Moon king Medical Manual (Somaratsa): The “Pulse” of Medical Guidance Through Thousand Years

American doctors have creatively combined psychology with the traditional pulse diagnosis method to diagnose modern diseases. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) training courses in Portugal, pulse diagnosis simulators have found their place for skills upgrading and international academic exchanges.In TCM clinics in Australia, the legacy of this unique pulse diagnosis technique is performed by TCM practitioners of experience and their “foreign apprentices”.

Changes in the pulse are detected through the classic pulse-taking method.This dialectical method of “Inspection, Listening, Inquiring, and Palpation” is not only widely applied to clinical medicine worldwide, but also thrives on the Snowy Plateau as an important part of the TCM culture.

Pulse diagnosis is the earliest and arguably the most developed diagnostic method in TCM, and it has been embraced by Tibetan medicine. The Traditional Chinese Medicine in Xizang falls under the great influence of the Traditional Chinese Medicine of Han Chinese. The latter highlights the “Five Elements” in pulse diagnosis metal, wood, water, fire, earth -corresponding to internal organs. Tibetan medicine accents the pulse -taking of lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys, which is a continuation of the theory of “Yin Yang and Five Elements” applied to internal organs. And we can find all these theories in Moon king Medical Manual.

Moon king Medical Manual is the oldest medical book in the Tibetan language in existence. In the 8th century A.D., Princess Jincheng married to Tubo king, ushering in the second climax of cultural exchanges between Han and Tibetan. During the Tang Dynasty, Chinese medicine in hinterland was very advanced and when Princess Jincheng went to Tubo, she brought a lot of medical books with her.

This is the first page of the Moon king Medical Manual. The book is loose-leaf, with pages marked in Tibetan-written books. The Tibetan book title Somaratsa is on the back. This is Chapter 16, Heart Pulse. The pulse of the heart is the pumping of blood, or “blood pulse”, which consists of two pulses. The pulse of kidneys, livers, and spleen develops downward. This chapter is actually about the development and direction of blood vessels and is similar to anatomy.

In terms of cognitive neuroscience, there are some important ideas in the book that explicitly indicate that the brain is the center. Some foreign scholars were greatly astonished, saying that it’s quite remarkable to recognize brain nerves in such an ancient era. Moon king Medical Manual covers physiology, pathology, and pharmacology, demonstrating a full-scale medical development during the Tubo period.

These “fruits of medicine” have been passed down for thousands of years, and it is made possible by the unique craftsmanship and raw materials of Tibetan medical books. This book was made by Tibetan paper, which was made of local Stellera chamaejasme. Stellera chamaejasme is a natural herbal insecticide, and the paper made of it is robust, adequately moth-resistant, and can be effortlessly preserved for hundreds of years. The ink is also a kind of medicine. It is the ashes of burnt pine trees. Look at this black color.It is organically blended with Tibetan paper, which makes it waterproof.

Moon king Medical Manual has significantly boosted the systematization, perfection, and development of Tibetan medicine, and it is also a fruit of cultural exchanges between Han and Tibetan.