Mongolian Healing

Knowledge, Transmission and Practice Across Inner Asia
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-94-6372-969-7
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 304 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 584 g

Reihe: Health, Medicine, and Science in Asia

Mongolian Healing: Knowledge, Transmission and Practice Across Inner Asia explores the rich and diverse medicinal healing practices by Mongolian communities across Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Kalmykia.

This edited volume brings together scholars from various disciplines to examine knowledge systems and practises related to healing therapies, including nomadic healing, ritual practises including shamanic healing, water as a source for healing in the landscape and the art of Mongolian bonesetting. The second part of the book delves into the institutionalization of Mongolian medicine across Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, tracing its adaptation and its continuing presence in both urban and rural contexts, within contemporary healthcare systems, such as the hospital, laboratory and clinic. Through a Mongolian-oriented lens, this volume sheds light on the resilience and adaptability of Mongolian healing and medical traditions in the face of social, political and cultural transformations across history. Combining historical, anthropological and medical perspectives, it offers the first comprehensive account of how these practices have continued to thrive and adapt, bridging ancient knowledge with contemporary applications.

As a part of broader Asian medical traditions, this volume is an essential resource for scholars, practitioners and anyone interested in the dynamic interplay of ancient wisdom and ongoing innovation across Inner Asia.

Zielgruppe

Academic

Autoren/Hrsg.

Narangoa, Li

Fijn, Natasha

Lindskog, Benedikte V.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements vii

Terminology and Spelling ix

List of Contributors xi

List of Figures xiii

List of Maps xv

List of Tables xvi

Introduction: Mongolian Healing and Medicine: The Transfer of Different Modes of Medicinal Knowledge 1

LI NARANGOA, NATASHA FIJN AND BENEDIKTE V. LINDSKOG

PART I

Mongol Healing and Curative Practices 27

1 Dom Healing Practices 29

BOLD SHARAV

2 Spiritual Curative Practices (Dom): Translation of a Manuscript 43

JONATHAN RATCLIFFE, NATASHA FIJN AND LI NARANGOA

3 Nomadic Healing: Multispecies Prevention and Treatment 56

NATASHA FIJN

4 Healing Waters in Mongolia 76

BENEDIKTE V. LINDSKOG

5 Healing in Kalmykia, South-West Russia 89

BAASANJAV TERBISH

6 From Shamanic Bonesetters to Doctors of Mongolian Medicine 105

LI NARANGOA AND LI ALTANJULA

PART II

Formalising and Institutionalising Mongolian Medicine 133

7 Institutional Development of Mongolian Medicine 135

LI NARANGOA

8 Formal and Non-formal Medical Education in Inner Mongolia 163

LI NARANGOA

9 Village Doctors as Part of the History of Mongolian Medicine 188

SAIJIRAHU BUYANCHUGLA

10 Compounding Rules of Complex Mongolian Medicine Prescriptions 208

MINGHAI FU, SHUYIN BAO, XIAOPING JI, HONGZHEN YU AND WULIJI AO

11 Medicinal Socialities: Kinship and Knowledge Transmission Between Mongolian Veterinarians and Herders 227

NATASHA FIJN

Afterword 248

Geoffrey Samuel

Bibliography 262

Index 284

Über Autor(innen)

Li Narangoa is a Professor in Northeast Asian history and culture and the founding Director of the Mongolia Institute at the Australian National University.

Natasha Fijn is an Associate Professor and Director of the Mongolia Institute at the Australian National University.

Benedikte V. Lindskog is an Associate Professor in Medical Anthropology at Oslo Metropolitan University.