyed.13 It was
one of the biggest medical schools throughout Transbaikalia and a centre of
excellence in medical education.
In 1936, Z. Zhabon (18991971), at that time a member of the Republican Organization of the Society of the Militant Godless, brought the set of
The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine to the Buryat-Mongolian Museum of Atheism (now the History Museum of Buryatia named after M. N. Khangalov).
Z. Zhabon was a teacher by profession and very knowledgeable about Tibetan,
Mongolian and Buryat culture. He was chief curator of the valuable collection
of rare Buddhist art held at the History Museum of Buryatia from 1952 until
1970. The Buddhist collection of the museum includes Buddhist scriptures,
scroll paintings, sculptures, masks, costumes, various Buddhist objects and
musical instruments.
The plates of The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine were safely protected in
Hodigitriya, an eighteenth century Russian Orthodox cathedral. The copy of
the medical thankas was subsequently kept secretly in storage in the museum
for more than 20 years with only a few museum sta aware of the existence of
this priceless monument of Tibetan culture and we have a debt of gratitude to
Z. Zhabon for taking care of the treasureThe Atlas of Tibetan Medicine
throughout many years.
In 1958, Professor A. F. Gammerman, a knowledgeable pharmacologist,
and B. V. Semichov, a Tibetologist, the composers of the TibetanLatin
Russian Dictionary of the Names of Medicinal Raw Materials, used in Tibetan
Medicine, published in 1963, learned of the existence of the Tibetan Medical
Paintings from the Buryat scholar, K. M. Gerasimova, daughter of the former
director of the Buryat-Mongolian Museum of Atheism, A. I. Gerasimova.14
Subsequently they analysed only the plates dealing with medicinal plants of
the medical paintings (plates no. 2233). They had plans to publish them
12
See in detail, Bolsokhoyeva 2004b, pp. 267. The French tibetologist, H. Stoddard, gives a
slightly dierent version. See Ascho 1996, pp. 3345.
13
In 1992, the Aschagat datshang was rebuilt thanks to the religious revival in Russia.
14
Gammermann and Semichov 1963, p. 6.
352
as the second illustrated part to their dictionary. It is worth noting here that in
the section devoted to medicinal plants in the medical paintings, there are 540
drawings whose names are introduced in the published dictionary. The medicinal plants were copied from the medical paintings by the skilled Buryat artists, A. Okladnikov, T. Pud and E. Nevolina, but unfortunately they were not
published due to lack of nancial support.15
353
16
17
18
19
20
21
354
22
Bazaron 1984, pp. 401. Paintings from The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine on pp. 16574.
For my publications on this topic see, for example, Bolsokhoyeva 1986; Bolsokhoyeva
1992; Bolsokhoyeva 1993; Bolsokhoyeva 1994; Bolsokhoyeva 1999; Bolsokhoyeva 2004b.
24
Dashiyev 2001.
25
See also Bolsokhoyeva and Gerasimova 1998.
23
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
There are still many aspects of the medical paintings which have not been
studied. However, new historical realities, modern technology and information systems allow us to create the international joint scientic projects to
combine the eorts and qualication of diverse specialists. I believe such an
approach could bring signicant advances in the study of this rich material in
the future.
References
Tibetan Medical Paintings
Bris cha (The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine), 77 plates. The M. N. Khangalov History Museum of
Buryatia, Inv. No. 15. A. 1879.
Byams-pa Phrin-las and Cai Jingfeng 1988, Tibetan Medical Thangkas of the Four Medical Tantras, Lhasa: Peoples Publishing House of Tibet.
Byams-pa Phrin-las and Wang Lei 1986, Bod lugs gSo Rig rGyud bzhii Nang Don Bris cha Ngo
mtshar mThong ba Don lDan (Tibetan Medical Thangkas of the Four Medical Tantras), Lhasa:
Peoples Publishing House of Tibet.
Comba A. F. Meyer et al. (eds) 1994, Antica Medicina Tibetana: Tavole miniate del Berillo Azzurro
di Sangye Gyamtso (XVII sec.), Modena: Zan.
Aseyeva T. A., N. D. Bolsokhoeva et al., Y. M. Parfonovich and R. E. Pubayev (eds) 1994, Atlas
Tibetskoi mediziny: Svod illustratsiik tibetskomu meditsinskomu tractatu XVII veka Goluboi
Berill (The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine: Code of the Illustrations to the Tibetan Medical Treatise of
the XVII century Blue Beryl ), Moscow: International Publishing House and Galart Publishing
House.
Parfonovitch Y., F. Meyer and G. Dorje 1992, Tibetan Medical Paintings: Illustrations to the Blue
Beryl Treatise of Sangye Gyamtso (16531705), London and New York: Serindia Publications
and Harry N. Abram.
Parfonovitch Y., T. Geist et al. 1996, Klassische Tibetische Medizin, Bern, Stuttgart and Wien:
Verlag Paul Haupt.
Tibetan language sources
Byams pa phrin las 1996, Sung rtshom phyogs bsgrigs (Collected Articles on Tibetan Medicine and
Astrology), (Reprint) Lhasa: Tibetan Publishing House.
g.Yu thog Yon tan mgon po [1982], bDud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi
rgyud (The Four Medical Tantras), (Reprint) Lhasa: Tibet Peoples Publishing House.
Pa sangs Yon tan 1986, Bod kyi gso ba rig bai lo rgyus kyi bang mdzod g.yu thog bla ma dran pai
pho nya (The History of Tibetan Medical Culture), Leh: The Yuthok Institute of Tibetan Medicine.
sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho [1982], dPpal ldan gso ba rig pai khog bugs legs bshad vaiduryai
me long drang srong dgyes pai dga ston (Desi Sangye Gyatso, Khog bugs, The History of Tibetan
Medicine), (Reprint) Gansu: Peoples Publishing House.
sDe srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho [end of 19th century], gSo ba rig pai bstan bcos sman blai dgongs
rgyan rgyud bzhii gsal byed vaidurya sngon poi phreng (Lapis Lazuli or: Blue Beryl ), Aginsk
366
edition (4 volumes).
Secondary sources
Andreyev A. I. 2006, Tibet v politeke zarskoi, sovetskoi i postsovetskoi Rossii, (Tibet in the Policy of
Tsars, Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia), Saint Petersburg: Publishing House of the Saint Petersburg
State University and Nartang Publishing House.
Ascho J. C. 1996, Annotated Bibliography of Tibetan Medicine (19891995), Kommentierte
Bibliographie zur tibetischen Medizin (17891995), Ulm, Germany and Dietikon, Schweiz:
Fabri Verlag and Garuda Verlag.
Avedon J. et al. 1998, The Buddhas Art of Healing: Tibetan Painting Rediscovered, New York:
Rizzoli.
Badarayev B. B. 1987, Opisanie Atlasa Tibetskoi Mediziny , (
, Description of The Atlas of Indo-Tibetan Medicine ) in Source Study and
Historiography of the History of Buddhism of the Central Asian Countries, (
), Novosibirsk: Science,
Siberian Division, (: , ), 1203.
Baldanzhapov P. B. 1982, K izucheniyu istochnikov indo-tibetskoi mediziny: Materialy po
izucheniiu istochnikov traditsionnoi systemy indo-tibetskoi mediziny, (Towards the Studies
of the Sources of Indo-Tibetan Medicine, -
) in E. G. Bazaron, L. L. Khundanova and B. B. Badarayev (eds)
Novosibirsk: Science, Siberian Division, (: , ),
1017 .
Bazaron E. G. 1984, Essays on Tibetan Medicine, ( ), Pubayev
R. E., (ed.), Ulan-Ude: Buryat Book Publishing House.
Bolsokhoyeva N. D. 2007, Atshagatskaya medizinskaya shkola i ee vklad v razvitie medizinsckoi
kultury buraytskogo etnosa, (
, The Aschagat Medical School and its Contribution in Development of Medical Culture of Buryat Ethnos) in: L. L. Abayeva, I. S. Kalmykov
et al. (eds) Interconfessional Relations at the Threshold of Millennia, (
), Ulan-Ude: Publishing House of the Buryat State
University.
2006, O deaytelnosti Agvana Dorjieva v oblasti Tibetskoi medizinskoi kultury, (Concerning the activity of Agvan Dorjiev in the eld of Tibetan medical culture) in A. M. Plusnin,
N. D. Bolsokhoyeva, E. O. Khundayeva et al. (eds), Ecological Problems and Spiritual Tradition
of the Peoples of the Baikal Region (
), Ulan-Ude: Publishing House of The Republican Center of the
Medical Prophylaxis of the Ministry of Health of Republic of Buryatia, 7887.
2004a, Istoriya priobreteniya Atlasa tibetskoi mediziny , (
, The History of Acquiring the Ulan-Ude Copy of the
Atlas of Tibetan Medicine ), Buddhism of Russia ( ) 38: 15967.
2004b, Tibetskaya nauka iszeleniya: Medizinskii illyustrazii, (Tibetan Healing Science:
Medical Illustrations in the Oriental Collection), Quarterly of the Russian State Library (Moscow), 1628.
2003, O nauchnoi deaytelnosti Chagpa Choipela, (About the scientic activity of
Chagpa Choiphel) in S. Y. Lepechov, S. P. Nesterkin et al. (eds), Buddhism in the Context of
History, Ideology and Culture of Central and Eastern Asia, Ulan-Ude: Publishing House of
Buryat Scientic Center of the Siberian Division of Russian Academy of Sciences, 314.
367