著者

長岡 慶

出版者

立命館大学 アジア・日本研究所

雑誌

立命館アジア・日本研究学術年報 (ISSN:2435421X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.4, pp.20-44, 2023 (Released:2023-09-20)

---

This study explores the relationship between the historical images of the blue poppy in the West and the recent industrialization of Tibetan medicine by focusing on image production. The blue poppy(Meconopsis species)is an alpine plant that grows wild around the Himalayas. Although previous studies discuss the industrialization of Tibetan medicine through the mass production and distribution of medicines in a transnational context, discussions on Tibetan and Himalayan plants are limited to their use as raw materials for medicines. Further studies are required about the historical meanings and values of these plants and their relationships with Tibetan medicine. Referring to the perspective of Hans Beltingʼs “anthropology of images,” this study focuses on producing images that interact with media and the body. I argue that the blue poppy has become a symbolic plant of the “science of healing” in the Tibetan medical industry, which is intertwined with its Western images. First, I discuss how Western botanists, horticulturalists, and lay people have produced images of blue poppies through various media between the 19th and early 20th centuries. Thereafter, I analyze how Tibetan medicine practitioners encounter these images and produce new images of the blue poppy in the industrialization of Tibetan medicine