Title: The sources for the writing of the "Rgyud bzhi", Tibetan medical classic
Description: The Rgyud bzhi , the classical Tibetan medical text and teaching manual for Tibetan medicine, was compiled by G.yu thog Yon tan mgon po in the twelfth century. Since the composition of the Rgyud bzhi , numerous commentaries on the text have been produced in Tibetan. This thesis considers the sources that the author drew upon in writing this work. While previous Western scholarship has only been able to recognize the influence of Indian medical texts on the Rgyud bzhi , this thesis introduces several works that were either composed or written in Tibetan prior to the translation of the main Indian medical work that influenced Tibetan medicine, the As[dotbelow]t[dotbelow]an gahr[dotbelow]dayasam[dotbelow]hit a , and which can be shown to have directly influenced major sections of the Rgyud bzhi . This thesis also points to numerous places in the work that were likely to have been the original composition of G.yu thog Yon tan mgon po. It demonstrates the multiply sources upon which the author drew and shows his creative process in synthesizing various threads of Asian medicine. It also identifies three works that G.yu thog wrote prior to the Rgyud bzhi , which served as drafts for the eventual magnum opus . The thesis begins with a survey of past research in both Tibetan and Western languages on the origins of the Rgyud bzhi . Then it moves in chapter one to provide a general overview of the early introduction of medical traditions from a variety of places and lineages into Tibet in the seventh to ninth centuries. It introduces several very important early medical texts that contributed to the formation of the Rgyud bzhi .

They are Byang khog dmar byang gsal ba'i sgron me , Bi ji'i po ti kha ser , and Sman dpyad zla ba'i rgyal po . These texts appear to pre-date the Tibetan translation of As[dotbelow]t[dotbelow] an gahr[dotbelow]dayasam[dotbelow]hita and might even have been composed as early as during the Tibetan Empire. It also discusses the translation and transmission of As[dotbelow]t[dotbelow] an gahr[dotbelow]dayasam[dotbelow]hita in Tibet in the eleventh century, and provides an overview of its relationship to the Rgyud bzhi . Finally it provides a detailed history of what we know about the authorship and subsequent transmission of the Rgyud bzhi itself. This includes a study of the life of G.yu thog Yon tan mgon po, and in particular, three of his early works that I argue served as drafts or earlier versions of parts of the Rgyud bzhi . Chapter two offers a survey of the principal sources for each chapter of the Rgyud bzhi . I do this by comparing the content and structure of the text with the Indian work As[dotbelow]t[dotbelow] an gahr[dotbelow]dayasam[dotbelow]hita as well as with what I am calling "pre- As[dotbelow]t[dotbelow] an ga medical works," and the early G.yu thog drafts. A comparative analysis of these works with the Rgyud bzhi is presented in detail in the chapter. Chapter three provides a translation of two sections in the abdominal wounds chapter of the Rgyud bzhi . The chapter compares the abdominal wounds sections of the Rgyud bzhi with the corresponding section in the Byang khog dmar byang gsal ba'i sgron me , Bi ji'i po ti kha ser , and the early G.yu thog works.

The last chapter provides the conclusion of the entire thesis, which speculates upon what this exercise has taught us about the history of medicine in Tibet and the formation of the Rgyud bzhi . This dissertation shows that the Rgyud bzhi had many sources and demonstrates in detail how diverse early sources contributed to the creation of the Rgyud bzhi , sources that no scholar to date has identified with precision. In addition, this thesis questions the more basic assumption that the Rgyud bzhi has always been the "root" and only main text of Tibetan medicine. It shows that there were several early works that were important during the time of G.yu thog Yon tan mgon po, and it also identifies his own influential works that functioned as draft versions of the Rgyud bzhi .