EASTM 47 (2018): 93-119

Research Note

A Missing Link in the

History of Chinese Medicine:
Research Note on the Medical Contents
of the Taishō Tripiṭaka

C. Pierce Salguero

[Pierce Salguero is an interdisciplinary humanities scholar fascinated by the

intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He has a
Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and
teaches Asian history, religion, and culture at Penn State University’s Abington
College in Philadelphia. The major theme in his scholarship is the interplay
between the global transmission and local reception of Buddhist knowledge about
health, disease, and the body. He is the author of Translating Buddhist Medicine
in Medieval China (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), Buddhism &
Medicine: An Anthology (vol. 1, Columbia University Press, 2017), and many
articles in scholarly journals. Contact: salguero@psu.edu]
***
Abstract: Numerous texts were produced roughly between 150 and
1100 CE that introduced Indian medicine to East Asia. These have
historically represented a relatively discrete corpus of health-related
knowledge, relatively unintegrated into Chinese medicine and often
ignored in mainstream Chinese medical historiography. Buddhist texts
do not provide straightforward evidence of a unitary tradition of healing
that was transplanted from India to China. However, these sources are
critical to understanding the history of medicine in medieval China. In
addition, it is not an exaggeration to say that this corpus offers one of
the most voluminous sources of textual evidence for the transregional
communication and reception of medical ideas in first millennium CE Asia
that is available anywhere. Despite the fact that over the long term they
were not nearly as significant in Chinese medical history as classical
medical models, Buddhist ideas and practices deserve more attention than
they have received thus far from our field. This brief research note is meant
to introduce historians of Chinese medicine to one easily accessible
collection of texts that can be used to begin to fill in this ‘missing link.’

93
94 EASTM 47 (2018)

Today, East Asian scholars and devotees alike routinely use the term
‘Buddhist medicine’ (Ch. foyi , fojiao yiyao , Jp. bukkyō igaku
, and similar constructions) to refer to the foreign medical
knowledge that came hand in hand with the transmission of Buddhism to
that region. While the term itself is modern, the texts that introduced East
Asia to Indian medicine were produced roughly between 150 and 1100 CE,
and have historically represented a relatively discrete corpus of health-
related knowledge.1 Including both Chinese translations from Sanskrit and
other Buddhist languages as well as indigenous compositions, this corpus
has been only partially integrated into mainstream Chinese medical
thought.
The same might be said of its integration into the historiography of
Chinese medicine—at least as far as scholarship in English is concerned.
Chinese Buddhist sources have been studied extensively by scholars of
Religious Studies for what they reveal about local and transregional
histories of religion, social organization, and cultural production. However,
with only a few exceptions, historians of science and medicine have tended
to overlook Buddhism, sometimes even going out of their way to dismiss
the religion as having had little relevance for their topic.2 This blind-spot is
understandable, given that the analysis of Buddhist texts necessitates
vastly different background knowledge and linguistic skills than those
typically possessed by classically-trained Sinologists.3 The difficulties of the
sources notwithstanding, the Chinese Buddhist corpus presents both
exciting opportunities for research in the history of Chinese healing
traditions, and of how those relate to the global history of medicine in the
pre-modern period.
To take up the second of these first: Buddhist texts do not provide
straightforward evidence of a unitary tradition of healing that was
transplanted from India to China. Rather, because of their diverse
provenance and authorship, these sources offer us a cacophony of
overlapping and sometimes contradictory voices from various times and

1 On the origins of this term and the category of knowledge it points to, see

Salguero (2015a). A more complete state of the field of Buddhist medicine in China
and Japan is available in Salguero (forthcoming). An annotated bibliography on
Buddhist medicine outside of the East Asian context is available in Salguero (2015b).
2 Such viewpoints were influentially expressed in Joseph Needham (1956), on

which see discussion in Salguero (2018a). Exceptions to the general paucity of

studies in English by historians of science and medicine include works by Vijaya
Deshpande cited in the references; Chen Ming (2005a); Köhle (2016); Sivin (2016),
pp. 136-146; and my own published work on this topic.
3 An introduction to understanding Chinese Buddhist language in relation to

medicine is provided in Salguero (2014a), pp. 51-60.

SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 95

places—often layered on top of one another within the same text.4 Upon
investigation, however, these writings often exhibit intriguing parallels
with medical treatises from China, India, Central Asia, Tibet, and Southeast
Asia. They sometimes bridge the gaps between ancient Indian texts and
living traditions elsewhere in Asia. They also often present us with peculiar
formulations of Indian medical knowledge unattested in other sources.
Keeping in mind that Chinese Buddhist texts often (though by no means
always) contain reliable meta-data about their provenance and authorship,
they also can begin to fill in significant lacunae in our understanding of the
spread and development of medical thought and practice across the region
in the first millennium. Indeed, it is not an exaggeration to say that this
corpus offers one of the most voluminous sources of textual evidence for
the transregional communication and reception of medical ideas in first
millennium CE Asia that is available anywhere.
Aside from their importance for crosscultural or global history, these
sources are also critical to understanding the history of medicine in
medieval China. Scholars who have explored Buddhism’s place in the
history of Chinese religions have shown these sources to contain important
evidence of the pluralistic and socially-complex nature of healing in the
medieval period.5 It is clear that Buddhist-inspired healing played a major
role in the healthcare landscape in medieval China—in certain contexts
integrating with, or even eclipsing altogether, the classical medical
tradition. Wielded by Buddhist healer-monks, who were often foreigners
from India or other parts of Asia, or else their students, Indian ideas and
practices were represented as exotic and novel solutions for the familiar
problems of preventing and curing illness. By the sixth and seventh
centuries, Buddhist medicine in one form or another came to be patronized
by the imperial families, to be fashionable among the elite, and to be
popularized across all levels of medieval society. Predictably given its
foreign origin, however, Buddhist medicine eventually became the target
of increased opprobrium when the intellectual climate became more
xenophobic and classicist in the late Tang dynasty. Many of Buddhism’s
more overtly foreign contributions were overlooked when medical
education was standardized by the Song government. Nevertheless, certain

4 Some of the issues mentioned in this paragraph have been discussed in work by

Johannes Nobel, Endo Jiro, Chen Ming, and Catherine Despeux, cited in the
references.
5 See, e.g., Birnbaum (1989b); Davis (2001); Strickmann (2002); Mollier (2008);

Chen Yunü (2008); and, in French, Despeux (2010). For discussion of the
relationship between religion and medicine, or more properly between salvation
and healing, in Chinese Buddhism, see Salguero (2018b). On the overall historical
trajectory described in this paragraph, see Salguero 2014a.
96 EASTM 47 (2018)

features that had by that time been domesticated through processes of

cultural translation and synthesis continued to remain part of the fabric of
Chinese healthcare culture.
All of the above suggests that, despite the fact that over the long term it
was not nearly as significant in Chinese medical history as classical medical
models, Buddhist ideas and practices deserve more attention than they
have received thus far from our field. This brief research note is meant to
introduce historians of Chinese medicine to one easily accessible collection
of texts that can be used to begin to fill in this ‘missing link.’ It offers a
survey of texts related to multiple aspects of medicine and healing that are
found in the medieval Chinese portions of the Taishō Tripiṭaka (Jp. Taishō
shinshū daizōkyō 」; below abbreviated T).6 Compiled in early
twentieth century Japan, this 100-volume collection contains a diverse and
comprehensive sampling of historical texts from across East Asia. It is the
most well-known and often-cited of the major Buddhist collections among
scholars of East Asian Buddhist Studies, and now has the additional
advantage of being fully digitized and keyword searchable.7
My review below of the relevant materials in this collection concentrates
on whole texts or chapters thereof that were composed or translated in
medieval China, and includes only those writings that are dedicated
primarily to ideas and practices concerning disease, curing, healers,
nursing, and the overall health of the physical body. The sample is broad
but by no means exhaustive, as there are countless places where such
topics are mentioned briefly or alluded to in passing that I have not
included below. Nor have I mentioned other collections of received sources
aside from the Taishō Tripiṭaka—of which there exist multiple.8 In addition,

6 The Taishō Tripiṭaka, compiled in the early twentieth century, is found in print

in Takakusu & Wanabe (1924-1935). My citations to this collection use the

abbreviation ‘T.,’ followed by the text number with optional chapter number
demarcated by a decimal point, and a page and register range following the colon.
7 Separate digitization efforts are represented by the SAT Daizōkyō Text

Database and the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association. The latter has an
English online interface with robust search capabilities (at http://cbetaonline.dila.
edu.tw/en). I also wish to point out the extremely useful Digital Dictionary of
Buddhism, an ongoing collaborative effort among Buddhist Studies scholars that is
edited by A. C. Muller (main website at http://www.buddhism-dict.net/ddb), as
well as their convenient index of Taishō Tripiṭaka titles (at http://www.buddhism-
dict.net/ddb/indexes/taisho-ddb.html).
8 Texts concerning Buddhism and medicine from Dunhuang are briefly described

in Wang (2005a, 2005b). A more complete collection of relevant primary sources is

compiled in the 101-volume Shi & Li (2011)—although, see review and critique of
this compilation in Burton-Rose (2017).
SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 97

this overview does not include many other relevant texts that survive in
manuscript form (found at Dunhuang, Turfan, and Japanese temple
libraries, for example), which belong to different cultural and institutional
contexts than the authoritative scriptural compilations, and thus offer
divergent vantage points onto the circulation of medical knowledge in local
Buddhist communities. (A small portion of such manuscript finds have
been incorporated into the Taishō Tripiṭaka, and these will be mentioned
below). The medical contents of such texts have not been analyzed in depth
by English-speaking scholars, although they have been systematically
studied in Chinese, and to a lesser extent in French.9
Despite these and other limitations, the brief topical outline below is
intended to reveal the heterogeneity and pervasiveness of Chinese
Buddhist discourses on medicine, as well as some of the major themes of
the source materials. I hope it will be useful as a guide or launching-off
point for historians of East Asian medicine who may be interested in
discovering what these sources have to offer.

1. Basic doctrine

The most influential presentation of the Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophical

perspective on health and disease in the East Asian corpus is probably
the chapter entitled ‘Mañjuśrī Inquires About Illness’ in the Vimalakīrti-
nirdeśa Sūtra (Weimo jing 」; T. 474.5; T. 475.5; T. 476.5).10 This chapter
features a dialogue between the bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī and Vimalakīrti on
the empty and illusory nature of the physical body and its diseases.
These passages are widely cited in historical and contemporary Chinese
Buddhist writings on the illusory nature of sickness, and the power of
the enlightened mind to see through corporeal suffering. 11 A similar
perspective is found in a chapter in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra (Da banniepan
jing 」; T. 374.6; T. 375.18), here concerning the illness of the
Buddha himself, which he, like Vimalakīrti, has purposefully ‘manifested’
for the benefit of teaching others the Mahāyāna doctrine.

9 Chen Ming’s work, some of which is cited in the references, has been especially

illustrative in this regard; see also Li & Shi (2006); Yuan & Pan (2015); Wang &
Duan (2016). In French, see Despeux (2010). See also numerous chapters discussing
and translating Dunhuang texts in Salguero (2017), as well as Stephen F. Teiser’s
forthcoming book, currently in preparation.
10 Translation in Watson (1997), pp. 64-74; McRae (2004), pp. 107-115.
11 The broad impact of this scripture on Chinese poetry is discussed by Antje

Richter in Salguero (forthcoming).

98 EASTM 47 (2018)

While the Vimalakīrti and Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtras concentrate on

connecting health and illness with larger themes in Buddhist philosophy
rather than on explaining medical doctrine per se, the latter is the main
subject of an often-cited chapter in the Sūtra of Golden Light (Jin guangming
jing ; T. 663.15; T. 664.20; T. 665.24).12 This chapter, which is extant
in two different Chinese translations completed in the early fifth and early
eighth centuries, relates an aspiring doctor’s conversation with his wise
father in which the basic principles of Indian medical thought—such as the
Four Elements (mahābhūta), the so-called humors (tridoṣa), the therapeutic
flavor categories (rasa), and connections between the seasons and illness—
are all explained. More practical health advice aimed toward the individual
practitioner is given in the third century Sūtra on the Buddha as Physician
(Foshuo foyi jing ; T. 793).13 This text, ostensibly a segment of a
longer sūtra that is now lost, presents guidelines for a healthful diet and
regimen that emphasize moderation, restraint, and seasonal modification.
Personal hygiene is the subject of the third to early fourth century Sūtra on
Bathing the Sangha in the Bathhouse (Foshuo wenshi xiyu zongseng jing
; T. 701; commentaries at T. 1793; T. 2780), which explains the
procedures as well as the healthful benefits of bathing, and lists specific
diseases that thereby can be alleviated.14
A series of texts that might collectively be called ‘embryological
narratives’ discuss conception, fetal development, and the birth process
(T. 310.13; T. 310.14; T. 317; T. 1451: 251a-262a).15 Dating from the third or
fourth to the eighth century, these texts are most concerned with inspiring
revulsion for the processes that accompany rebirth, but they contain a great
deal of anatomical and physiological information. They describe the steps

12 Note that T. 664 is a composite text that reproduces the medicine chapter from

T. 663, and is not a separate translation effort. English translations of the medicine
chapter from T. 663 and 665 are available by the current author in Salguero (2017),
pp. 30-40; German translation and comparison with Āyurvedic texts in Nobel (1951);
English translation of the Sanskrit recension in Emmerick (2004); of the Khotanese
(with reference to parallels in other languages) in Skjaervø (2004), pp. 286-301; see
also Hino (2015a, 2015b).
13 Translated in Sen (1945); Unschuld (2010), pp. 309-314.
14 See translation by the current author in Salguero (2017), pp. 84-91; discussion in

Heirman & Torck (2012), pp. 33-35.

15 See discussion of these texts in Kritzer (2004, 2009, 2014a); Chen Ming (2005a).

English comparative translation in Kritzer (2014b); German translation of T. 317 in

Huebotter (1932); discussion of Tibetan in Langenberg (2017); Garrett (2008, 2009).
See also shorter embryological sequences in T. 606: 183b-189b; T. 607: 232a-235b;
T. 1648.8, translated in Ehara et al. (1961), p. 173.
SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 99

in the embryo’s development week by week, and emphasize the effects of

karma on the formation of the fetal body.16
A number of other texts of varying length and significance mention a
wide range of medical doctrines, but do not necessarily solely focus on
medicine. For example, the Yogācāra-bhūmi (Yuqie shidi lun ;
T. 1579; T. 606; T. 607) incorporates a great deal of medical knowledge
when explaining the connections between the body and consciousness.17
A long passage in one translation of the Flower Adornment Sūtra
(Dafangguangfo huayan jing ; T. 293: 710-712), completed
ca. 800, details the doctrines of the Elements, the classification of illnesses,
and other basic medical principles. 18 Many other texts also contain
discussions of physiological theory (e.g., T. 26.30; T. 310.16.25; T. 1508), and
meditations on body parts and processes (e.g., T. 26.98; T. 1648.8).19

2. Healing deities

The Master of Medicines Buddha (Ch. Yaoshi fo ; Skt. Bhaiṣajyaguru)

is certainly the most highly-positioned Buddhist deity associated with
healing. The text known popularly as the Sūtra on the Master of Medicines
Buddha (Yaoshi jing 」), extant in Chinese in four translations and
widely venerated in East Asian Buddhism, thus surely ranks among the
most relevant scriptures for the study of Buddhist medicine.20 Three early
versions of the sūtra (T. 1331.12; T. 449; T. 450) translated between the
fourth and seventh centuries introduce the previous lives of the Master

16 Discussion of other facets of the relationship between karma and health are

discussed in Strickmann (2002), pp. 39-50; Salguero (2013).

17 See translation of relevant excerpts by Dan Lusthaus in Salguero (2017), pp. 49-

60; discussion in Lusthaus (2013); Demiéville (1954).

18 See full translation of this chapter by William J. Giddings in Salguero (2017),

pp. 92-102. The comparable section of T. 279, an earlier version of the same text
translated in Cleary (1993), pp. 1240-1242, contains an abbreviated version of this
section that lacks much of the medical detail.
19 English translation of T. 1648 is found in Ehara et al. (1961); see numerous

additional citations in Demiéville (1985). Some of the texts on body parts are
discussed in detail in Salguero (2018a).
20 See discussion of the Master of Medicines Buddha scriptures in Birnbaum

(1989a, 1989b); Strickmann (1990); Kuo (1994), pp. 149-167. On veneration of Master
of Medicines Buddha in medieval China, see also Ning (2004). The Sanskrit text,
which seems not to have played as large a role in healing rites, is translated by
Gregory Schopen in Salguero (2017), pp. 235-251; see discussion of the Indian
context in Schopen (1978).
100 EASTM 47 (2018)

of Medicines Buddha and outline the rituals one may perform to invoke
him. These healing rituals include incantations, worship of images of the
Buddha, and veneration of the sūtra text itself. The last of the Chinese
translations of the text (Yaoshi liuliguang qifo benyuan gongde jing
」; T. 451), completed in 707 by Yijing (635-
713), is similar but introduces Bhaiṣajyaguru as the leader of seven
Buddhas of medicine, each one responsible for a different aspect of healing.
Other texts devoted to the Master of Medicines Buddha (T. 922-928) outline
further ritual practices associated with him. Elaborating upon passages in
the abovementioned sūtras, these ritual texts include various additional
incantations, as well as instructions for setting up ritual spaces,
constructing mandalas, installing devotional lamps, performing offerings,
reciting texts, using ritualized gestures (i.e., mudrā), and setting up
ceremonial rope or thread as a conduit for the Buddha’s healing powers.21
A variety of additional deities associated with healing are presented in
other texts. Bodhisattva Medicine King (Ch. Yaowang pusa ;
Skt. Bhaiṣajyarāja) has his own chapter in the Lotus Sūtra (Fahua jing ：」;
T. 262.23; T. 263.10; T. 264.22), which ranks among the most influential
Buddhist scriptures in East Asia.22 This chapter does not dwell on the
bodhisattva’s healing powers, but rather extolls his self-immolating acts of
devotion and self-sacrifice in previous lives. The same bodhisattva,
alongside his younger brother, Bodhisattva Supreme Healer (Ch. Yaoshang
pusa ; Skt. Bhaiṣajyasamudgata), is the focus of the Sūtra on the
Contemplation of the Two Bodhisattvas, King of Medicine and Supreme Medicine
(Foshuo guan yaowang yaoshang erpusa jing 」; T. 1161),
which teaches a number of dhāraṇī and visualization meditations that can
be used for healing disease and eradicating other misfortunes.23
Other bodhisattvas widely celebrated for their ability to intervene
in cases of illness are Guanyin (also Guanshiyin ;
Skt. Avalokiteśvara) and Puxian (Skt. Samantabhadra). The rites
appealing to the latter for extending the lifespan and to the former for
curing disease are detailed in a number of texts in the esoteric scriptures
section of the Taishō Tripiṭaka (see especially T. 1043; T. 1059; T. 1060;

21 See discussion and translation of excerpts from T. 922 and 924A in Birnbaum

(1989a), pp. 87-90. A full translation of T. 924A by the current author is available in
Salguero (2017), pp. 299-301. The material culture of these rites is discussed by
Zhiru Ng in Salguero (forthcoming).
22 Translation in Watson (1993), pp. 280-289; Hurvitz (2009), pp. 269-276. The

importance of the Lotus in East Asia is discussed in Stevenson (2009).

23 Discussion and translation in Birnbaum (1989a); see also Fujita (1990).
SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 101

T. 1136).24 A number of esoteric rituals discussed in the next section call

upon assorted minor deities for their healing powers.

3. Esoteric healing

Though there is some overlap with the previous section, this one focuses on
esoteric or tantric ritual healing texts, which became extremely prevalent
by the seventh century. Healing is frequently presented as one of the chief
benefits of the practice of esoteric ritual more generally, and from a certain
perspective a list of rituals that were good for one’s health might
legitimately include virtually the entire esoteric repertoire. 25 Here, I
concentrate only on those that overtly announce their health-bestowing
benefits in their titles, or that have significant and obvious relevance to
such topics. These are extant both as independent compositions and as
parts of larger anthologies compiled in the medieval period.
One major feature of esoteric Buddhist healing is the use of dhāraṇī (zhou
or shenzhou ), incantations that concentrate the power of Buddhist
deities and scriptures into short strings of words or syllables. Alongside
dhāraṇī for all manners of practical concerns, medieval Chinese Buddhist
texts include a great number for use in healing (see sections of T. 901; T. 945;
T. 1028A-B; T. 1323-1332; T. 1336.5-6; T. 1691; T. 2122.60).26 These spells are

24 T. 1059 is translated in Sen (1945); Unschuld (2010), pp. 314-321. T. 1060 is

translated into English by William J. Giddings in Salguero (2017), pp. 252-285;

German in Reis-Habito (1993).
25 This is not the place to repeat the many arguments among scholars over the

meaning and applicability of the term ‘esoteric.’ I am using the category here as a
blunt but convenient tool, and refer the reader to the discussion in Orzech et al.
(2011), pp. 3-18 for a more nuanced treatment of the subject. For discussions of the
esoteric scriptures listed in this section, see Strickmann (1990, 2002); Mollier (2003,
2008); Chen Ming (2006a, 2015, 2016); Robson (2008); Copp (2008a, 2008b, 2011, 2012,
2014); Despeux (2010); Orzech et al. (2011), especially pp. 208-214, but also
elsewhere in the volume; Salguero (2014a), pp. 86-92.
26 Many of these texts are discussed in Strickmann (2002), pp. 89-122. See English

translation of a portion of T. 901 by Joshua Capitanio in Salguero (2017), pp. 314-321;

of T. 1323-1329 by the current author in Salguero (2017), pp. 292-299; of T. 1330 in
Bagchi (1941); of T. 1691 in Bagchi (2011). Translation and discussion of Sanskrit,
Tibetan, Arabic, and Chinese texts related to T. 1330 is in Filliozat (1935, 1937);
Wujastyk (1998a, 1998b). Translation of the Sanskrit recension of T. 1691 is available
in Wujastyk (2003), pp. 161-189; of the Sanskrit parallel to T. 665 in Emmerick (2004),
pp. 44-49; and of the Khotanese version of the same in Skjaervø (2004), pp. 172-181.
102 EASTM 47 (2018)

taught by Buddhas, bodhisattvas, devas (minor gods) such as Brahmā, or

more marginal figures such as demons and sorcerers, and frequently
include instructions for how many times to repeat the incantation as well
as for ritual actions to accompany it. Healing dhāraṇī can be panaceas that
cure ‘all diseases’ (or, more colloquially, ‘the 404 diseases’), or they can be
intended for the alleviation of specific named conditions. The latter range
from malaria to ghost-attack, childhood diseases, seasonal ailments,
malodorous armpits, and a litany of other common medieval health
concerns.
A major subset of esoteric Buddhist healing involves the use of
talismanic objects (T. 1229; T. 1238; T. 1265; T. 1307; T. 1420).27 Chinese-style
charms known as ‘spell-seals’ (zhouyin ) were made to ward off
illnesses and other evil influences. Written dhāraṇī, the names of deities,
passages of sūtra texts, or other magically potent words often were
consumed or placed on the body for purification or protection. Other
talismanic objects with apotropaic effects included icons or other images (in
two or three dimensions), as well as ritually consecrated materials such as
water, oil, whisks, and string. Ritualized gestures with the hands or other
parts of the body were prescribed for healing and protection (e.g., T. 924A,
T. 1264B, T. 1331: 516c29-517b27, T. 1265: 295b). 28 Some texts seem to
advocate fumigation or bathing with medicinal plants and other substances
principally on the basis of their magical powers or associations with deities,
rather than their effects on the physiology (see, e.g., T. 665.15; T. 1070).29 A
final area of esoteric healing practice involves the use of spirit-possession
for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes (e.g., T. 867; T. 895; T. 1097; T. 1199;
T. 1201; T. 1248; T. 1277), a practice that became widespread in the late
medieval period.30

Additionally, T. 905, a related esoteric text suspected to be a Japanese apocryphon

but attributed to medieval China, is translated in Rambelli (2000).
27 See Strickmann (2002), pp. 123-193. Lengthy excerpts from T. 1420 are translated

by Dominic Steavu in Salguero (2017), pp. 441-453. Other healing seals and spells
are translated by Paul Copp in Salguero (2017), pp. 304-313.
28 Translation of T. 924A is available by the current author in Salguero (2017),

pp. 299-301; see discussion in Birnbaum (1989a), pp. 87-90. On other types of
healing knowledge associated with the hands, see Marta E. Hanson’s contribution
to Salguero (2017), pp. 478-485.
29 See translation of the Sanskrit version of this section of T. 665 in Emmerick

(2004), pp. 44-49.

30 Discussion and partial translations in Davis (2001); Strickmann (2002), pp. 204-

238; Orzech (2011); Orzech et al. (2011), pp. 213-214, 251-254.

SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 103

4. Healing meditations

Section 2 above included several meditation texts describing visualizations

that evoked the healing powers of buddhas and bodhisattvas. In addition,
the Taishō Tripiṭaka also includes a handful of texts that detail specific
meditations for the cure of particular diseases—especially for ailments
acquired through the practice of meditation itself. One such text is the
Secret Essential Methods for Curing Meditation Illnesses (Zhi chanbing miyao fa
; T. 620), which presents a series of visualizations to cure
maladies resulting from improper meditation technique.31 These include
imbalances of the Four Elements and a variety of other physical conditions,
in addition to mental disturbances and distractions. Another set of
practices is presented in Zhiyi’s (538-597) three treatises on meditation
(T. 1911.7.3; T. 1915.9; T. 1916.6.4). All three include significant sections on
healing that introduce Indian and Chinese meditations and breathing
practices for the eradication of specific symptoms.32 A number of texts
additionally advocate the contemplation of Buddhist virtues such as the
Factors of Awakening (sapta-bodhyaṅga) for their healing powers (see, e.g.,
T. 99.2: 195b29-196a11).33

5. Hagiographies of healers

In addition to the sūtras introducing major buddhas and bodhisattvas of

healing already mentioned above, Buddhists writings also offer idealized
representations of a range of human and semi-human healers. One such
person is Jalavāhana (actually Śākyamuni Buddha in a previous life), who
learned the art of medicine from his father and became a celebrated doctor
in the abovementioned chapter on illness in the Sūtra of Golden Light.
Perhaps the most significant lay physician in the Buddhist tradition,
however, is Jīvaka Kumārabhṛta (Qiyu , Qipo , etc.). Routinely
called the ‘King of Physicians’ (yiwang ) in Chinese sources, Jīvaka is
said to have been a devotee of Śākyamuni Buddha who was destined from
birth to attain extraordinary diagnostic and therapeutic abilities. His

31 See discussion and full translation in Greene (2012); excerpted and revised in

his contribution to Salguero (2017), pp. 373-381. See also Birnbaum (1989b);
Strickmann (2002), pp. 119-122.
32 See translation and introduction to these interrelated texts in Swanson (2017).

Translation of a text closely related to T. 1915 can be found in Salguero (2017),

pp. 382-389. Some of Zhiyi’s medical thought is discussed in Demiéville (1985);
Birnbaum (1989b).
33 Translated by Anālayo in Salguero (2017), pp. 16-17.
104 EASTM 47 (2018)

biography is extant in several Chinese recensions, some of which

underwent significant modification in order to fit with Chinese literary
tropes and cultural expectations (T. 553; T. 554; T. 1428: 851-854; T. 2121:
166-170).34
The Taishō Tripiṭaka also contains several medieval Chinese compilations
of biographies of eminent members of the sangha (i.e., the monastic order)
who were famed for their healing powers (T. 2059; T. 2060; T. 2063).35 By
presenting monks as conduits for powerful transformative forces, such
stories sought to illustrate the sangha’s superiority to Daoist priests, folk
healers, and physicians. Narratives involving intervention by monks or
by Buddhist deities to cure the illnesses of the faithful are also a mainstay
of collections of ‘anomaly tales’ (zhiguai ) and other miscellanea,
suggesting that Buddhism’s healing powers played a large role in the
popularization of the religion in China among all layers of society. 36
Such narratives might also involve any number of Buddhist heroes,
including the Master of Medicines Buddha, Amitābha/Amitāyus, and other
bodhisattvas, as well as a range of deities, devas, spirits, and members of
the sangha; however, the most pervasive presence is Guanyin.37

6. Care-taking within the monastery

The Taishō Tripiṭaka preserves a great deal of historical information relevant

for historians who wish to reconstruct the medical, nursing, and hygienic
practices of the sangha. The most significant sources on these topics are
monastic disciplinary texts. There are five Indian Vinayas extant in Chinese
translation: those of the Mahīśāsaka (T. 1421.3.7), Mahāsāṃghika (T. 1425:
455a-457b), Dharmaguptaka (T. 1428.3.4), Sarvāstivāda (T. 1435.4.9.6), and
Mūlasarvāstivāda (T. 1448) schools, each including a section on the ‘rules
about medicine’ that detail the procedures for the collection, storage, and

34 Discussion in Chen Ming (2005b); Salguero (2009). French translation of T. 553

in Chavannes (1962). On the Pāli and Sanskrit versions, see Zysk (1998); translated
in Horner (2000), pp. 379-397 and by Gregory Schopen in Salguero (2017), pp. 184-
204.
35 See discussion and translations in Wright (1948); Salguero (2010), (2014a),

pp. 133-139, (2017), pp. 205-218; discussion of the genre in Kieschnick (1997).
36 Robert Campany (2012) has reconstructed a long-lost collection of miracle tales

from extensive quotations found throughout the Taishō Tripiṭaka—many pertaining

to the topic of healing. Anomaly tales are also discussed in works by Salguero cited
in the previous note.
37 Some discussion of Guanyin healing narratives is found in Yü (2001); Campany

(1993, 1996); Salguero (2014a), pp. 128-133.

SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 105

use of medicinal substances, and list the allowable and prohibited medical
procedures for the different monastic communities in India.38 All of these
Vinayas contain additional materials on nursing, hospice, and
miscellaneous rules concerning sick monks distributed throughout the rest
of the text. Although the Pāli Vinaya is not extant in Chinese, a
commentary upon it contains some medical material dispersed throughout
the text as well (T. 1462).39
Crediting his knowledge to both study of the Vinayas and divine
revelation, the monastic reformer Daoxuan (596-667) presented an
idealized image of the health practices of an Indian monastery in the Sūtra
of the Map of the Jetavana Monastery in Śrāvastī, Central India (Zhong tianzhu
sheweiguo qihuansi tujing 」 ; T. 1899: 893-894;
accompanying image at T. 1892: 812-813). One section of this text outlines
the imaginary monastery’s medical, hygienic, and hospice facilities in
fantastical terms.40 A more reliable report on Indian monastic medical and
hygienic practices was written by the Chinese pilgrim Yijing, who spent
considerable amount of time abroad and studied at the Indian monastic
center of Nālandā (T. 2125, especially chapters 4-8, 18, 20, 23, and 27-29).41
Translations of Indian monastic disciplinary texts and accounts of
Indian monasteries (whether visionary or otherwise) are unlikely to be
reliable evidence of the actual practices of the sangha in China. For a more
accurate picture of domestic monastic customs, it is more useful to consult
the disciplinary tracts produced by the Chinese sangha. The earliest
relevant example of these is the Emended Commentary on Monastic Practices
from the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü shanfan buque xingshi chao
; T. 1804.18, .26), also compiled by Daoxuan in 626-630. This
text contains a chapter that presents guidelines for nursing practice among
the sangha, which despite the text’s title synthesizes a number of
quotations from across the Indian Vinayas as well as other related

38 Such rules are discussed in Tso (1980); Chen Ming (2008). The Mahīśāsaka

Vinaya is translated into French in Jaworski (1927); English in Salguero (2017),

pp. 125-129.
39 Translated in Bapat & Hirakawa (1970); see discussion of medical knowledge in

the Pāli Vinaya in Zysk (1998); Ṭhānissaro (2007), vol. 2: 54-68; translation in Horner
(2000), pp. 269-350.
40 Discussed and translated in Ho (1995); Tan (2002); McRae (2005). See modern

rendering of map in Heirman & Torck (2012), pp. 38-39.

41 Translation in Takakusu (1966); Li Rongxi (2000); chapters 27-29 retranslated by

Christoph Kleine in Salguero (2017), pp. 145-160.

106 EASTM 47 (2018)

materials. 42 Other domestic texts contain additional rules concerning

hygiene, nursing, and medicine (T. 1470; T. 1484; T. 1897).43

7. Metaphors and parables

When Buddhist texts state that the Buddha is the ‘Great Physician’ or that
the Dharma is the ‘Great Medicine,’ such metaphorical statements were
often meant to be taken literally. As mentioned above, deities of all kinds
are routinely invoked for their healing powers, and Buddhist texts (in the
form of incantations or worship of the actual book itself) are routinely
employed as agents of healing. However, the use of similes and parables
connecting Buddhist ideas with medicine is also a common Buddhist
pedagogical method. There are too many examples of the use of medical
metaphors and parables to adequately cite here. Perhaps the most well-
known example from Buddhist scripture is a passage of the
Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra (T. 374: 378-379; T. 375.3) that compares the Buddha
to an all-knowing physician, and his use of expedient means in teaching
the Dharma to the physician’s acumen in the administration of medicines.44
Notable, too, is the late tenth century Sūtra on the Medical Simile (Foshuo yiyu
jing 」; T. 219), a short composition that is entirely devoted to
making the connection between the logic of the Four Noble Truths and a
good physician’s understanding of particular illnesses, their causes, their
treatments, and their eradication. 45 Another comparison that appears
frequently is the equation between the physician’s ability to eradicate the
tridoṣa (i.e., ‘three defects’ of Wind, Bile, and Phlegm) and the Buddha’s
ability to eradicate the three worldly sufferings of greed, hatred, and
delusion (see, e.g., T. 150A).46

42 Discussed in Shinohara (2005); Salguero (2014), pp. 105-109. Partially translated

by J. E. E. Pettit in Salguero (2017), pp. 130-136.

43 See discussion and translations of specific monastic guidelines in Heirman &

Torck (2012); also their contribution to Salguero (2017), pp. 137-144.

44 Cited and translated in Demiéville (1985), p. 17. See also a passage from the

Lotus Sūtra translated in Birnbaum (1989a), pp. 18-19. Other examples of medical
similes are given in Demiéville (1985), pp. 9-20.
45 Translated by Marcus Bingenheimer in Salguero (2017), pp. 166-167.
46 For discussion of tridoṣa and partial translation of T. 150A, see Salguero (2010-

2011). On tridoṣa, see also Demiéville (1985), pp. 69-71; Endo (1993a); Endo (1993b);
Chen Ming (2006b); Köhle (2016).
SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 107

8. Reference works

In addition to compilations or collections already mentioned above, at least

three reference works are extant from the medieval period that gather
together quotations of scriptural passages concerning healing from across
the canonical Buddhist literature. These works are by no means
comprehensive, but they do give us an indication of what their authors
thought were relevant Buddhist writings on health, illness, and therapy.
Two encyclopedias (leishu ) by Daoshi (?-683) (T. 2122.95;
T. 2123.29) contain very similar chapters called “On the suffering of
sickness” (bingku pian ) that introduce a range of materials from
basic medical doctrines to disciplinary rules, sections of major and minor
sūtras, and miracle tales. 47 Aside from these encyclopedias, an early
eleventh century glossary (T. 2127) contains a short section on nursing
(zhanbing ) that seems to be based on Daoshi’s works, though it
introduces a few additional sources.48 In addition to covering most of the
medical topics mentioned throughout this paper, these sources also
emphasize the importance of hospice care among the monastic community.

9. Recovered manuscripts

As mentioned above, some of the most interesting windows into Chinese

Buddhist healing practice are manuscripts recovered from places such as
the Mogao grottoes at Dunhuang. While certainly not all Dunhuang
manuscripts related to healing have been incorporated into the Taishō
Tripiṭaka, many have (T. 2766; T. 2767; T. 2780; T. 2865; T. 2866; T. 2878;
T. 2881; T. 2904; T. 2906; T. 2916).49 Although I might have integrated these
texts into the various subheadings above instead of saving them for the end,
they give us an unprecedented look at Buddhist healing ‘on the ground’ in
a specific time and location, and thus are useful to consider as a discrete
cluster or subset. Some of these texts are distillations or commentaries on
the medical content in well-known scriptures. Others present a range of
highly syncretic healing practices that combine elements from classical
medicine, Daoism, popular religious and medical traditions, and other
local knowledge. The Dunhuang manuscripts related to medicine have

47 See Salguero (2014a), pp. 109-112, (2015a); Hsu (2018); discussion and partial

translation by Hsu in Salguero (2017), pp. 20-29. For a comparison of the structure
of both texts, see Teiser (1985).
48 Discussed in relation to T. 2122.95 in Salguero (2015a), pp. 44-45.
49 A full translation of T. 2865 is available in Lowe (2014); of T. 2878 and T. 2917 in

Goble (2017).
108 EASTM 47 (2018)

recently begun to receive attention from scholars, though they—like most

of the texts introduced throughout this paper—remain a rich collection of
sources for scholarly research.50

50 See Lo and Cullen (2005); Despeux (2010); works by Chen Ming.

SALGUERO: A MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE 109

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