William McGrath. 2017. ‘Buddhism and Medicine in Tibet: Origins, Ethics, and Tradition’. PhD diss., University of Virginia. 264 pp. DOI:10.18130/V39H1N [PDF]
From the Abstract: Primarily focusing on the literary contributions made by the Drangti family at the Sakya Medical House, the present dissertation demonstrates the process in which the Tibetan medical tradition transitioned from controversy, competition, and change, to a narratively unified set of theories and practices that came to be taught at Buddhist institutions throughout the Tibetan plateau.
Contents
INTRODUCTION: ON THE VERY IDEA OF BUDDHIST MEDICINE IN TIBET … 1
CHAPTER ONE: DIVINATION AND DIAGNOSIS IN THE EARLY TIBETAN MEDICAL
TRADITION … 10
The Social Context of the Medical Tradition in Twelfth-century Tibet … 11
Mirror Divination, Child Mediums, and Oracular Revelation: The Tibetan Assimilation of Prasenā Divination … 14
On the Meaning of the Word Prasenā … 15
Child Mediums, Prasenā Revelation, and Possession … 18
Prasenā Divination in Tibetan Literature … 23
Channel Examination and Prasenā Divination … 25
Channel Examination as Prasenā Divination … 29
Prasenā Divination as Channel Examination … 32
The Indispensable Channel Prasenā Rituals … 32
The Wonder Channels and the Subsequent Tantra … 41
Conclusion: Observation and Revelation in the Tibetan Medical Tradition … 48
CHAPTER TWO: ADAPTATION AND INNOVATION IN TIBETAN MEDICAL
SCHOLASTICISM … 50
Medicine as a Scholastic Field of Knowledge … 54
Practical Scholasticism in the Tibetan Medical Tradition … 63
The Small Practical Manual … 67
The Account of Transmission … 68
Diagnostics in the Small Practical Manual … 74
The Five Classifications of Medicine … 79
The Closing Section … 87
CHAPTER THREE: ORIGIN MYTHS AND THE BUDDHIST NARRATION OF MEDICINE … 94
Narrative and Polemics in the Tibetan Medical Tradition … 97
The Collection of Medicine … 105
Precedents for the Mythology of the Four Tantras … 112'
Narrative Echoes from Mt. Wutai … 117
The Great Tantra, the Lesser Tantra, the King of Tantras, and the Four Tantras … 124
The Expanded Elucidation of Knowledge and the Reconciling of Narratives … 131
CHAPTER FOUR: THE YUTOK STUDENT AND FAMILIAL LINEAGES AT THE SAKYA MEDICAL HOUSE … 141
The Mongols, the Drangti Clan, and the Sakya Medical House … 142
The Drangti and the Yutok Familial Lineage … 146
The Yutok Student Lineage … 152
The Later Layers of the Indispensable Account … 163
Canonization and Curriculum in the Tibetan Medical Tradition … 170
Conclusions: Education, Standardization, and Unification … 178
CHAPTER FIVE: IMPERIAL LEGENDS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN THE TIBETAN MEDICAL TRADITION … 180
The Expanded Elucidation of Knowledge in the Tibetan Tradition of Buddhist Historiography … 182
The Escape of Minister Gar … 186
Foreign Physicians and the Tibetan Assimilation of Medicine … 192
The Early Propagation: The Inception of Medical Lineages … 193
The Middle Propagation: The Translation of Medical Texts … 194
Geographical Precedents in Tibetan Medical Literature … 199
Geography in the Four Tantras … 200
Geography in the Gold Measure Collection … 203
Geography in Khokbuk Literature … 205
The Establishment of Professional Ethics in the Tibetan Medical Tradition … 211
Galen in Tibet … 212
Professional Ethics in the Tibetan Medical Tradition … 213
Precedents and Interpretations of Professional Ethics in the Tibetan Medical Tradition … 220
Summary and Conclusions: A Tradition of Historiographical Creativity at the Sakya
Medical House … 222
CONCLUSIONS: DIAGNOSIS AND PRESCRIPTION, HISTORY AND PROPHESY … 225
BIBLIOGRAPHY … 228
Tibetan- and Chinese-language Works … 228
European-language Works … 232
APPENDIX: APPROXIMATE CHRONOLOGY AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF EARLY LITERATURE IN THE TIBETAN MEDICAL TRADITION … 244
Pre-eleventh Century … 245
The Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries … 252
The Thirteenth Century … 258
The Fourteenth Century … 262