Desi Sangye Gyatso
Encyclopedia
Desi Sangye Gyatso was the fifth regent of the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682) who founded the School of Medicine and Astrology
on Chags-po-ri Hill (or 'Iron Mountain') in 1694 and wrote the Blue Beryl (Blue Sapphire) treatise. The name is sometimes written Sangye Gyamtso.
By some accounts, Sangye Gyatso is believed to be the son of the 5th Dalai Lama. He ruled as regent, hiding the death of the Dalai Lama, while the infant 6th Dalai Lama was growing up, for 16 years. During this period, he oversaw the completion of the Potala palace, and also warded off Chinese politicking. Eventually, the discovery of this deception was not taken kindly by the Chinese emperor Kangxi.
He is also known for harboring disdain for Drakpa Gyeltsen
. According to Lindsay G. McCune in her thesis (2007) Desi Sangye Gyamtso refers in his Vaidurya Serpo to the Lama as the "pot-bellied official" (nang so grod lhug) and states that, following his death he had an inauspicious rebirth. ,
The medical college at Chagpori (lchags po ri; "Iron Mountain") was designed for monastic scholars who would, after learning esoteric arts of medicine and tantrism, mostly remain in the monastery, serving the public as would other monk scholars and lamas. In 1916, Khenrab Norbu, physician to the 13th Dalai Lama, sponsored the construction of a second secular college of Tibetan medicine and Astrology, the Mentsikhang. Mentsikhang was designed as a college for 'laypersons' who would, after receiving training, return to their rural areas for work as doctors and educators.
Six medicinal substances were in common use in Tibet
when they appeared in the Blue Beryl Treatise:
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
on Chags-po-ri Hill (or 'Iron Mountain') in 1694 and wrote the Blue Beryl (Blue Sapphire) treatise. The name is sometimes written Sangye Gyamtso.
By some accounts, Sangye Gyatso is believed to be the son of the 5th Dalai Lama. He ruled as regent, hiding the death of the Dalai Lama, while the infant 6th Dalai Lama was growing up, for 16 years. During this period, he oversaw the completion of the Potala palace, and also warded off Chinese politicking. Eventually, the discovery of this deception was not taken kindly by the Chinese emperor Kangxi.
He is also known for harboring disdain for Drakpa Gyeltsen
Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen
Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen was an important Gelugpa lama and a contemporary of the Fifth Dalai Lama . His Seat was the upper residence of Drepung monastery , a famous Gelugpa monastery located near Lhasa.-Incarnation Lineage:Dragpa Gyaltsen is usually considered to be the 4th incarnation of Panchen...
. According to Lindsay G. McCune in her thesis (2007) Desi Sangye Gyamtso refers in his Vaidurya Serpo to the Lama as the "pot-bellied official" (nang so grod lhug) and states that, following his death he had an inauspicious rebirth. ,
Iron Mountain
Six herbs
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
when they appeared in the Blue Beryl Treatise:
- Arabic frankincenseFrankincenseFrankincense, also called olibanum , is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra, B. carteri, B. thurifera, B. frereana, and B. bhaw-dajiana...
(BurseraceaeBurseraceaeBurseraceae is a moderate-sized family of 17-18 genera and about 540 species of flowering plants. The actual numbers differ according to the time period in which a given source is written describing this family. The Burseraceae is also known as the Torchwood family, the frankincense and myrrh...
) (see on the left, top-left corner); - Mongolian garlic (see on the left, top-middle) ;
- Chinese quince (PseudocydoniaPseudocydoniaPseudocydonia sinensis , the only species in the genus Pseudocydonia, is a deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the family Rosaceae, native to eastern Asia in China. It is closely related to the east Asian genus Chaenomeles, and is sometimes placed in Chaenomeles as C...
) (see on the left, top-right corner); - Indian embelic myrobalan (Terminalia chebulaTerminalia chebulaTerminalia chebula is a species of Terminalia, native to southern Asia from India and Nepal east to southwestern China , and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Vietnam.It is a deciduous tree growing to tall, with a trunk up to in diameter...
) (see on the left, bottom-left corner); - Tibetan ginger (see on the left, bottom-middle) ;
- South Chinese Kaempferia galangaKaempferia galangaKaempferia galanga, commonly known as kencur, aromatic ginger, sand ginger, cutcherry or resurrection lily, is a monocotyledonous plant in the ginger family. It is found primarily in open areas in Indonesia, southern China, Taiwan, Cambodia and India, but is also widely cultivated throughout...
(see on the left, bottom-right corner);
Fiction
- The Deer and the CauldronThe Deer and the CauldronThe Deer and the Cauldron, also known as The Duke of Mount Deer, is a novel by Jin Yong, and was the last of Jin Yong's works. The novel was initially published as a serial, and ran between October 24, 1969 to September 23, 1972 in Ming Pao.Although the book is often termed as a wuxia novel, it is...
(鹿鼎記): a wuxiaWuxiaWuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
novel by Louis Cha. In the story, Desi Sangye Gyatso became the sworn brothers with the novel's main protagonist Wei XiaobaoWei XiaobaoWei Xiaobao is the fictional protagonist of Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron . He is a witty, sly and illiterate teenager, born to a prostitute from a brothel in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. He bumbles his way into the Forbidden City and has a fateful encounter with the young...
and the Mongol Prince Galdan Boshugtu Khan (葛爾丹).
See also
- AyurvedaAyurvedaAyurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...
- DesiDesiDesi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...
- Tibetan peopleTibetan peopleThe Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
- Traditional Chinese medicineTraditional Chinese medicineTraditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
- Traditional Mongolian medicineTraditional Mongolian medicineTraditional Mongolian medicine developed over many years among the Mongolian people. Many Mongolian doctors became so adept that they became well known in China and among Tibetan lamas.- History :...
- Traditional Tibetan medicineTraditional Tibetan medicineTraditional Tibetan medicine is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior and dietary modification, medicines composed of natural materials and physical therapies...
- Tree of physiologyTree of physiologyThe Tree of physiology is a Tibetan Thangka depicting human physiology and certain pathological transformations.-Epistemology:Tibetan medicine had developed a rather sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and physiology, which was acquired from their long-standing experience with human dissection...