Studies of Medical Pluralism

Sienna Craig, Mingji Coumo, Frances Garrett and Mona Schrempf (Editors):  Studies of Medical Pluralism in Tibetan History and Society [PIATS 2006: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies. Königswinter 2006.], 2010, 470 pages, 76,50 Euro. ISBN: 978-3-03809-108-0

The two Tibetan medical panels at the XIth seminar at Königswinter, Germany, in 2006 included thirty-four papers on a wide range of topics relating to Tibetan medicine. This volume publishes a selection of those papers in both English and Tibetan, with a preface by Geoffrey Samuel and an Introduction by Sienna Craig, Mingji Cuomu, Frances Garrett, and Mona Schrempf.

Contents:

 7   Geoffrey Samuel, “Preface”
13  Sienna Craig, Mingji Cuomu, Frances Garrett, Mona Schrempf, “Introduction”

PART ONE Tibetan Medicine in Modern Contexts: Challenges and Innovation

41  Alex McKay, “Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan: the myth of venereal disease”
61  Colin Millard, “Illness narratives and idioms of meaning in two Tibetan medical clinics”
111 Vincanne Adams, Renqing Dongzhu, Phuoc V. Le, “Translating science: the Arura Medical Group at the frontiers of medical research”
137 Cynthia Husted and Lobsang Dhondup, “Bridging the gap between science and traditional medicine: microscopic and macroscopic correlations of the three nyes pa in Multiple Sclerosis”
179 Drolma Tso, “Perspectives and experiences on the training of Tibetan medicine practitioners”
189 Jigmed Phuntsok, “Dus rabs nyer gcig pa’i gso rig gi rgyal bo chen po bod kyi sna mang gso rig gi khyad chos dang sna gcig gso rig bar gyi drang bden brjod pa seng phrug gi nga ro”

PART TWO Medical Pluralism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

195 Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim, “On urine analysis and Tibetan medicine’s connections with the west”
213 Mingji Cuomu, “Bod kyi gso rig thun min gyi nad khams rnam bzhag la dpyad pa”
221 Geoffrey Samuel, “A short history of Indo-Tibetan alchemy”
235 Tetsu Nagasawa, “Eaten by primordial wisdom: transmutation of the physical body in the Rdzogs chen tradition”
255 Denise Glover, “Classes in the classics: Historical changes in plant classification in two Tibetan medical texts”
279 Susan Heydon, “‘The greatest news’: Khunde Hospital and childbirth in a Sherpa community in Nepal”
307 Nupur Pathak, “The influence of dietary beliefs and socio-economic factors on maternal health of exile Tibetans in contemporary Dharamsala”
337 Barbara Gerke, “Tibetan Treatment Choices in the Context of Medical Pluralism in the Darjeeling Hills”

PART THREE Experiences of Medicine, Illness, and Social Change

379 Ivette Vargas, “Legitimising demon diseases in Tibetan medicine: the conjoining of religion, medicine, and ecology”
405 Tenjing Bista, “Glo po smon thang gso rig rigs gzhung gdams pa myong grub”
413 Nyima Tsering, “Bod lugs gso ba rig pa’i slob gso”
427 Lhapa Phuntsog, “Massage in Tibetan traditional physical training: a brief introduction to the preparatory rubbing method”
437 Yangbum Gyal, “Bod kyi gso ba rig pa las gna’ deng bod mi’i zas skom gyi skor la cung zad gleng ba”

End-matter

445 Translated abstracts of papers