Stone carving edition of 'the Four Tibetan Medical Classics' finished
The Four Tibetan Medical Classics was unveiled at the Tibetan Culture Museum of Qinghai Province on October 26th.
The project took three years to complete, and the final creation weighed five tons. This was the first time in the Tibetan history of culture and medicine that this Tibetan medical book was carved on stone.
The Four Tibetan Medical Classics is an authoritative reference book combining clinical practice and theoretical knowledge of Tibetan medicine, and is considered an encyclopedia of Tibetan medicine.
It is the most systematic, complete, and fundamental source of knowledge in Tibetan medicine. In May of 2015, it was selected for the fourth round of the Chinese Heritage Directory of Reference Classics.
This stone carving edition of the Four Tibetan Medical Classics used an antique version of the book at the Potala Palace as reference. It relies on the traditional Tibetan stone-etching techniques and uses rare stones from Yushu Prefecture of Qinghai.
The creation took four skilled Tibetan stone-etching artisans three years to complete. The finished project is composed of 578 stones weighing a total of five tons.
Karma Tsonyi, Professor of Tibetan Medicine Institute at Qinghai University, founder of the project, explained that the Four Tibetan Medical Classics serves the medical needs of all people in Tibet and other places, and plays a critical role in the field of Tibetan medicine. He would donate the stone carving edition of the classics to the Tibetan Culture Museum of Qinghai Province.
"Etching the Four Tibetan Medical Classics on stone would help it last longer, prevent any damage, and make it more useful. Showing it at a museum could make people from all over the world admire it and get to know this Tibetan medicine classic,” said Karma Tsonyi.