Knowledge

What scholars know, what they still debate, and what belongs to faith. Every claim carries a badge and points to its sources.

How to read the badges

Established Debated Hypothesis Belief

Established: attested in the sources and accepted by specialists. Debated: specialists disagree. Hypothesis: proposed, not demonstrated. Belief: what the religious tradition says, with no historical claim.

Topics

The sūtra and its versions: a textual historyGilgit manuscripts, Chinese translations from 615 to 707, the Tibetan version: what is known about the history of the Medicine Buddha Sūtra.

Archaeology and art history: Dunhuang, Nara, iconographyMogao Cave 220 (642), the Cave 17 paintings, the Yakushi-ji triad: dated works and dating debates.

An anthropology of healing ritualsLife-prolonging lamps in medieval China, court rites in Japan, consecration of Tibetan medicines: what historians and anthropologists describe.

The Medicine Buddha and Tibetan medicine (Gyushi)The Four Tantras, their supposed author, Zurkharwa’s controversy and the medical paintings of the regent Sangyé Gyatso.

Hypotheses and debates: Greece and IndiaGreek medicine in Tibet, humoral theory, links between India and China: what is proposed and what is debated.