Tibetan Medicine (Illustrated in Original Texts)

Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. History of Tibetan medicine. 2. Tibetan medicine (chapters from the second book of the rGyud-Bzhi, called Bshad-rGyud). 3. Bibliography of European works of Tibetan medicine. 4. Illustrations. 5. The life of the great physician-Saint gYu-thog the elder. 6. Index of plant names and mineral names Latin or English-Tibetan. 7. Materia Medica index. 8. Index of personal names. 9. Index of texts. 10. Words not in glossary. 11. Materia Medica (Latin/English) as in the first edition. 12. Materia Medica (Tibetan) as in the first edition. 13. Index of places. 14. Selected articles on specific subjects connected with Tibetan medicine. 15. Bibliography of some of the more recent books on Tibetan medicine. Glossary.

"Protected by the world’s highest mountain ranges, Tibetan medicine has preserved an unbroken tradition since its introduction from India in the seventh century. The venerable Rechung Rinpoche has here provided translations of the most important Tibetan medical texts, including indexes of plants, other medical texts and persons, and a brief history of Tibetan medicine, supplemented by a bibliography of western works on the subject. A major part of the volume is occupied by the biography of the Great Physician –Saint gYu-thog the Elder (C.E..786-911), who spread medical science throughout Tibet. Poetic and imaginative features characteristic of Tibetan literature compose this narrative. The volume also includes translations from the second and fourth books of the rGyud-bzhi, a work that is thought to have been derived from Sanskrit sources, but survives only in Tibetan and Mongolian, the Mongolian version being clearly a translation from the Tibetan one. Illustrations, including a series of intricate Tibetan anatomy diagrams, lend further appeal to the volume." (jacket)