Historical background and accumulated experiences of Mongolian medicine in bone-setting therapy

Abstract

Based on traditional Mongolian medicine and modern scientific theory, Mongolian bone art or bone-setting therapy and massage therapy are clinical disciplines of traditional medicine that explain and study the methods, principles, and rules for preventing and treating diseases through the manual techniques of Mongolian bone-setting therapy and massage therapy, with the therapeutic means as their distinctive feature. Therefore, the topic has been selected to address the need to clarify the historical development of massage therapy, particularly bonesetting therapy, based on source literature and rare historical facts, and to further develop the history of traditional medicine. This study examines the historical facts and accumulated experiences of Mongolian medicine in bone-setting therapy from the 13th to the early 21st century. The following research methods were employed: source analysis, as well as analytical and synthetic approaches, along with the checklist method. The method of bone-setting therapy has been validated in practice over centuries through successive stages of social development. In the 13th century, it developed from a traditional bone-setter practice into a more sophisticated, evidence-based procedure during the Great Mongol Empire. From the 13th century to the 17th century, Mongolian bone-setting therapy was widely practiced among nomads, and from the 17th century onward, it became an independent branch under the name of coban within the state ministry of the Manchu Qing dynasty (1636–1912). Subsequently, since the early 20th century, successive generations of renowned bone-setting practitioners, particularly Professor BAO Jin Shan, have further advanced the understanding of bone-setting knowledge and practice, refining it in accordance with modern medical diagnostic methods.