Medicine King Mountain: From History to Horizon
Held at the Library of Congress in the United States, the photograph titled "Medicine King Mountain in Lhasa photographed from the southeast" was captured between 1900 and 1901 by Norzunov and Chuebikov, both from Buryatia. A 19th-century work, "The Panorama of the Holy Land of Lhasa," in the Rubin Museum collection is widely believed to have been commissioned by pilgrims from North Asia, with its details depicting Mount Yarlha Shampo in Lhasa and its associated structures—Lhasa Medical College, Meditation Caves, and Chakar Lhakhang Monastery. Taken by the team of Li Jisheng (1905–2000), the photograph "The Medicine King Mountain at the end of the tree-lined road and its architectural complex" dates from the first half of the 20th century and is housed in the Oxford Peter Rivers Museum. The preface reads: ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཀུན་ལ་སྙོམས་པའི་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས། མཚན་ཙམ་ཐོས་པས་ངན་འགྲོའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་སེལ། དུག་གསུམ་ནད་སེལ་སངས་རྒྱས་སྨན་གྱི་བླ། བཻཌཱུརྻ་ཡི་འོད་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། — "Compassionately pitying all beings with bad karma, Hearing the cries, extinguishing the suffering of evil realms, Dispelling all poisons with the Medicine Buddha, I bow before the radiant light of the Medicine Buddha.
In Lhasa, a saying goes: “There are famous doctors everywhere, but they all gather at Medicine King Mountain.” Since the late 17th century, Medicine King Mountain and its architectural complex have been among the city’s most significant landmarks. “Medicine Buddha Altar City” (translation of Medicine Buddha Praise), collected by the Hahn Cultural Foundation in the mid-18th century, brings together a variety of medicinal herbs and the sacred sites of various healing masters throughout history.
During the Tubo era, a temple was erected at the base of the mountain by Princess Ruyongsa（མི་ཉག་རུ་ཡོང་བཟའ་）, a wife of King Songtsen Gampo who hailed from the Muya region. While historical documents identify it as Charagunbu Temple or Chara Jixiang Wuliang Palace, the local population commonly refers to it as Charalüp Temple. In this name, "Chara" denotes the principal deity carved into the temple's cliffs, whereas "Lup" indicates that the site originally served as the abode of indigenous spirits—though scholars continue to debate this interpretation.
Red Mountain, where the Potala Palace stands, was regarded as the soul mountain of Avalokiteshvara; Mopan Mountain, home to the Ganden Monastery, as that of Manjushri; and Medicine King Mountain as that of Vajrapani. In the Tubo period, an iron chain connected Medicine King Mountain and Red Mountain, offering a spectacular view. Once the empire fell, Medicine King Mountain and the Charalüp Temple at its foot served as a secluded place for practitioners.
Soon afterward, this place was destined to become a milestone in the history of Tibetan medicine. Historical records indicate that those who meditated here included Tang Dongjebu（ཐང་སྟོང་རྒྱལ་པོ་；1361-1485） and Jokhang Zubei Duopa Waiserwa Zenzan（དོལ་པོ་པ་；1292-1361）.
In the Eastern Tibetan region, a 19th-century picture group titled *Biography of Tang Dongjie* includes a detail depicting Guanyin Bodhisattva appearing on Mount Yaowang, along with prayers offered at the Jokhang Temple to end a famine (with the title and description translated from Chinese to English). Yet what the Medicine King Mountain is most widely known for is the celebrated medical college of the Tibetan area, the “Exquisite Wisdom Island of Lapis Lazuli Light Benefiting All Viewers” (བཻཌཱུརྻ་འགྲོ་ཕན་ལྟ་ན་ངོ་མཚར་རིག་བྱེད་གླིང་), which was erected under the oversight of Regent Desi Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705).
The first phase of the Medicine King Mountain complex (1695–1697) took shape when Desi, building on the foundation of a temple originally established by Tang Dongjiebu, expanded the main hall to include over twenty columns. The hall’s layout echoed a palace town plan, the mountain paths were skillfully devised, and cliff carvings were dispersed across the slopes, yielding the renowned architectural ensemble. On May 25, 1697, Desi set forth the general rules of the "Four Medical Classics" to the students, and this institution inaugurated a new chapter in the history of Tibetan medicine.
Medical experts and renowned doctors from all over Tibet gathered at the Medicine King Mountain medical college, and after returning to their native places, they built numerous medical colleges modeled on it. Meanwhile, during the era of the Seventh and Eighth Regent Lamas, the Medicine King Mountain architectural complex was expanded on a large scale, and the college’s student enrollment methods, detailed teaching schedules, and routine clinical training grew steadily more refined.
Under the Thirteenth Regent's guidance, the Medicine King Mountain Medical College reached its golden age. Through deep study of medical classics, printing and developing related scriptures, and founding individualized medical schools, it became what the Fifth Regent called the 'Medicine Buddha Palace Town.' As the old saying goes, "From one mother, many children, and the children all practice medicine.
To facilitate a deeper understanding of the Chakpori architectural complex, I will select and translate this excellent work into two parts. The work, titled "The Architecture of the Medical College on Chakpori," is an experimental reconstruction plan for the Chakpori Medical College, published in 2020 by Knud Larsen, a Norwegian architectural master. The fifteenth-century setting includes the prestigious Jokhang Temple in Lhasa and the Tibetan Lama Chen Zan of Heap Powa Monastery, known as "That slightly bulky sage.
Lhasa lies on a broad plain ringed by mountains that rise nearly a thousand meters high. The selection and translation are undertaken to prevent needless disputes, so the article's central content is preserved, and any images from the original are indicated with the symbol*. The cited text, "Inscription on the Cliffside South of Medicine King Mountain in Lhasa: Six-Syllable Mantra," is taken from *Inscriptions on the Cliffside of Medicine King Mountain* (1996).
About forty kilometers away, the Lhasa River joins the Yarlung Tsangpo River after flowing eastward into the plain and then turning west along the southern foothills (see figure one). Near the river, at the center of the plain, stands a small hill. This hill seems to have been significant in the founding of the city in the 7th century: the Red Hill, Medicine King Hill, and Grinding Disc Hill.
All three hills feature caves. Grinding Disc Hill stands just eighteen meters tall, whereas Red Hill and Medicine King Hill rise about one hundred meters above the surrounding plain. Red Hill and Medicine King Hill are situated roughly one kilometer apart and, within the intricate terrain, are regarded as close neighbors (see figures two and three). *Image 1: "Layout Map of Lhasa City in 1985" Revised and redrawn by Knud Larsen in 2020 *Image 2: "Aerial View of Lhasa City from the South" Taken by F.
A draft for the paraphrase:
In 1936, Spencer Chapman was present. Image 3, titled "Illustration of Ancient Buildings in the Lhasa Forest," was drawn by Knud Larsen in 1999. A translation note explains that "Lingkhor" (གླིང་སྐོར་) denotes a pilgrimage circuit encircling the old Lhasa city. According to legend, King Songtsen Gampo engaged in meditation at this location during the 7th century, and the Potala Palace was subsequently constructed over the mountain caves, as depicted in Figures Four and Five. It is widely believed that the Tang figure Dongjiebu erected a temple at the summit of Mount Yaowangshan, which featured a rounded top.
In Lhasa, the Medicine King Hill and the Potala Palace form the city's most significant landmarks, a distinctive pairing visible from both within the urban area and its outskirts. In the era following the fifth Dalai Lama, regent Sangjie Jiacuo oversaw the temple's enlargement in 1696 and founded a medical school there. The remains of that structure were cleared away during the 1980s. *Image 4: Topographic Map of Lhasa Lingkor Drawn by Knud Larsen in 2000 *Image 5: Layout of Potala Palace and Mount Yaowang Drawn by Knud Larsen in 1999
In "The Lhasa Atlas", we highlight the importance of understanding the old city's layout with the Potala Palace as a point of reference. Wherever you happen to be, glancing up at the Potala Palace can help you find your bearings. The Medicine King Hill and the Medical College fulfill a comparable function, as underscored by the planning of new roads. Yutuo Road creates a visual axis that connects the entrance of the Jokhang Temple (Figure Six) to the Medicine King Hill (Figure Seven).
From the entrance of Norbulingka, the view extends toward the Medicine King Hill (Figure Eight), which marks Norbulingka Road. Together with Red Mountain, the Medicine King Hill forms a natural gateway to Lhasa's old city. As a result, a significant visual interaction exists between the Potala Palace and both the Medicine King Hill and Medical College (Figure Nine).
By examining these two architectural complexes and measuring the gap between them, you can pinpoint your exact location in the surroundings. Four photographs, all taken by Knud Larsen in 2009, help illustrate this: Image 9 shows the view from the Potala Palace steps toward Medicine Mountain; Image 7 depicts the view from Yutuoluo Road looking toward Yaowangshan; Image 6 presents the view of Medicine King Mountain from atop Jokhang Temple; and Image 8 captures the view of Mount Yawang from the road to Roblinca.
Connecting the two architectural complexes carries a particular symbolic meaning. Situated on Medicine King Mountain, the Medical Temple complex functions as both a place of worship and a school of medicine. Monks are trained there to become physicians, and it is also where they conduct research and provide treatment. For local residents in need of medical care, this was the destination they turned to. In time, the old city saw the establishment of the Menzikang (Tibetan Hospital) by the local government.
Therefore, given that Medicine King Mountain holds an important position for Lhasa's residents—both visually and in practical function—it was necessary, when deciding to reconstruct the mountain's architectural complex, to first understand its basic layout. Before the 1950s, several Western photographers, including Hugh Richardson, Frederick Spencer Chapman, Heinrich Harrer, and C. S., captured images of the Medical School on Medicine King Mountain and left behind photographs.
Of the photographers named—Cutting, Josef Vanis, Charles Bell, Rabden Lepcha, Evan Nepan, and John Claude White—Josef Vanis's image (Image Ten) was the only one with sufficient detail. Yet a significant issue emerged: every usable photograph had been taken from the same perspective, specifically from the direction of the Potala Palace. As a result, the three-dimensional layout of the architectural ensemble remained difficult to grasp. Harrer's photo, meanwhile, was taken from the same side as Vanis's but from farther away, thereby offering less detail.
Still plainly visible today are the remnants of two stone structures, as documented in Image 10, "Medical School on Medicine King Mountain in Lhasa," which was captured by Joseph Varnish in 1954. These ruins are also readily apparent in Wanis's photographs. One remnant is a fortress corner that supports a passageway, while the other is a corner of a standalone building, likely serving as a gateway to the broader complex, as referenced in Figures Twelve and Thirteen.
In the Wanis photographs, a person appears on the roof and another at the temple’s main entrance (see Figure Ten), enabling a rough estimate of the entrance’s length using these figures as reference points. The adjacent north facade, however, provides very few reference points for such measurement.
Given that the round tower lies closer to the west wall along the central axis rather than at the center of the overall complex, and taking the main entrance to be centered on the east facade, I infer the existence of a square structure erected upon a steep hillside, with a narrow summit and a domed roof (a plan of which I have drawn). The visual evidence is provided by *Image 11: "Architectural Ruins of the Medical Academy on Medicine King Mountain" Photographed by Knud Larsen in 2010* and *Image 12: "Close-up of Architectural Ruins" Captured by Knud Larsen in 2010*.
Image 13, "Close-up of architectural ruins," was taken by Knud Larsen in 2010. In the photo, the gatehouse appears to have two levels, with internal stairs leading to a narrow open space directly beneath the temple's north facade. The path to the medical college begins on the north side as a series of ramps and stairs, while the sidewalk extends deep below the main temple structure. Built of heavy stone blocks, the entrance ramp turns sharply upward toward the gatehouse.
In Chapman’s famous photograph, individuals are visible standing on a platform at the entrance to the main hall, with monks on that platform and the Red Mountain architecture complex appearing in the background. Two routes lead to this entrance: from the north facade, intricate stairways run through its doors and windows into a confined subterranean area, and a long, possibly stepped ramp winds around the northeast corner, rising upward to the entrance.
Based on my knowledge of traditional Tibetan architecture, I have generated a set of floor plans (Figure 15 to Figure 17) that depict a prayer hall featuring numerous columns surrounding a more sacred circular space positioned at the base of a tower. My primary reference for these drawings is Image 14, "View of Potala Palace from Medicine King Mountain," which Spencer Chapman captured in 1937. Nevertheless, I remain uncertain about the precise purpose and placement of this layout. Consequently, I have approached the initial floor plans from the exterior toward the interior, while the plans that follow will be designed and drawn in the reverse direction—from the inside outward.
Knud Larsen produced all three preliminary restoration drawings of Medicine King Mountain in 2009. These include "Preliminary Restoration Drawing of Medicine King Mountain: North Facade" (Image 15), "Preliminary Restoration of Medicine King Mountain: East-West View" (Image 16), and "Preliminary Reconstruction of the Yao Wang Mountain: Main Hall Plan" (Image 17).