Asia’s Health & Medical Traditions

Professor Gerard Bodeker

Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, UK
&
Dept. of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, USA

www.giftofhealth.org
 Historic medical influences
within Asia
• East Asia: China – influence on Japan, Korea,
Vietnam

• South East Asia: India influence on SE Asia

with exception of Vietnam (except for
Cham/Champa people)

• Local Traditions – herbal, folk, magico-

religious, etc.
 Traditional Chinese Medicine
• TCM is rooted in the ancient philosophy of Taoism
and dates back more than 2,500 years.
• Based on a theory of five elements (earth, fire, water,
wood, & metal) and two major attributes (yin-yang)
 TCM Therapies

TCM encompasses many different practices, including

• acupuncture
• moxibustion (burning a herb above the skin to apply
heat to acupuncture points)
• Chinese herbal medicine
• tui na (Chinese therapeutic massage)
• dietary therapy
• Tai Chi and Qi Gong (practices that combine specific
movements or postures, coordinated breathing, and
mental focus).
 China’s Wellness Cuisine

• The 7th century C.E. master physician and medical

scholar, Sun Si Miao favoured food as the first line of
intervention in both preventing and treating disease.

• He paid attention to dietary hygiene, urging such good

eating habits as thorough chewing, slow swallowing,
no rich or greasy food, thorough cooking, avoiding raw
and cold foods and excessive drinking.

• Asia is in need of Sun’s advice more urgently now than

ever before, what with fast foods on the rise
throughout the region.
 Japanese Medicine
• Kampo medicine is widely practiced in Japan, and is fully
integrated into the modern health care system.

• Kampo is based on traditional Chinese medicine but adapted

to Japanese culture.

• The basic texts of Chinese medicine, such as the Neijing

Suwen and Lingshu, and the Materia Medica came to Japan
during the 7th through 9th Centuries. This led to publication of
the primary historical text about Chinese medical theory and
practice in Japan: the Ishimpo.

• There are certain Chinese scholar-physicians who have

become revered in Japan for their work, including Zhang
Zhongjing and Sun Simiao, whose formulas and theories were
incorporated into the Ishimpo.
 Japan - Onsen

• The Japanese Onsen (thermal bath) tradition is centred

around hot springs in this volcanically active country.
• Traditionally used for public bathing, Onsen have
become major features of Japan’s tourism industry.
• Purity of water, mineral richness and heat are key
features of the Onsen experience.
• Reflecting the globalization of Asian health cultures,
Onsen are found in spa settings in many different parts
of the world.
 AYURVEDA
• In Ayurveda, the foundational theory is known as the theory of five
elements: Panchmahabhutas

• From this come three basic types of energy, universal principles

known as the doshas – Vata, Pitta, Kapha.

• All three can be found in everyone and everything, but in different

proportions.

• They combine to create different climates, different foods, different

species, and even different individuals within the same species.

• In fact, the particular ratio of vata, pitta, and kapha within each of us
has a significant influence on our individual physical, mental, and
emotional character traits.

• This is known as Tri-Dosha theory.

.
 Vata Dosha (Wind Energy)
• Vata is predominantly composed of the space
and air elements.

• From a qualitative perspective, Vata is dry,

light, cold, rough, mobile, subtle, and clear. It is
the subtle energy of movement and is therefore
often associated with wind.

• Vata is linked to creativity and flexibility; it

governs all movement—the flow of breath, the
pulsation of the heart, all muscle contractions,
tissue movements, cellular mobility—and
communication throughout the mind and
nervous system.
 Pitta Dosha (Fire Energy)

• Pitta is principally made up of the fire and

water elements and is an amalgamation of the
hot, sharp, light, liquid, oily, and subtle
qualities.

• Pitta is closely related to intelligence,

understanding, digestion, and transformation;
it governs nutrition and metabolism, body
temperature, and the light of understanding.
 Kapha Dosha (Water Energy)
• Kapha is composed primarily of the earth and water
elements. It is described as heavy, slow, cool, oily,
smooth, soft, dense, stable, gross, and cloudy.

• Kapha lends structure and solidity to all things; it

provides the cohesiveness needed to maintain a
particular form.

• Kapha also hydrates all cells and systems, lubricates

the joints, moisturizes the skin, maintains immunity
and protects the tissues. Kapha is often associated
with water energy, and with love and compassion.
 Digestion - Ayurveda
• Ayurvedic principles teach that strengthening
our digestive fire, or ‘agni’, to cope with the
foods we eat holds the key to good health.

• When our digestion (agni – digestive fire) is

strong we feel light, clear headed and
energetic, however a weakened digestive
system produces toxic build up known as ‘ama’
– which in Ayurveda is linked not just to weight
gain or gastric trouble, but is the root cause of
all disease.
 Imbalance of Doshas
• Vata, pitta, and kapha are each essential to our physiology in
some way, so no one dosha is better than, or superior to, any
other. Each of them has a very specific set of functional roles to
play in the body.

• When the doshas are out of balance, they can cause damage to
our health. Imbalances can be caused by stress, emotional
trauma, as well as poor diet and lifestyle choices.

• In most cases, these disturbances cause an increase in one or

more of the doshas, upsetting the natural state of internal
equilibrium represented by one's constitution (Prakriti).
 South Indian Influence
on the Malay Peninsula
• In ancient Kedah there is an important and
unmistakably Hindu settlement which has been
known for more than a century. It was known as
Kedaram.
• Archeological finding show that this site was in
continuous occupation by people who came under
strong South Indian influences, Buddhist and Hindu,
from at least the 6th century C.E. to the 12th century
C.E.
 .
Arab accounts of Kalah (Kedah) describe it as a
place where ships docked to await the shift in
monsoon winds between the Indian Ocean &
the South China Sea.

The population of Kadaram, especially the area

of Lembah Bujang, is estimated by scholars to
have been around 20,000 (Allen 1998).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
• .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
• .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
 Linguistic heritage linked to medicinal influences

• In siddha medicine, from India’s Tamil traditions, metallic-based

medicines are considered to last longer & have high potency. Siddha
medicine prescribes mercuric medicines that are rendered inert through an
18 step process, resulting in bhasmas.

• Siddhas used 5 forms of mercury.

• mercury metal-rasam
• red sulphide of mercury-lingam
• mercury chloride- veeram
• mercury subchloride (mercury chloride)-pooram
• red oxide of mercury-rasa chenduram. Ordinary rasa chenduram (red oxide of mercury) is a
poison but when it is processed as Poorna chandrodayam according to Siddha practice, it is
held to become ‘ambrosia’ or ‘amrit’.

So, the highest form of medicinal metallurgy combined 5 forms of the metal mercury
 Pancalogam
• The Malay word for an alloy or mixture of
metals is: Pancalogam

• ‘Logam’ is the Malay word for ‘metal’.

• Panca is the Sanskrit term for ‘five’.

• Pancalogam – currently the word for ‘alloy’ is

literally ‘a mixture of 5 metals’.
 Pancaindera
• OXFORD KAMUS: “Pancaindera – the five senses; any of the
special powers (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) by which a
living thing becomes aware of the external world.”

• Panca - five
• Indra – a universal wholeness
• I.E. The five wholenesses

• In Ayurveda & Siddha: Panchamahabuthas – five elements

(wholenesses) in Nature.
 Nadi
• OXFORD KAMUS: “Nadi – pulse; rhythmical
throbbing of arteries as blood is propelled along them,
esp. as felt in the wrist, temple, etc.”
 Indonesia
• Both Java and Sumatra were subject to considerable cultural influence from
the Indian subcontinent during the first and second millennia of the
Common Era.

• The Buddhist Srivijaya Empire (7th – 13th cent C.E.) based out of Palembang
in Sumatra and subsequently the Hindu Majapahit Kingdom (13th – 16th cent
C.E.) based out of Java, were strongly grounded in Indian philosophy and
religion.

• Many Hindu temples were built, including Prambanan near Yogyakarta,

which has been designated a World Heritage Site; and Hindu kingdoms
flourished, of which the most important was Majapahit.

• Borobudur was likely founded as a religious site in the 8th century at the
peak of the Sailendra dynasty in central Java. The construction is thought to
have taken a period of 75 years and completed in about 825 AD.
Candi Parambanan
Candi Borobudur
.
 .
.
 Thai Medicine

• There are two distinct medical traditions

identified in ethnomedical literature on Thai
medicine:
• 1. The Royal Tradition
• 2. Rural Traditions of Northern Thailand.
 Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
• Thailand, despite being the only country in the ASEAN region
never to be colonized, shows the influence of India as does
Cambodia from it’s Khmer heritage.
• Thai massage, first developed in India more than 2,500 years
ago by Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha, the Buddha’s personal
physician, was introduced into ancient Thailand by the
Ayurvedic physician Shavago Komarpaj several decades after
its development.
• Laos, which used to be part of Khmer Empire, shows the same
Indian influence as Cambodia, with Buddhism naturally
linking these countries to India.
 .
‘
 The Royal Tradition
• Buddhism, Ayurvedic medicine and other Indian
traditions have been most influential in the Royal
tradition.

• Some influence of Chinese medicine is there as well.

• During the 1800’s King Rama 111 ordered the

inscription of 60 stone tablets with acupressure
points and 1,100 herbal remedies at Wat Po
Monastery in Bangkok. Along with 80 statues
depicting yoga postures and Thai massage positions,
these formed the core curriculum of the Wat Po
School of Thai Medicine.
 UNESCO Heritage Listing
‘
 Thai Traditional Massage

Conservation efforts in Thailand have resulted in such

initiatives as:
• Thai Massage Restoration Project which has revised
the texts of Thai traditional massage and
• The Foundation for Restoring Thai Traditional
Medicine and
• The College of Ayurvedic Medicine.
These have developed educational curricula according
to traditional standards
 Rural Traditions
of Northern Thailand
These traditions are based on a combination of local
herbal methods, local plant biodiversity, shamanic
practices, and other physical therapies such as local
massage traditions.
 MYANMAR (BURMA)
• Traditional Burmese medicine is derived from the
principles of Ayurvedic medicine.
• Ayurveda was introduced to Burma in approximately
700 AD
• Bethi tea naya refers to Ayurvedic medical theory and
practice, including diagnostic methods using universal
elements, pulse diagnosis of mind-body constitutions –
doshas or dats - from the Ayurvedic ‘dhatus’ basic
tissues, which maintain and nourish the body.
• Nov 2, 2009: “The World Health Organization’s (WHO) office in
India on Saturday wrapped up six days of Ayurveda training for
Burmese experts in traditional medicine in Varanasi in the state of
Uttar Pradesh.”
 Myanmar medicine - history
• 400 BCE - Early records of magico-religious practices,
such as use of coin amulets, tattooing for protective
purposes, etc.
• 1113-1160 CE– clay tablets found at Bagan in Indian
Brahmi script (from which Myanmar writing has
evolved) describing medicinal plants and their uses.
• 1312-1354 CE. Two royal texts on Myanmar medicine,
describe use of turmeric and bitter gourd as medicine.
• 1364-1733 CE. Ava Kingdom produced a series of texts
on medical theory and anatomy, among others.
• 18th century CE, King of Ava sent a delegation to India
which brought back six medical texts which were
translated into the Myanmar language. A leading monk
compiled a glossary of over 700 medicinal plants and
their uses.
Myanmar Refugee Traditional Health Project,
Mae Sot, Thailand
• .
Vietnam - Cham
 CAMBODIA
King Norodom Sihanouk,
• “When we refer to thousand year old ties which
unite us with India, it is not at all a hyperbole. "

• "In fact, it was about 2,000 years ago that the first
navigators, Indian merchants and Brahmins
brought to our ancestors their gods, their
techniques, their organization.

• Briefly India was for us what Greece was to Latin

Orient."
 CONCLUSION – SE ASIA
• The Malay language – spoken throughout Malaysia, Indonesia and
Southern Thailand - has a strong foundation in Sanskrit and offers
linguistic clues to the influence of Ayurvedic medical traditions
being part of the heritage of the region.

• The medical system of Myanmar is formally recognized as

grounded in Ayurveda.

• Thai medicine also acknowledges a strong Ayurvedic influence in

its theory and practice.

• The theoretical framework for the medical systems of SE Asia are

identical with four of the five elements (mahabhutas) of the
Ayurvedic Pancamahabutha system – with akasha not included by
most non-Hindu societies (E.G. Buddhism).

• This Ayurvedic diaspora represents a dispersed family of linked

heritage – grounded in the common knowledge system and shared
practice of Ayurvedic medicine.