Issue: 71 Page: 38-48
Tibetan Herbal Medicine: Traditional Classification and Utilization of Natural Products in Tibetan Materia Medica
by Alessandro Boesi, Francesca Cardi
HerbalGram. 2006; 71:38-48 American Botanical Council
![](../images/HG71/aconitum8.jpg) |
A
Tibetan traditional doctor evaluates the taste of ‘dzin pa zla
bral (pronounced: zin pa da drel), Aconitum gymnandrum,
in the mountains surrounding the town of Litang, Litang County (Sichuan,
China), 4090 meters altitude, July 2000. Photo 2006 © Alessandro
Boesi. |
by Alessandro Boesi, PhD, and
Francesca Cardi, PhD
The Project
Several studies on Tibetan civilization have been carried
out up to now, yet some aspects of Tibetan traditional knowledge are still not
well-known, such as the way local people conceive the environment, plants, and
animals, and the way of practicing Tibetan medicine and exploiting medicinal
substances. Previous research on Tibetan medicine has mainly provided
information on theoretical aspects. Only recently have some scholars started to
document the ongoing transformations of this science.1,2,3,4,5
![](../images/HG71/amedicamentformula.jpg) |
A
medicament formula before the crushing, Dhorpatan Tibetan settlement (Central
Nepal), June 1998.
Photo 2006 ©Alessandro Boesi. |
Between 1998 and 2004, a research project on Tibetan ethnobiology and pharmacopeia
of traditional medicine was carried out by the authors in the context of a
doctoral program in Biological Anthropology. The aim of the research was to
study plant conception, classification, and exploitation among Tibetan populations,
as well as to assess the Tibetan materia medica and medical practice,
from the gathering of medicinal substances to the processing and administration
of medicaments. Particular attention has been given to the evaluation of the
knowledge of traditional doctors and to the contemporary evolutions of medical
activities in Tibetan regions.
This study is interdisciplinary, involving several
specialities such as anthropology, botany, ethnobotany, and tibetology. To
obtain exhaustive information, the fieldwork was carried out for a period of 16
months in collaboration with traditional doctors of different educational
levels who were located in different Tibetan regions: east Tibet (Litang County,
Sichuan, China), Ladakh (India), and different areas of Nepal (Dhorpatan and
Baragaon). The following anthropological methods were the most commonly used
during the investigation: participant observation, open-ended conversations,
and to a lesser extent, semi-structured interviews.
Excerpts of classical texts of Tibetan medicine6,7,8
and of some traditional and modern treatises of Tibetan materia medica9,10 were translated to analyze medicinal
plant conception, classification, and identification systems. Comparisons with
the field data were made. Plant and mineral specimens (approximately 350) were
gathered and identified, their traditional classification and use documented.
Medicinal plants were deposited at the Herbarium of the Muséum National d'Histoire
Naturelle de Paris, France, and mineral samples were deposited at the Museo di
Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy.
Field data have shown that the traditional doctor's
individual knowledge is crucial, influencing classification, identification,
and use of the materia medica, and that
the recent political, demographic, and socio-economic transformations of
Tibetan societies directly affect medical knowledge and practice.11
At the popular level, traditional botanical knowledge is unevenly spread
according to profession and education and is rapidly disappearing.12
Some of the research findings on the classification and identification of the materia
medica are reported in this article.
Tibetan Medicine
Tibetan medicine is practiced over a vast area, which covers
all the regions inhabited by populations of Tibetan language and culture, as
well as other areas: the northern states of India (Jammu & Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and Sikkim), Bhutan, a large part of the
northern regions of Nepal, and the Chinese Provinces of Tibet (Xizang),
Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan. It is also practiced in Mongolia, Buryat
(Russia), and many other countries where Tibetans have settled.
The medical system is the result of the blending of
different medical traditions and practices that come from the most important
Asian medical sciences: Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, and the
middle-east tradition. These kinds of medical knowledge, introduced into Tibet
from the 7th century onwards, were superimposed and integrated with the
pre-existing medical tradition of Tibetan regions, which at first were probably
scarcely developed and gave particular weight to magic and religious rituals.
Gradually, a distinct system of medical theories and practices developed,
rational and homogeneous, which gave origin to a new medical science, Tibetan
medicine, completely independent from the traditions which had influenced its
evolution. That entire various medical learning was gathered, probably between
the 8th and the 12th centuries, in a text composed of 4 volumes, The Four
Tantras (Gyushi, rGyud bzhi),6 nowadays still the fundamental
reference for all students and practitioners of Tibetan medicine along with its
famous commentary The Blue Beryl
(Vaidurya sngon po),7
produced in the 17th century by the Regent Sangye Gyatso (1653-1705).13
Tibetan medicine is currently practiced in several forms such as private
clinics, medical institutes, and dispensaries. It is taught at medical schools
or transmitted by masters through a lineage of disciples and family lineages.
It is worth noting that, although practitioners employ the same Tibetan classical
and modern texts devoted to theory and practice, Tibetan medicine is a complex
and heterogeneous system of thought whose presentation and practice is not
standardized and uniform. Our fieldwork has shown that the way to practice
this medical tradition is subject to variations according to several factors,
e.g., environmental conditions, family medical lineages, local traditions,
medical schools, medical centers, the influence of religious institutions,
and foreign influences both from other medical traditions and from modern
western medicine.
![](../images/HG71/Dhorpatan-monastery.jpg) |
One
of the areas where the research fieldwork was carried out. The so-called
Gompa easternmost camp of the Nordzinling Tibetan settlement of Dhorpatan
Baglung District (Central Nepal), 2900 meters altitude, April 1995. Photo
©2006 Alessandro Boesi. |
Tibetan Materia Medica
According to the Tibetan "science of healing," sowa rigpa (gso ba rig pa), medicinal substances, along with diet, behavioral rules, and
external treatments, represent a means to eliminate sickness and re-establish
the humoral balance of the body. In Tibetan medicine, most medicinal agents are
not used separately, but are mixed and processed into complex medicines. Ingredients
are chosen according to their individual therapeutic properties and to their
capacity of performing a coordinate and synergetic action.
Tibetan materia medica,
influenced mainly by Ayurveda after the translation of several treatises of
Indian origin, has been enriched and modified during the centuries according to
the needs of the Tibetan population and has been adapted to local environmental
conditions. Even during the present time, in relation to recent transformations
of the society and environmental changes, the materia medica is evolving.14
The most important traditional pharmacopeias employed today
are the Crystal Block (Shel
gong) and the complementary text of it, the
Crystal Rosary (Shel
phreng),8 both written in the
first half of the 18th century. The general texts of Tibetan medicine, The
Four Tantras and The Blue Beryl, also have a section devoted to describing the potency (nus
pa) of medicinal substances. Although the
above texts usually play a basic role in the education of doctors, our research
has shown that oral information is crucial, in particular as far as practical
activities and the use of medicinal substances are concerned.
Medicinal substances, man dza (sman rdzas), include
drugs of plant, mineral, and animal origin. They are gathered directly on the
Tibetan plateau or are imported from the lower regions of India, Nepal, and
China. Several medicinal plants grow in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Nowadays, these substances are available on local markets. The gathering of
plants may be influenced by their availability and other factors, and
practitioners organize them according to specific rules and timings. Medicinal
substances may be classified on the basis of different criteria, e.g., their
"hot" or "cold" properties, other therapeutic properties, as well as
morphological, biological, and environmental features. One of the most common
classifications of the materia medica reported by the informants (and also described in medical texts)
points out the 9 categories shown in Table 1.
Medicinal substances may be assembled according to various
criteria. The category of the woody medicines is worked out on the basis of the
presence of woody organs. The categories of herbaceous medicines and medicines
of the plains are worked out on the basis of several criteria: morphological,
biological, and environmental. A single criterion, the healing properties of
the medicines, is employed for the category of essence medicines. We emphasize
that regarding the category of precious medicines, its construction is also
inspired by religious beliefs.
Medicinal substances are commonly named according to Tibetan standard designations
that are also reported in written sources, but practitioners may use regional
names and synonyms. Several substances are designated with names of Sanskrit
origin, in particular the ones imported from India and Nepal, which are also
employed in Ayurvedic medicine.
Table 1: Categories of Tibetan
Materia Medica |
Medicinal Substances |
Tibetan Names |
precious medicines |
rin po che'i sman |
stone medicines |
rdo'i sman |
earth medicines (soils) |
sa'i sman |
salt medicines |
tshwa sman |
essence medicines |
rtsi sman |
woody medicines |
shing sman |
medicines of the plains |
thang sman |
herbaceous medicines |
sngo sman |
medicines coming from living beings |
srog chags sman |
Categories of Tibetan Materia Medica
Precious medicines include precious and semiprecious stones,
such as emerald, diamond, and lapis lazuli; metals (gold, silver, iron); and
mineral substances of animal origin such as coral, pearls, and conches. These
substances are considered doubly precious according to their economic value and
to their symbolic and religious importance, since Buddhism and medicine are
interrelated. Although Tibetan doctors affirm that every element of the materia
medica is equally important in the
preparation of remedies, this category of medicines is generally considered to
be very powerful. In fact, a type of medicament named Precious Pill, the
therapeutic effect of which is particularly renowned, is mainly composed of
substances that are included in this special category. The category of stone
medicines includes several kinds of minerals, e.g., calcium carbonate, pyrite,
and magnetite. Earth medicines and salt medicines are small categories: drugs
such as Vermiculitum are included
in the former, and sulphur in the
latter. Both categories present a similar internal division in 2 sub-groups:
natural (rang byung ba) and
artificial (bcos pa).
The categories of stones
and earths mentioned above include only elements of mineral origin, except one.
Curiously, practitioners consider a particular lichen as an herbaceous plant,
i.e., the one designated dodreg
(rdo dreg, Parmelia spp., Parmeliaceae); the
Tibetan name means "incrusted on the stone." However, the majority of
practitioners put this lichen in the group of medicinal stones because it
appears to be growing directly on the rocks, while others place it among the
medicinal earths category.
The category of essence medicines includes drugs apparently
very dissimilar coming from plants, minerals, and animals, e.g., camphor (ga
bur, Cinammomum camphora [L.] Nees & Eberm., Lauraceae), cardamom (sug
smel, Elettaria cardamomum Maton, Zingiberaceae), saffron (gur gum, Crocus sativus L., Liliaceae), musk, bear bile, and bitumen. Why do
Tibetan doctors classify them together? According to practitioners, the main characteristics
they share are their strong potency and their particular fragrance. Due to this
strength of potency and fragrance, they are employed in small amounts.
The woody medicines, the medicines of the plains, and the
herbaceous medicines include only drugs of plant origin. The woody medicines
include drugs coming from trees and shrubs. Among the few of them gathered
directly on the Tibetan plateau, the most common are shug pa (Juniperus
spp., Cupressus spp., Platycladus
orientalis (L.) Franco, Cupressaceae); dali (da lis,
Rhododendron spp., Ericaceae);
and several types of honeysuckle such as kishin (khyi shing, Lonicera thibetica Bur.
& Franch., Caprifoliaceae) and tarbu (star bu, commonly called
sea buckthorn in the West, Hippophae
spp., Elaeagnaceae). Many come from tropical and sub-tropical regions, such as
the Indian sandalwood tsendenmarpo
(tsan dan dmar po, Pterocarpus
santalinus L. Papilionaceae), different
types of myrobalam (a ru ra, Terminalia
chebula Retz., Combretaceae), and ba
ru ra (T. bellerica C.B. Clarke, Combretaceae). The category is
structured in 7 sub-groups; they correspond to the anatomical parts of plants
used in medicine: seeds and fruits, flowers, leaves, stems, branches, barks,
and resins.
The following 2 categories, medicines of the plains and
herbaceous medicines, have a similar internal organization. While some
informants report this classification, many of them do not differentiate the 2
groups, recognizing only a single category designated tsa man (rtswa
sman, "herbaceous medicines").
Others, influenced by modern texts, name it by joining the 2 terms sngo
(herbaceous) and thang (plains). However, many informants throughout
different Tibetan regions affirm that the distinction of these 2 groups has no
practical utility. The majority of the informants have little or no knowledge
of the 2 categories or of the features that differentiate them. They generally
report that the medicines of the plains grow in the area of the Tibetan plateau
at lower and medium altitudes and that herbaceous medicines grow on high
mountains.
In Tibetan traditional medicine, the term thang sman has 2 distinct meanings and utilizations. It is
employed either to indicate the category of medicinal plants, as reported
above, or to designate a kind of medicinal preparation, notably decoctions. In
the first case the meaning of thang is
"flat area"; in the second case it is "soup." It comes from the Chinese
language and particularly from the thang preparation employed in Chinese medicine. Several Tibetan informants mistakenly report that the
term thang sman only designates
medicinal plants that are used to prepare decoctions.
![](../images/HG71/Incarvillea.jpg) |
ug chos
dmar po (pronounced: ugchö marpo) Incarvillea
grandiflora. Xiangcheng County (Sichuan, China), 4120 meters
altitude, May 1999. Photo 2006 © Alessandro Boesi. |
Detailed descriptions of the botanical characteristics of the plants included
in the 2 categories are seldom reported. In this case, they correspond nearly
to the ones reported in traditional texts such as the Crystal Rosary.
The informants affirm that the medicines of the plains may be bulky herbaceous
or sometimes tiny woody plants, whose stems and roots are more developed than
those of the herbaceous medicines, such as pashaka (ba sha ka,
Adhatoda vasica Nees, Acanthaceae), thangdromnagpo (thang phrom
nag po, Anisodus tanguticus Pasher, Solanaceae), and chum
(lcum, Rheum palmatum L., Polygonaceae). Conversely, plants
belonging to the herbaceous medicines have an herbaceous aspect, with a slender
stem and tiny underground organs such as ugch? marpo (ug chos dmar
po, Incarvillea grandiflora Bur. Et Franch., Bignoniaceae) (see
photo on left) and tser n?n (tsher sngon, Meconopsis horridula
Hook. F. & Thoms., Papaveraceae).
The last category reported by the informants is the one of
medicinal substances coming from living beings. It includes substances that
belong to the animal kingdom. Hence, the medicinal substances previously
described, plants included, are not considered as living beings. Tibetans
regard as living beings only the substances that have a conscious principle (sems).
![](../images/HG71/Anisodus7.jpg) |
thang khrom nag po
(pronounced: tan drom nag po) Anisodus tanguticus.
Litang County (Sichuan, China), 3930 meters altitude, July 1999. Photo
©2006 Alessandro Boesi. |
Drugs are listed by anatomical parts and organs and are divided into numerous
sub-groups such as horns, eyes, tongues, teeth, hearts, and lungs. Some insects
and other small invertebrates may be included in another sub-group. The same
living being may be repeatedly listed according to its different anatomical
parts; for example, the stag, which appears both in the horn and in the blood
sections. Although many substances of animal origin are included in the materia
medica, Tibetan doctors do not frequently use them. Some possible reasons
are their rarity, high cost, and the recent promulgation of regulations protecting
the fauna.
The Identification of Medicinal Plants
Owing to the great extension of the area over which Tibetan
medicine is practiced, the materia medica
shows differences according to the region, climate and vegetation, local
traditions, the activities of medical institutes, and foreign influences. All
these factors may influence plant identification. Hence, different plants
(i.e., from different genera and species from the botanical perspective) may be
designated by the same Tibetan name.
The ability to accurately identify medicinal plants can be
acquired only after several years of study and practice with the guidance of a
learned master. It involves not only the identification of plants from their
morphological features and the recognition of the subtle differences between
plant varieties, but also the ability of evaluating their therapeutic
properties through the analysis of various plant and environmental features.
Two systems may be distinguished in the identification
process employed by Tibetan practitioners: "prototypical" and
"componential-conceptual."15,16 The former allows the practitioner
to recognize the plant and to attribute a name to it after the observation of
its general features, employing an ideal model, which evokes and supports the
botanical nomenclature. The latter is based on the evaluation of the presence
of one or several characteristics, which represent the necessary condition to
recognize the plant. Thus, this identification process implies the attentive
analysis of specific features of the plant.
![](../images/HG71/arisaema7.jpg) |
dwa
ba (pronounced: da wa) Arisaema nepenthoides.
Dhorpatan (Central Nepal), 3120 meters altitude, May 1998. Photo ©2006
Alessandro Boesi. |
Many Tibetan doctors examine the general aspect of a plant without considering
its minute features, and recognize it almost instantaneously, as in the case
of rechagpa (re lcag pa, Stellera chamaejasme L., Thymelaeaceae)
and dawa (dwa ba, Arisaema nepenthoides [Wallich]
Martius ex Schott, Araceae) (see photo on left). The practitioner bears
in his/her mind one ideal model, which allows the immediate recognition of
all the plants included in the same class. This model, based on his/her experience
and region of origin, usually constitutes the most typical specimen of the
category. Yet, in Tibetan medicine, the "prototypical" system seldom allows
the precise recognition of medicinal plants, representing only the first stage
of the identification process, i.e., the examination of the plant's general
aspect. Actually, the "componential-conceptual" identification system is essential
to recognize and exactly designate medicinal plants. Identification is complete
only when specific features evaluated for each plant correspond to the ones
known by the doctor, on the basis of his/her experience and education, and
to the ones described in the treatises of Tibetan materia medica. Only
then can the plant be gathered and employed in medicine. A practitioner's
experience and education, along with text information, represent concurrent
aspects of this task. Morphological features, taste, scent, and the environment
where the plant grows—the most important plant characteristics examined—are
analyzed below.
Morphological features
To describe the importance of the analysis of minute
morphological features in plant identification, we take as an example 2
categories of medicinal plants: lug ru (lug
ru, sheep's horn, Pedicularis spp., Scrophulariaceae) and lang na (glang sna,
elephant's trunk, Pedicularis spp.).
Pedicularis (lousewort) is a
genus of semi-parasitic plants, often conspicuous in the alpine zone all over
the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayan Mountains. According to the recent Flora of China,17 among the 352 species of Pedicularis
present in China, 271 are endemic, and many
thrive on the Tibetan plateau. The flower of the lousewort has a corolla, which
is two-lipped. The upper lip is hooded and often prolonged into a beak, which
may be slightly circular or trunk-shaped.
Tibetan practitioners of
Litang County (East Tibet) and other Tibetan areas identify louseworts in the
following manner. After a rapid evaluation of the general aspect of the plant,
they attentively examine the morphology of the flower and in particular its
beak, which may be called horn or nose, according to its shape. When the beak
is slightly circular, it is called horn, and the plant is identified as lug
ru. In this case, the beak of the
flower is associated with the horn of a sheep. When the beak of the flower
doesn't bend on one side, but it bends directly forward, looking like an
elephant's trunk, the plant is called lang na, meaning "elephant's trunk." The plants included
in the group called lug ru are
mainly identified according to the color of their flowers (and to the features
of the environment of growth), while the ones belonging to lang na are identified according to flower size and
position, and leaf position.
![](../images/HG71/Rheum-alexandrae.jpg) |
chu skyur
(pronounced: ciu ghiur) Rheum alexandrae. Litang
County (Sichuan, China), 4100 meters altitude, July 2000. Photo ©2006
Alessandro Boesi. |
Sometimes, the morphological identification parameters of the same plant
may vary as in this example concerning the identification of cha rkan
(bya rkang). The specimens of this plant that we gathered in Tibetan
regions belong to the genus Delphinium: Delphinium cashmerianum
Royle, Ranunculaceae in Ladakh; D. caeruleum in the Litang County (Sichuan,
China); and D. grandiflorum L. in Baragaon. According to the majority
of practitioners and texts,8 the flower of the cha rkan must
be similar to the head of the hoopoe (Upupa epops), and they affirm
that one of the Delphinium exhibits that characteristic. Conversely,
a traditional doctor from Khyungbo, a region located in East Tibet, names
cha rkan as a totally different plant, which has been identified by
us as a fern (Pteridium aquilinum [L.] Kuhn var. wightianum (J.
Agardh) Tryon, Dennstaedtiaceae). That practitioner refers directly to the
plant name cha rkan, meaning "bird's feet," for the identification.
Actually, he showed us that the not-fully-opened buds of that fern have a
striking similarity to bird feet and constitute the element, which allows
him to identify the plant as cha rkan.18
Taste
An important plant feature, which has to be carefully
examined, is its taste (ro), because
taste allows the practitioner to both recognize the plant and to assess its
potency. In Tibetan medicine the 6 tastes (sweet, acid, salty, bitter, hot,
astringent) are considered curative properties. They are produced by the
dominant 2 of the 5 elements (the
fundamental constituents of matter) of which each plant is formed. The 5
elements are the fundamental constituents of all substances and are responsible
for all their features and qualities. Thus, most practitioners, as in the case
of dzinpa dadrel ('dzin
pa zla bral, Aconitum gymnandrum Maxim, Ranunculaceae), after observing plant
morphology, crush with the teeth a portion of the plant and keep it for a while
on the tongue (see photo on cover page). The taste has to correspond to the one
indicated in the texts for that plant or according to the experience of the
doctor.
Scent
A situation which took place on the field in East Tibet confirms the importance
of the evaluation of scent for the identification of medicinal plants. We
showed a Tibetan doctor a specimen of Nardostachys grandiflora DC.,
Valerianaceae that had been gathered a few hours previously on the mountains.
The doctor, after examining the morphological features and taste of that specimen,
identified it as pang p? (spang spos)—the Tibetan name of the
plant mentioned above as N. grandiflora—but after evaluating the scent
of its underground part, changed his mind, because the scent did not correspond
to the one proper to that plant. Therefore, he concluded that, as concerned
the morphology and the taste, that plant was very similar to pang p?,
but as to its scent, it was different. Hence, that plant could not be identified
as pang p? and could not be used in medicine. After a few days, we
climbed with the same informant to the place where we had gathered that plant.
This time the practitioner, after analyzing the scent of a fresh specimen,
identified it as pang p?. All the above is to demonstrate that without
its scent this plant can't be exactly identified. We note that plant potency
(i.e., as a medicine) may also be ascertained through the evaluation of its
fragrance, which is also dependent upon the 5 elements: certain plants without
their proper fragrance cannot be employed as medicines, since they would be
deemed to be lacking in therapeutic properties.
Table 2: Traditional Tibetan
Medicinal Plants Mentioned in this Article |
Species |
Family |
Tibetan name |
Parmelia spp. |
Parmeliaceae |
rdo dreg |
Platycladus orientalis (L.)
Franco |
Cupressaceae |
shug pa |
Juniperus spp. |
Cupressaceae |
shug pa |
Cupressus spp. |
Cupressaceae |
shug pa |
Elettaria cardamomum Maton |
Zingiberaceae |
sug smel |
Crocus sativus L. |
Liliaceae |
gur gum |
Cinammomum camphora (L.) Nees & Eberm. |
Lauraceae |
ga bur |
Rhododendron spp. |
Ericaceae |
da lis |
Lonicera thibetica Bur. & Franch. |
Caprifoliaceae |
khyi shing |
Hippophae spp. |
Elaeagnaceae |
star bu |
Pterocarpus santalinus L. |
Papilionaceae |
tsan dan dmar po |
Terminalia chebula Retz. |
Combretaceae |
a ru ra |
Terminalia bellerica C.B. Clarke |
Combretaceae |
ba ru ra |
Anisodus tanguticus Pasher |
Solanaceae |
thang khrom nag po |
Rheum palmatum L. |
Polygonaceae |
lcum |
Adhatoda vasica Nees |
Acanthaceae |
ba sha ka |
Incarvillea grandiflora Bur.
Et Franch. |
Bignoniaceae |
ug chos dmar po |
Meconopsis horridula Hook. F. & Thoms. |
Papaveraceae |
a byag tsher sngon |
Arisaema nepenthoides (Wallich) Martius ex Schott |
Araceae |
dwa ba |
Stellera chamaejasme L. |
Thymelaeaceae |
re lcag pa |
Pedicularis spp. |
Scrophulariaceae |
lug ru |
Pedicularis spp. |
Scrophulariaceae |
glang sna |
Delphinium cashmerianum Royle |
Ranunculaceae |
bya rkang |
Delphinium caeruleum |
Ranunculaceae |
bya rkang |
Delphinium grandiflorum L. |
Ranunculaceae |
bya rkang |
Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn var. wightianum (J. Agardh)
Tryon |
Dennstaedtiaceae |
bya rkang |
Aconitum gymnandrum Maxim. |
Ranunculaceae |
'dzin pa zla bral |
Nardostachys grandiflora DC. |
Valerianaceae |
spang spos |
Aconitum violaceum Jacquem. ex Stapf. |
Ranunculaceae |
bong nga nag po |
Environment
In the identification process, the observation of the
environment where the plant grows is important, because it allows the
practitioners to make a selection. Certain plants thrive only in particular
ecological settings. The distinction between the shady side (srib) and the sunny side (nyin) of the mountains is fundamental. In fact, in the
Tibetan perception of the environment in general and, in particular, in plant
identification, that differentiation is a crucial factor because it denotes
different growing areas, each one with specific characteristics, where only
particular plants can grow.
![](../images/HG71/Meconopsis.jpg) |
a
byag tsher sngon (pronounced: a ciag tser nön) Meconopsis
horridula. Litang County (Sichuan, China), 3920 meters altitude,
June 2000. Photo ©2006 Alessandro Boesi. |
Furthermore, in Tibetan medicine, examining the environment where the plant
grows is crucial because it affects its potency: the hot power of the sun
prevails on the sunny slopes, whereas the cold power of the moon prevails
on the shady ones. In the same way, the altitude influences the cold nature
or the hot nature of the plant, increasing or decreasing its potency. That
is the case of a plant with a cold potency such as the bon na nagpo
(bong nga nag po, Aconitum violaceum Jacquem. ex Stapf., Ranunculaceae).12,18
The informants do not pluck the individuals growing on the sunny side of the
mountains because the hot nature of the sun dissipates their cold potency.
On the contrary, the ones that grow in the highest places of the shady slopes
are the most appreciated because the cold power of the spot is very strong.
There are also plants whose properties are not particularly influenced by
environmental features such as the tsern?n (Meconopsis horridula
Hook. F. & Thoms., Papaveraceae) (see photo at left), a type of Himalayan
blue poppy. Interestingly, the doctor may decide to pluck the same plant in
a different site according to the therapeutic properties required.
The role of literary sources in the identification process
Many traditional6,7,8 and modern texts9,10
describe and illustrate the materia medica
of Tibetan medicine. They give general information about plant categories and
very concise descriptions of plant morphology and of their environment of
growth. The authors often use comparisons with other plants or metaphors, which
describe the plant organ, using an animal or its organ as a model of
similarity. These descriptions certainly cannot be employed to carry out the
identification a priori, because
they imply subjective interpretations. Actually, plant identification is not
carried out employing these texts, but on the basis of the individual
experience of the practitioner.
These treatises are used by practitioners who are already
able to recognize medicinal plants and may use the information to distinguish
the different varieties of a single plant. This may be very important because
each type of plant often has distinct healing properties or a distinct technique
of use. In this way written information in Tibetan texts and the oral
information received by the teachers allow the practitioner to recognize the
plant. The modern treatises of Tibetan materia medica published in Chinese Tibet in the last decades have
been spreading increasingly all over Tibetan regions. We noticed the rapid
diffusion all over Tibetan cultural regions of a recent text of Tibetan
pharmacopeia,9 which also presents numerous illustrations of plants
and other medicinal substances. During gathering trips or at drug markets, many
doctors employ it to identify plants using the illustrations.
Conclusion
The knowledge of the materia medica is moderately diffused throughout Tibetan regions,
and the disparity of competence among practitioners is significant. Modern
generations of practitioners are principally skilled in the diagnosis and
administration of the remedies. Only a limited number of highly educated and
well-experienced Tibetan doctors have a deep knowledge of medicinal plant
classification and identification criteria. One of the reasons explaining that
phenomenon may be related to a recent trend, which is becoming increasingly
important in the last decades—the recent standardization and industrialization
of drug processing in Tibetan medical institutes, and the specialization of
practitioners.11
Medicinal substances are similarly conceived in the regions
studied. Traditional doctors seem to attribute little importance to their
classification in categories (as shown in Table 1) and prefer distinguishing
drugs on the basis of their qualities and therapeutic properties. A general
tendency consists in simplifying the traditional classification according to
practical evaluations. The same happens with modern Tibetan pharmacopeias
(edited in Chinese Tibet), some of which may also include additional
substances, probably under Chinese influence, that do not appear in classical
Tibetan treatises.
As far as the identification of medicinal plants is
concerned, it is not only based on the analysis of the morphology of the plant,
but also takes into account other properties such as its taste and smell, and
the features of the environment where it grows. Taste, smell, and environment
are important features, which are employed both to recognize the plant and to
assess its healing properties and quality at the same time.
Although based on the same medical texts, the knowledge
related to the many substances of mineral, animal, and plant origin of the
Tibetan pharmacopeia may vary according to the region, climate and vegetation,
medical schools, local traditions, and foreign influences. Owing to the
socio-economic, cultural, and political transformations of Tibetan societies,
and to the standardization of medical knowledge and practice, it is important
to document this unique local knowledge that may disappear in the near future.
Alessandro Boesi obtained his PhD in Biological Anthropology
in 2004 at the Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
His thesis is titled "Le savoir botanique des Tibétains: conception,
classification et exploitation des plantes sauvages." Alessandro has conducted
fieldwork in Ladakh (India), Nepal, and Tibet (China) since 1994, focusing
on Tibetan ethnobotany and the materia medica of Tibetan medicine.
He is affiliated with Shangdril (www.shangdril.org),
a research center at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano (Italy) and works
as a lecturer for Italian universities.
Francesca Cardi obtained her PhD in Anthropology in 2004
at the Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France. For
the last 10 years she has carried out extensive research in several Tibetan
regions, focusing on Tibetan pharmacopoeia, medicament production, and the
practice of traditional doctors. She is a member of the research center Shangdril
(Italy) and collaborates with Italian universities and institutions such as
Université di Pavia and Museo di Etnomedicina di Genova, and also with
scientific publishers and pharmaceutical companies.
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Additional literature
Boesi A. Plant categories and types in Tibetan materia
medica. The Tibet Journal. 2006. In press.
Clifford T. The Diamond Healing, Tibetan Buddhist
Medicine and Psychiatry. New Delhi: Motilal
Banarsiddass; 1994:268.
Finckh E. Foundations of Tibetan Medicine. London: Watkins Publishing; 1978:80.
Anderson D, Salick J, Moseley RK, Ou Xiaokun. Conserving the
sacred medicine mountains: a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in
Northwest Yunnan. Biodiversity and Conservation. 2005;14:306-3091.
See sidebar "Himalayan Snow Lotus Threatened with Extinction" by Nancy
Dennis
See
sidebar "Tibetan Medicinal Plant Conservation Airs on NPR's Morning
Edition" by Nancy Dennis
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