Some Problems of Reading Donguisusebowon

Objectives Two conflicting readings of "Donguisusebowon" so far have been presented that Sasang Constitutional Medicine inherited the traditional Five Elements theory and that it was a new perspective on its own right. The main purpose of this paper is to review the theoretical ground of Sasang Constitutional Medicine to see whether it has inherited the Traditional Korean Medicine, and show that it had been developed as an original view independent of the Five Elements theory. Methods To do this, I inquired into the theoretical background of Sasang Constitutional Medicine as well as its philosophical premises and its leading ideas. Results and Conclusions As a result, I have found that Sasang Constitutional Medicine is an original medical theory developed in empirical terms on its own right, divorced from the transcendental view of the Five Elements theory, while borrowing some concepts from I-Ching and Neo-Confucianism only for technical tools. In short, Sasang Constitutional Medicine may well be put as calling for a reappraisal of the Han-medical and Confucian accounts of human being, and a transition from speculative method based on the Five Elements theory to a verifiable empirical method. In this vein, my reading of Sasang Constitutional Medicine in empirical perspective may well be appraised as presenting a new way to further inquiries into the theoretical nature of it, and to getting itself across with Western medicine as well.

『동의수세보원(東醫壽世保元)』 해석의 몇 가지 문제들