ABSTRACT
The term ‘Buddhist medicine’ is used to refer to a body of medical knowledge introduced to East Asia via the transmission of Buddhism. This chapter explores the basic concepts, practices, texts, and translation strategies of that tradition, as they developed in early medieval China. Originating in the Indo-European context, certain aspects of Buddhist medicine, such as medical doctrine explicitly framed in foreign terminology, were sidelined in the late Tang and Song periods and did not play a very influential role in Chinese medical history. Other aspects such as rituals, deities, literary tropes, and monastic healthcare were widely adopted and became familiar parts of the East Asian medical landscape.
