Tibetan medicine

one of the time-honored medical systems in the world

has increasingly been receiving attention the world over. Tibetan medical paintings (TMP

tib. Sman thang

) has become one of the focal points in the studies of this medical system. To date

there are many atlases and publications on TMP

which are principally based on the two major sets of TMP series existing today in the world

the Lhasa set and the Buryat set. It has been found that the Buryat set is based on the Lhasa set

which was brought in late 19th to the first half of the 20th century from Tibet to Buryatia

Russia. A careful investigation on the basic structure of the two sets reveals that there are many differences between the two sets of paintings

including the total number of the paintings involved

of which some are missing in one set

the details of the captions of some of the paintings

the existence of the 80th painting and its supervisor

and the overall order of the entire set

etc. The details of the differences are elaborated and discussed

and the prospective of developing the research to arrive at a standard and perfect TMP set in the future is also analyzed and anticipated.