Precious pills represent a special kind of Tibetan drug that once was, and still is, highly sought after by Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongolian patients. Such pills are generally taken as a potent prophylactic remedy, and can be used to cure various diseases. The present study seeks to discuss the dispensation and efficacy of precious pills according to the presentations of historical Tibetan medical scholars. Several treatises dealing with these instructions will be analysed, thereby revealing their underlying concepts, and highlighting their points of both general consensus and disagreement. The analysis of these detailed instructions will reveal the fact that these precious pills were not merely given to a patient but, in order to ensure their full efficacy, involved an elaborate regimen concerning three chronological periods: (1) the time of preparation, (2) the time of dispensation, and (3) the time after dispensation. Thus the present study surveys not only the ritual empowerment of drugs in Tibetan medicine, but also the importance of social relationships between doctors and patients in Tibetan medical history.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Sienna Craig;
(2015)
The Efficacy of Collaboration: Tibetan Medicine Across Countries and Conversations
(/isis/citation/CBB578370053/)
Article
Lena Springer;
(2015)
Collectors, Producers, and Circulators of Tibetan and Chinese Medicines in Sichuan Province
(/isis/citation/CBB445531510/)
Article
Florian Ploberger;
(2015)
A Tibetan Herbal Formula Understood from a Phytotherapeutical Perspective of TCM
(/isis/citation/CBB088240303/)
Book
Adams, Vincanne;
Schrempf, Mona;
Craig, Sienna R.;
(2011)
Medicine Between Science and Religion: Explorations on Tibetan Grounds
(/isis/citation/CBB001214757/)
Article
Akasoy, Anna;
Yoeli-Tlalim, Ronit;
(2008)
Along the Musk Routes: Exchanges between Tibet and the Islamic World
(/isis/citation/CBB000850174/)
Article
Nianggajia;
(2015)
The White Pill: Perceptions and Experiences of Efficacy of a Popular Tibetan Medicine in Multiethnic Rebgong
(/isis/citation/CBB695558502/)
Article
Stephan Kloos;
(2017)
The Politics of Preservation and Loss: Tibetan Medical Knowledge in Exile
(/isis/citation/CBB454138073/)
Article
Hofer, Theresia;
(2009)
Socio-Economic Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China
(/isis/citation/CBB001020985/)
Book
Connor, Linda H.;
Samuel, Geoffrey;
(2001)
Healing Powers and Modernity: Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Science in Asian Societies
(/isis/citation/CBB000620138/)
Article
Gyatso, Janet;
(2011)
Looking for Gender in the Medical Paintings of Desi Sangye Gyatso, Regent of the Tibetan Buddhist State
(/isis/citation/CBB001450719/)
Thesis
Ga, Yang;
(2010)
The Sources for the Writing of the “Rgyud Bzhi”, Tibetan Medical Classic
(/isis/citation/CBB001561054/)
Article
Wujastyk, Dagmar;
(2013)
Perfect Medicine: Mercury in Sanskrit Medical Literature
(/isis/citation/CBB001510474/)
Chapter
Gerke, Barbara;
(2011)
Correlating Biomedical and Tibetan Medical Terms in Amchi Medical Practice
(/isis/citation/CBB001214763/)
Article
Smanla, Tsewang;
Millard, Colin;
(2013)
The Preservation and Development of Amchi Medicine in Ladakh
(/isis/citation/CBB001213621/)
Book
Pordié, Laurent;
(2011)
Tibetan Medicine in the Contemporary World: Global Politics of Medical Knowledge and Practice
(/isis/citation/CBB001214756/)
Article
Peter Chen;
Thomas Chen;
(2015)
Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705) and the Medical Paintings of Tibet
(/isis/citation/CBB584850360/)
Book
Martin Saxer;
(2013)
Manufacturing Tibetan Medicine: The Creation of an Industry and the Moral Economy of Tibetanness
(/isis/citation/CBB931416500/)
Article
Fjeld, Heidi;
Hofer, Theresia;
(2011)
Women and Gender in Tibetan Medicine
(/isis/citation/CBB001450715/)
Chapter
Cuomu, Mingji;
(2011)
Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methodology in Tibetan Medicine: The History, Background and Development of Research in Sowa Rigpa
(/isis/citation/CBB001214767/)
Article
Czaja, Olaf;
(2013)
On the History of Refining Mercury in Tibetan Medicine
(/isis/citation/CBB001510476/)
Be the first to comment!