News from the PRC

[Guest guest]

All,

 

A couple of items from the nightly

news on CCTV this evening.

 

1. The first graduating class from the

new Tibetan College of Traditional Tibetan

Medicine in Lhasa celebrated its commencement

last week. This school was formerly

a department of the Tibetan University

in Lhasa and has now established itself

as a distinct organization. There are

some 300 members of this first graduating

class. All the talk was about the bright

future of traditional Tibetan medicine

and the expectations for enrollment of

foreign students interested in learning

these traditions.

 

And, in case anybody is wondering, I

would defintely recommend that anyone

thinking about hopping on the next

plane for Lhasa include the study of

the Tibetan language in their plans

as there seems to be a body of literature

associated with these traditions, too.

 

2. The central government announced

a funding/development plan on the order

of magnitude of nearly $3 billion US

that is dedicated to the establishment

of high tech R & D. One of the key

industries/subjects highlighted in

these plans is traditional Chinese

medicine, i.e., the modernization

thereof.

 

It's not clear what percentage of this

anticipated funding will go to support

R & D in TCM, but clearly it's a hefty

sum. The project is a cooperative

government/private sector initiative

and is only one of the larger of many

such undertakings that have been springing

up all around the country in the past

couple of years.

 

For those who are interested in what's

looming on the eastern horizon...

 

 

Ken

[Guest guest]

All the talk was about the bright

future of traditional Tibetan medicine

and the expectations for enrollment of

foreign students interested in learning

these traditions.

 

Ken,

 

Thanks for the news update. Do you have a perspective on the main

differences between Traditional Tibetan and Chinese herbal medicine? How

different are the yao cai that are used? Is the diagnostic system somewhat

related?

 

Thanks,

Stephen

 

 

 

 

Chinese Herbal Medicine, a voluntary organization of licensed healthcare

practitioners, matriculated students and postgraduate academics specializing

in Chinese Herbal Medicine, provides a variety of professional services,

including board approved online continuing education.

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

, " stephen " <stephen@b...>

wrote:

 

> Ken,

>

> Thanks for the news update. Do you have a perspective on the

main

> differences between Traditional Tibetan and Chinese herbal

medicine? How

> different are the yao cai that are used? Is the diagnostic

system somewhat

> related?

 

 

there are several books that lay out the basic ideas in a fashion

similar to the earliest books on CM (mann, etc.). It appears

much closer in its execution to ayurveda, based upon the limited

material I have seen. But it would be erroneous to generalize,

even moreso than in TCM. But this is what the current english

texts tell us. It does use a point system and moxa (borrowed

from the chinese), but acupuncture and zang fu balance are not

paramount. The main focus is on the three constitutions, known

in ayurveda as vata, pitta and kapha. It's not surprisng that

ayurveda has the larger influence as Indian style buddhism had

such a transforming effect on the tibetan culture. They use

pulse, tongue for dx and herbal meds for tx. Though they also

have a well developed psychiatry that involves various

techniques and practices. They like large formulas, use many

hot ingredients (the weather). Bob Flaws knows more about this

and Subhuti has written on it quite a bit (he is still a practicing

tibetan style buddhist).