Indian influences on early Chinese ophthalmology: Glaucoma as a case study

This study deals with an interesting chapter in the development of Chinese ophthalmology. Sino-Indian medical contacts developed with the spread of Bu ddhism in the early centuries of the Christian era. Soon after, Chinese his torical and medical texts as well as popular literature began to reflect th e influence of Indian medicine, especially ophthalmology. Two works which a ppeared between the eighth and the twelfth centuries A.D. were attributed t o Nagarjuna, suggesting their connection with the Indian medical tradition. A case study of glaucoma-like diseases in these texts is followed by a com parison of passages from these works, as well as from those which appeared immediately before and after them in China, with corresponding passages in Indian medical texts. Inferences are drawn regarding the nature of the infl uence of Indian ophthalmology on the formative and developmental stages of Chinese ophthalmology.