A review of an ancient book of Mongolian medicine translated from Russian
- VernacularTitle:Орос хэлнээс орчуулсан монголын анагаах ухааны эрт цагийн нэгэн бүтээлийг нэхэн судлахуй
- Author:
Bold Sharavyn
1
Author Information
1. Mongolian Academy of Medical Sciences
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
European medicine;
spread;
Mongolia;
historical sources;
Oirat dialect;
Todo Bichig
- From:Mongolian Medical Sciences
2023;205(3):61-71
- CountryMongolia
- Language:Mongolian
-
Abstract:
In our research article published in the Journal of Mongolian Medical Science, 2018 №1 (183), we
made the following conclusion.
1. Activities of religious envoys from Europe to the Qing dynasty (Manchu) and Mongolia, the Imperial
Russian Consular office, which was opened in Ikh Khuree (The ancient capital of Mongolia),
and documents related to infectious diseases, European medical knowledge and information on
medical care are historical facts that European medicine was first “imported” to Mongolia. Based
on these facts, the knowledge of European medicine in Mongolia began to spread in the 1720s.
2. It was concluded that the knowledge of European medicine in Mongolia had previously been
concentrated in Ikh Khuree through the Qing dynasty (Manchu), Inner Mongolia, and Buryatia
in the north, and had gradually spread to some provinces of Mongolia to prevent communicable
diseases.
Over the next three years, many pieces of evidence were found that enriched the history of
Mongolian medicine. Among these facts, a book called in the Oirat dialect “Ahr surhl” is of great
interest as the book provides an opportunity to further confirm that European medicine has begun to
spread in Mongolia, as we noted in a previous article.
The Russian title of the book is “ Краткое наставление о лечении болезней простыми средствами”
and the Mongolian translation in English is “A Brief treatise” (A Brief Instruction on Treating Diseases
with Simple Methods). The book is called “Ahr surhl” when translated from Russian into Oirat dialects
in Todo Bichig (Clear Script).
The first volume was compiled by Professor Osip Kirillovich Kamenetsky, the first Russian physician
and member of the Academy of Medicine and Surgery, and the second volume was compiled by
Yakov Osipovich Sapolovich and published in St. Petersburg in 1803. Later, with the help of Princess
Tseveg Tundutova of Kalmykia, Nikolay Alekseevich Lebedev translated the Oirat dialect into Todo
Bichig (Clear Script).
The book is one of the historical sources that clarifies how European medicine spread through Russia
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and how European medicine and traditional medicine
coexisted and developed. It is a brief book compiled by a Russian scholar on the medical knowledge,
methods, and pharmacology in European medicine.
It is important to note that the translation of this book in the Oirat dialect into Todo Bichig (Clear Script)
opened the door for the Mongolian people to use European medicine. Therefore, it is true that the
knowledge of Western medicine began to spread among the Mongols as early as the 19th century.
The only book currently preserved in Mongolia was found in Khuvsgul province in north, not in the
Oirat-speaking western provinces of Mongolia. This is a testament to the book’s widespread popularity
in Mongolia.
- Full text:2026102017381837967MMS-2023-205(3)-61-71.pdf
