Tibetan Herbal (Men-Tsee-Khang)
Tibetan Herbal (Men-Tsee-Khang) is a Tibetan / Sowa Rigpa — herbal body map body system as transmitted through the lineage Sowa Rigpa, the Tibetan medical tradition taught by Men-Tsee-Khang, classifies medicines through elements, constitution, and the three nyes pa. This map renders five elements and a balancing lens as target-organ projections for substances; it is not an anatomical body-surface chart.. This page lists every point in the system with sourced placements and links to cross-tradition correspondences curated for The Body Spiritual.
Open in interactive explorerPrimary sources
- rGyud bzhi (Four Tantras) (Tibetan medical canonical corpus; chapter numbering varies by edition) — The Root, Explanatory, Instructional, and Subsequent Tantras provide the canonical Sowa Rigpa framework of body, elements, nyes pa, and materia medica; see the Explanatory Tantra chapters on elements and body constitution, with numbering varying by recension.
- Men-Tsee-Khang, Tibetan medicine teaching materials (Dharamsala institutional materials, edition and module numbering vary) — Contemporary Men-Tsee-Khang materials explain Sowa Rigpa diagnosis, pharmacology, and elemental/humoral frameworks for students and practitioners; they are used here to contextualise, not to invent an anatomical atlas.
- Franz H. M. P. G. et al., “Traditional Tibetan medicine: a review of the literature” (Journal of Ethnopharmacology review literature, edition-specific pagination varies) — Modern scholarship describes Sowa Rigpa theory and medicines while noting lineage, translation, and evidence limits; it does not warrant a one-to-one surface map.
Known lineage variants
- Elemental and humoral formulations differ across Tibetan medical lineages and translations. Herbal systems map substances to target organs and functions rather than body surface; the plotted coordinates are an editorial synthesis with medium fidelity.
Related systems
No other systems share this tradition label.
Points
- Earth — digestive assimilation — earth element; spleen/upper-abdomen target
- Water — fluid and reserve — water element; kidney/lower-abdomen target
- Fire — transformation — fire element; liver/upper-abdomen target
- Wind — movement and breath — wind element; lung/chest target
- Space — openness and integration — space element; heart/chest target
- Three nyes pa — balance lens — rlung, mkhris pa, bad kan; whole-body interpretive focus
Frequently asked
What is Earth — digestive assimilation?
The Four Tantras use the five elements within their account of embodied constitution and medicine. The spleen/upper-abdomen location is a TARGET-ORGAN projection of the earth classification, not a Sowa Rigpa anatomical surface map.
What is Water — fluid and reserve?
Sowa Rigpa elemental teaching includes water as part of its embodied framework. The kidney/lower-abdomen location is a TARGET-ORGAN projection of a substance classification, not a claim that herbs map to skin coordinates.
What is Fire — transformation?
The Four Tantras frame physiological processes through elemental and humoral relations. The liver target is an editorial TARGET-ORGAN projection of fire-classified action, not a literal organ atlas or proof of efficacy.
What is Wind — movement and breath?
Wind, or rlung, is a central Sowa Rigpa category in descriptions of embodied function and disorder. The lung/chest position is a TARGET-ORGAN projection for a substance classification, not an anatomical map of wind in the body surface.
What is Space — openness and integration?
Space is included in Tibetan elemental accounts of the embodied field. The heart/chest target is an editorial TARGET-ORGAN projection for integration and should not be read as a literal surface location or a clinical diagnosis.
What is Three nyes pa — balance lens?
Sowa Rigpa interprets health through the three nyes pa in relation to elements and constitution. The crown point is a compact visual anchor for that interpretive lens; herbs are classified toward target organs and functions, not mapped as anatomical surface points.