The south school of Zur originated with Zurkar Nyamnyi Dorje (1439-1475) who was born in Zurkar in Southern Tibet. Nyamnyi Dorje wrote comments on different parts of the Four Medical Treatises and texts on various aspects of Tibetan medicine. Of particular relevance was the work of Zurkawa Lodro Gyelpo (1509-1585), nephew of the founder of the school that authored The Words of the Elder, a commentary on the Four Medical Treatises and other texts such as the Refutation of Arguments Vindicating that the Four Medical Treatises Belong to the Buddhist Canon.

However, the figures that have contributed in major ways to the spread of this school were Deumar Tenzin Phuntso (1672-?) and Situ Choji Jingne (1700-1774). The latter, in the year 1754, founded a school called "Ngarig Lobling" (The Island for the Study of the Five Sciences). The School produced a number of doctors of great value that favored the spread of the Zur School. Due to their scholarship and dedication there has been a continuous transmission of the school's teaching up to the present time.

Deumar Tenzin Phuntso undertook detailed research on various types of medicinal substances existent in Tibet. The result of his research is contained in two treatises that he wrote in the year 1727, entitled The Sphere of Crystal and The Crystal Necklace. In these texts, 2,294 medicinal substances are identified on the basis of their taste (including their post-digestive taste), potencies and properties. Still today, these texts form the basis of the pharmacopoeia used by Tibetan doctors from every region of Tibet.

Ⅲ. The Four Medical Treatises

The major Tibetan medical works are Ju Xi (The Four Medical Treatises). The existing versions are not the original ones. The work covers an abundant array of contents, including the classification of diseases, physiology (the study of living things and their functioning parts), diagnosis and therapy, and prescriptions.

1. North School of Tibetan Medicine
Declarer: Tibet Autonomous Region, China Medical Association of Minorities

2. South School of Tibetan Medicine
Declarer: Ganzi Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province