Medicine and memory in Tibet : amchi physicians in an age of reform / Theresia Hofer.

"Medicine on the Margins explores the ways in which Tibetan medical doctors have preserved and revitalized aspects of Tibetan medicine over the past fifty years. During decades of forced sociopolitical and economic upheaval in Tsang Province of China's Tibetan Autonomous Region--with medical texts destroyed or hidden, teachers and lamas imprisoned or otherwise silenced, and almost all trade in medicinal ingredients halted--they had little hope that their 'science of healing' (Sowa Rigpa) would again flourish. Today, however, Tibetan medicine is in vogue, promoted by the Chinese Communist Party as a pillar industry of Tibet and a valuable asset of Tibetans' 'nationality minority culture.' For urban Tibetans, traditional medicine is one of the few areas where a relatively liberal expression of Tibetan identity and language is possible. In urban, medically pluralistic settings it is an easily available resource, while in remote areas, its practice and transmission to the younger generation faces many challenges. The passing away of the last practitioner of a certain pulse-reading or compounding of an herbal formula, for example, could mean the end of a long chain of transmission. For reasons of lack of access, continued repression of nonofficial histories, fear, and loss of living memory, Tibetan medical doctors--the so-called amchi--have been little studied. This volume presents their story, showing how practitioners from Tsang have retained crucial links in the teaching of medical knowledge despite the near-annihilation of monastic Buddhism and 'medical houses'"--Provided by publisher.