[Forum] Variations to the types and names of the herbal root medicines written about in the Wonderful Illumination to the Understanding of Knowledge-mdzes mtshar mirgyan: Focusing on the Mongolian and Chinese Versions: Standardization problem for types and nomenclatures of herbal medicines

The aim of this study is to compare the nomenclatures of herbal root medicines used in Inner Mongolia, China and Mongolia based on the three translations of the Wonderful Illumination to the Understanding of Knowledge or mdzes mtshar mig rgyan which was written by the famous Mongolian scholar Naiman Toin Jamphel Dorje(1792-1855). These include the Mongolian translation entitled 『mongγul em-i jӧb taniqu toli(蒙藥正典)』 and two Chinese translations entitled (主编奇岭, 罗达尚, 1998), Mongyakjeongjeon 『蒙药正典』(主编柳白乙拉, 2006) and 『蒙药 正典(美丽目饰)』(译注者罗布桑等, 2006). Moreover, classifications of traditional medicines were compared between the three bookswhere the classification system of traditional medicines is detailed. In traditional Mongolian medicine, the Tibetan names of medicines are used regularly since the Tibetan medicine was spread throughout Mongolia at the end of the 16th century. Moreover, local names of the herbs are also used in Mongolian medicine in order to recognize the herbs. Scientific names in Mongolian are used for all herbal root medicines which are written in Tibetan in mdzes mtshar mig rgyan. Some Mongolian names and the herbs used under the same Tibetan name are varied between the two countries. Thus in order to avoid any confusions with the Mongolian names of the herbs used in Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, standardization of Mongolian names of the medicines is required.