Medicine King Mountain Revisited: Secrets of the Sacred Complex
The mid-19th-century “Panoramic view of Lhasa: Gesang Jiacuo Returns to Lhasa,” held by the Royal Ontario Museum, depicts the Potala Palace complex in detail, where cylindrical red wall towers are clearly visible. A 1937 photograph titled “Panoramic view of Medicine King Mountain taken from the Potala Palace,” kept at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, was taken by the team of Li Jisheng (1905-2000). The 2005 book “Lhasa Medicine Mountain: Tibetan Medical Schools and Monasteries” was co-authored by Robert Gerl and Jürgen C.
Preface: In an earlier article, scholar Knud Larsen highlighted the importance and multiple layers of meaning of the Medical King Hill architectural complex in the landscape of Lhasa City. By comparing imagery data from the last century and drawing on his years of research into Tibetan architecture, he attempted to reconstruct the exact layout and core concepts of the Medical King Hill architectural complex. The book by Aschoff is a masterpiece on both the social and individual history of Tibetan medicine.
The Medical King Hill architectural complex has consistently remained a demanding research topic within scholarship on Tibetan architecture.
We have come to accept that "research will always leave regrets," owing to the ruined architectural remnants, incomplete landscape records, and intricate historical factors. In Tibet's traditional architectural history, the basic information concerning a building's main deity and layout across different periods may be readily known, yet such data proves inadequate for actual reconstruction design.
Around 1921, a photograph titled "The main statue in the Chalalup Temple on Medicine King Mountain," taken by the team of Charles Bell (1870-1945), was placed in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. Yet even when we possess such interior details as the Coral Decorated Infinite Life Buddha statue in the Temple of Early Achievements (*གྲུབ་ཐོབ་ལྷ་ཁང་*), the twenty-pillar main hall newly erected by Regent Sanggye Gyatso, and the altar dedicated to celebrated Tibetan, Mongolian, and Han physicians, those records still fail to reveal the fundamental layout of the mountain paths on Medicine King Mountain, the arrangement of its diverse functional structures, or how people studied and resided within them.
For researching the architectural complex of Medicine King Mountain, visual and oral historical materials serve as crucial sources. In the translated text that follows, Knud Larsen draws on these materials in an attempt to turn speculative ideas into concrete proposals and to offer recommendations for the "rebuilding of the architectural complex of Medicine King Mountain". As was done in the earlier piece, an asterisk (*) is used to flag symbols that indicate images in the original English version, and the translator adds explanatory notes for certain content.
Research on this subject stalled after the architectural drawing set for Medicine King Mountain was finished in 2009, with no advances until 2012. During the summer of that year, I encountered Theresia Hofer by chance in Oslo; she was then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo and had authored papers on Tibetan medicine. The context for this work is the image "A muleteer waiting to obtain the holy spring water at Yaowang Mountain," which dates to around 1921, is part of the Oxford Pitt Rivers Museum collection, and was photographed by the team of Charles Bell (1870-1945).
Theresia was developing an exhibition for the Rubin Museum titled "Balancing the Body: The Art of Tibetan Medicine." After I mentioned my concept of reconstructing the Medicine King Mountain Medical College, she asked me to join the show. My drawings ended up in the exhibit, and I also wrote a chapter for the accompanying publication.
In the 2005 German book 'Medicine Mountain of Lhasa: Medical Schools and Monasteries of Tibetan Medicine,' three doctors who had worked at the Medical College of Medicine Mountain gave oral-history interviews. I learned of this through Tracy Hoover. For the 2014 volume 'The Balance of the Body: The Art of Tibetan Medicine,' which she edited, I entitled my chapter 'Pillars of Tibetan Medicine: The Medicine King Mountain and Men-Tsee-Khang Medical College in Lhasa.
My reexamination of Medicine Mountain’s architectural design was significantly aided by this information. Additionally, photos from Heinrich Harrer’s summer 1982 visit, which Hofer showed me, still displayed the complex’s remnants and lacked the television signal tower, helping clarify certain questions about the buildings’ internal layout.
While searching for photos in the German Federal Archives, I came across images captured by Ernst Schäfer between 1938 and 1939, which should improve our understanding of the medical school's upper structure. Twenty pillars in the central hall are mentioned in the German publication. Additionally, "Mo Ya Shi Ke on the south side of Lhasa Medicine King Mountain: White Tara" is quoted from "Mo Ya Shi Ke on Medicine King Mountain" (1996).
In 1997, following an interview with Dr. Danzeng Baijue, scholars produced a sketch of the main building layout (Figure One), which is another key feature in the book. For those familiar with Tibetan architecture, the expression "twenty pillars" indicates a four-by-five arrangement of hall pillars, with five-by-six spacing between them (each approximately 2.4 meters). That results in an area of roughly twelve by fourteen point four meters, well suited to the central hall.
The sketch shows a main hall flanked by side rooms and linked to the original tower. A short flight of stairs connects the main hall to the tower. The tower has three levels, and no additional staircases appear in the sketch. Internal staircases would consume excessive space, so people back then likely accessed the tower from outside, using the mezzanine in the main hall—a layout frequently seen in temples. Entry from the roof was another option, also a recurring design in such structures.
During my effort to arrange the rooms inside the main hall, I found that the hall's main entrance is not aligned with the center of the east facade. *Image 1: a sketch drawn after an interview and provided by Danzeng Baijue in 1997, with the following numbered items: 1. Main hall 2. Storage room for Tibetan medical thangkas 3. Storage room for silk decorations 4. Purpose unknown 5. Printing room with side door 6. Main entrance of the main hall.
An examination of Vanes' photographs reveals that the main entrance sits roughly 1.5 meters off-center, suggesting it was added after the hall had already been built. The extra space, which formed a room measuring five by five meters, probably resulted from an additional row of columns introduced either at the start of construction or while building was underway. Given that this space is located along the southern wall, its presence makes sense.
The purpose of the third room on the west side is unknown, although the first two are used for storing Tibetan thangkas and silk decorations. The sketches do not give the size of these three rooms. A printing room sits across the hall. Its narrow, elongated shape makes it suitable for housing woodblocks and paper. An external staircase is reachable through a side door from the printing room. Taken in 1986 by Schuyler Jones, "The monks printing 'Ganzhuer' in Zhebang Temple" is held in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
According to Wanis's photographs, a smaller space extending up to the roof is visible in the hall's southeast corner, likely where an internal staircase was located—a feature found in many temples. Such stairs typically reach a mezzanine, a standard element of the hall's design. That mezzanine, which supplies light to the hall, also gives access to the tower's first floor. Whether the main staircase continues to the mezzanine's top remains unclear.
Otherwise, a lightweight staircase placed in the secondary room is likely used to access the roof, as is common in temple rooftops. The floors of the tower are of similar height. In any case, a small staircase may also be present on the roof, leading to the second floor, a feature often seen in Tibetan buildings such as Xialu temple. The photo shows a pole in the middle of the tower.
Initially, I envisioned it as bearing the tower's roof, akin to the wooden core pillars of a stupa, though it might also have been nothing more than a roof element. For the final design, I weighed the possibility that a central pillar held up the floors and roof, which led me to conclude that the tower must have an internal core structure composed of four interconnected pillars.
While going through a photo taken by Hal, I came upon the answer to this question. The picture, titled "Peter Aufschnaiter at the Summit of Medicine Buddha Mountain," was shot by Heinrich Harrer in 1948. It shows Peter Ofschnait on the roof, observing the instrument mounted on a tripod, and what was referred to as a "pole" is in fact a copper ornament at the center of the rooftop. Peter Aufschnaiter (1899–1973), a geographer and mountaineer, is engaged in geographical surveying at the peak of Medicine Buddha Mountain.
In 1982, Hal’s photographs taken in Lhasa depicted the remains of a structure. Two of them were captured from different angles: one from the northeast (Image 3) and the other from the southwest (Image 4). In the northeast shot, the slope is readily discernible. The north facade’s openings reveal where small windows once stood; a doorway beside the staircase at the center of the east facade provides access to the basement, and the tower window overlooking the Potala Palace is also visible.
In the latter, the south facade’s windows are visible, along with how the tower connects to the west wall. Enlarging the photo reveals a horizontal crack above the stones in the west wall. Beneath that crack, the rocks display contamination marks—substance emerging from the crack and trickling down the rock face. Clearly, this is a toilet.
The building certainly contained a toilet, with one adjacent to the printing room of the main hall and another outdoors on the rooftop, the two being separated by a wall. The architectural layout does not block the view of the mountain structure. *Image 3: "Ruins of the Medicine King Mountain Architectural Complex" Photographed by Heinrich Hahler in 1982 Some wall surfaces may date back to the Tang Dynasty period *Image 4: Ruins of the Medicine King Mountain architectural complex Photographed in 1982 by Heinrich Haller
The height of the rocks on the building's exterior—especially on the western facade—indicates that the pagoda was built level with the mountain, meaning the basement was constructed around the mountain peak. Medicinal materials are stored in the space beneath the main hall, which has two entrances or can be accessed through the main staircase at the southeast corner of the central hall.
Nearly identical photographs were taken by Ernst Schäfer in 1938, one year after Spencer Chapman's 1937 image (Figure 5) had depicted two monks playing musical instruments on the roof of the Medical Academy of Medicine on Mount Medicine. In Schäfer's other pictures, however, the monks are positioned above the main hall's roof level (Figures 6 and 7). That spot must be the roof over the main hall's mezzanine, and Chapman must have stood there to capture his photo.
The layout clarifies how the main hall receives its illumination and the route by which the upper two floors of the tower are reached. Beneath Chapman’s position there must have been a sizable window, allowing sunlight to stream into the central hall—a feature typical of Tibetan temples throughout the region. *Image 5: "View of the Potala Palace from Medicine King Mountain" Taken by Spencer Chapman in 1937. *Image 6: "View of the Potala Palace from Medicine King Hill" Filmed by Ernst Schäfer in 1939 Stands as a crucial visual source for the restoration project.
In "Medicine King Mountain in Lhasa: Tibetan Medical College and Monastery", the oral narrator explains that the kitchen of the medical college sits in a small building by the entrance. Given that food had to be brought in every day, this placement makes perfect sense. As for Image 7, "Monk Playing on the Roof of the Medical College", taken by Ernst Schäfer in 1939, the college's dormitories and a path descending the mountain can be seen off in the distance.
Drawings eight through eleven, which I have completed, depict the square facades of the complex. The core architectural structure and floor relationships appear in drawings twelve and thirteen as sectional views, while drawings fourteen through eighteen show the size and functionality of the interior spaces. In the gatehouse basement, a food storage room sits next to the stairs, with the kitchen directly above it. This reveals the basic structure of the complex at this point.
*Image 8: "Plan for the Reconstruction of the Medicine Academy on Medicine King Mountain: North Facade" Drawn by Knud Larsen in 2015. My hope is that these sketches will assist us in gaining a deeper understanding of the college and in rebuilding it.
During my visit to Lhasa in the autumn of 2015, rumors were that the television signal tower would be moved to a different location. The three images are: Image 9, "Medicine King Mountain Medical College Reconstruction Plan: East Elevation", drawn by Knud Larson in 2015; Image 10, "Mount Medicine King Medical College Reconstruction Plan: South Elevation", 2015, illustrated by Knud Larsen; and Image 11, "Plan for the reconstruction of Medical College on Medicine King Mountain: Western Facade", drawn by Knud Larsen in 2015.
A proposal was made to reconstruct the Yiwangshan Medical College at its original location, transforming it into a Tibetan Medicine Museum that would display enduring works such as Tibetan medicine thangkas. A Tibetan medicine research center might also be set up there. The reconstruction must follow classical building techniques, employing traditional materials and tools, with concrete and modern materials strictly forbidden—the Zongpu in Shigatse cited as a cautionary example.
The reconstruction of the Yiwangshan architectural complex will earn worldwide praise and inspire Tibetans to the greatest possible degree. I believe the rebuilt structures will attract a large number of tourists. Today, the Medicine King Mountain architectural complex could serve as the finest alternative to the fragile Hongshan architectural complex, giving visitors a landscape experience similar to Hongshan's.
At the end of this article, I would like to recount a wonderful coincidence. My visit to Chengdu in September 2015 lasted only a few days. During that time, a friend invited me to dine with some of her friends, one of whom was an ex-soldier who had been stationed in Tibet. Also included here are Image 12, "Reconstruction Plan of Medicine College on Yaowang Mountain: South and North Facade," drawn by Knud Larsen in 2015, and Image 13, "Medical College Reconstruction Plan of Yaowang Mountain: East and West Facades," drawn by Knud Knudsen in 2015.
At seventeen, he had first set foot in Tibet. Later, he practiced as a doctor in the Shigatse region. He told me in a low voice that he probably knew the building better than most people. Notably, he had served as the Panchen Lama's personal physician. He expressed good wishes for my "reconstruction plan," which I took as a favorable sign: the era of destruction and rebuilding was nearing its end.
Image 15, titled "Medical College of Yao Wang Mountain Reconstruction Plan: Basement," was illustrated by Knud Larsen in 2015. In the same year, Larsen also produced Image 16 ("Medicine King Mountain Medical College Reconstruction Plan: Main Hall"), Image 17 ("Medicine King Mountain Medical College Reconstruction Plan: Main Hall Mezzanine"), and Image 18 ("Medicine King Mountain Medical College Reconstruction Plan: Roof"). The accompanying text was authored by Mr. Knud Larsen, with illustrations by the artist Tsering Tashi.