• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.31-50
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• 2023

Through this paper, all the provisions of the enforcement statutes stipulated in the Joseon's law code were investigated and major medical issues and interests in the Joseon Dynasty were analyzed. The characteristics of each period reviewed in the text are as follows. The early Joseon Dynasty is divided into three periods. First of all, Joseon filled the gap in the law with the active acceptance of the Ming Dynasty's law code, Daemyeongrul, which conformed to Confucian virtue. Next, the completion of Gyeonggukdaejeon was an opportunity to prepare the basis for Joseon's medical laws. Lastly, from the late 15th century to the 16th century, the existing medicine promotion measures and emphasis on hyangyak(domestic herb) continued. it can be said that Joseon's politicians needed a medical policy based on Confucian virtues and maintained state-led promotion policies, but on the other hand, there was no other alternative to try newly by reflecting the limitations and failures of the policy. The late Joseon Dynasty is also divided into three periods. First of all, the period from the late 16th century to the early 18th century was marked by the growth of families in technical positions. The era of King Yeongjo can be said to be the period of reorganization of medical related laws. Finally, the period after the late 18th century is a period of passive regulation and supplementation. Lastly, the revision of the actual medical law was not made or reflected in era of King Jeongjo. In the case of the early Joseon Dynasty, the policy shifted from state-led to families in technical positions. However, in the 19th century, the weakening of the royal authority led to the weakening of the overall administrative system of the country, and the pharmaceutical policy had to be limited.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.471-475
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• 2023

Archaeoentomological investigations were conducted on soil contents from a grave belonging to the Joseon Dynasty as part of the Urban Environment Maintenance Project (UEMP) in Cheongjin 12-16 dong (districts), Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea, from December 01, 2008 to February 19, 2011. A total of 28 insect puparia with hard shells of the common green bottle fly Lucilia sericata were identified in the soil. Evidence suggested that the corpse was placed outside for some days instead of being buried immediately after death. This is the first report of fly puparia in soil samples from a tomb of the Joseon Dynasty during 16-17 AD in Korea. Our findings may help determine the timeframe of burial and offer archaeological insights into the funerary customs of the period.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

The medical system of the Central Military Command in the late Joseon Dynasty was practiced by military yakbang (clinicians 藥房), acupuncturists, and horse veterinarians. By analyzing and verifying various literatures, the following conclusions were obtained: 1) In the late Joseon Dynasty, military yakbang prioritized internal medical treatment over surgical treatment. Military yakbang were recognized before military acupuncturists were and had more medicinal gardens. This can be associated with the characteristics of the Military Medical Specialized Book that focuses on drug prescription. 2) The positions of military yakbang and military acupuncturists were not preferred by the Western Medical Offices (洋醫司). For example, in the latter days of King Sukjong's reign, positions were appointed from the Western Medical Offices but, on appeal, outside doctors were included as well. This is understood in terms of salary levels and guarantees of career opportunities. 3) The military acupuncturist was not selected based on ability as per the rules. If that was the case, more military acupuncturists would have been selected as royal acupuncturists (內鍼醫) under the system that continued until the late 19th century. In the future, it is expected that comparative studies will be conducted between local military medicine and the early Joseon's military medicine, thereby intensifying research on military medicine in the Joseon Dynasty.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2021

During the Joseon Dynasty, Jeju had a unique aspect that differentiated it from other regions in terms of their medical system, such as the exclusive deployment of shimyak dispatched to Gamyeong and Barracks units due to the uniqueness of being an island. This study uses various historical sources to verify that these differences existed throughout the medical system and procedures of Jeju in the late Joseon Dynasty. The following significant conclusions were drawn: 1) Looking at the work and characters of Jejushimyak reveals the inherent limitations of Jeju medical care in the Joseon Dynasty. Compared to other regions' shimyak, Jejushimyak had two limitations: it was difficult to engage in only medicine and the quality of medical doctors declined due to the avoidance of major medical doctors' households. 2) The establishment of public health care in Jeju through Medical Cadets failed. Jeju medical science obviously played an essential role in public health care in the early 18th century. However, there was no continuity in the garden, etc. Hyangri, who was in charge of Medical Cadets, was in charge of various fragrances as needed. Thus expertise in medicine was lacking. 3) The cultivated herbs of Jeju's herb field show the failure to supply herbs for institutional medicine. It was impossible to supply enough herbs to implement institutional medicine in Jeju. In that case, it would have been necessary to discover alternative local herbs or to bring them in from outside, but there was barely any such effort. In conclusion, in the late Joseon Dynasty, Jeju failed to establish a foundation for centrally administered institutional medicine. There was a lack of all the entities that provided medical care and herbs that could be used for medical care. The reason that Jeju continued to follow traditional shaman medicine in the late Joseon Dynasty was because there was no other alternative.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 2022

This study examined the perception of the royal family and scholars, focusing on the records of the royal family and literary collections in the late Joseon Dynasty, and attempted to present the process of accepting this content in Korea through domestic and foreign medical documents and other literature. The perception of this content in the late Joseon Dynasty can be said to be a characteristic to the history of acupuncture and moxibustion in the Joseon period. This seems to have occurred after the middle of the Joseon Dynasty, when both acupuncture and medicine were commonly performed on the king. This content was generally recognized by Joseon's scholars because it had been in books read by the scholars before it was mentioned directly in the medical book. Korean medical books were influenced by Uihakyimmun, and this content continued steadily in various medical books. Since the books containing this content were test subjects for the medical exam, it can be assumed that they were generally accepted by doctors in the late Joseon Dynasty.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.33-44
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• 2017

Introduction to Medicine (Euihak-Ipmun), written by Lee Chun of the Ming Dynasty, is a comprehensive medical book brought to Joseon in the 1600s. It directly influenced many medical books written in the Joseon Dynasty of the same period, and became a major citation document of Dongui-Bogam. Introduction to Medicine became a major text for medical education in 1834 and has since been used as a clinical primer of Korean medicine. This article first examines the Joseon's era published version of Introduction to Medicine using documentation of the Diary of the Royal Secretariat (Seungjeongwon Ilgi), and a woodblock list. Based on these investigations, the reviewer examined the existing versions of the book, and focused on various characteristics for comparison. This article reveals facts which include : 1) All editions of Introduction to Medicine published at the present office are published by Jeolla-do provincial office (Jeolla-Gamyeong). 2) The first edition was published before 1636. 3) A finely produced version (Jeongganbon) was published around 1760. 4) The Jeongrijache-iron type publication was published around 1801.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.11-27
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• 2012

King Cheoljong was the twenty-fifth King in the Joseon Dynasty. He did not live a comfortable royal life in his childhood. He succeeded to the crown in the age of 19 after a series of poor days in Ganghwado. During his sovereignty over the territory, the noble class with power interfered with his control in almost every issue, so he could not manage his authority as a ruler. His disease history is hardly included in "Formal Records of the Joseon Dynasty(朝鮮王朝實錄)" which is the prime governmental document, however, some of his disease history appear in "Records of the Diaries of the Kings of Joseon(日省錄)". The primary disease of King Cheoljong was nausea-vomiting, indigestion, diarrhea etc. caused by spleen-stomach weakness. Another main illness was phlegm syndrome. He showed symptoms of coughs, asthma, sputum, and he easily caught cold having a weak health condition. He died at 33 and cause of death was unclear with remaining documents. Just small chances are that the cause was lung tuberculosis. He took a large amount of herbal medicine in his life, which was for curing or toning up his body. Tonifying medicinal herbs were used continuously, and curing herbal medicine was used for spleen-stomach weakness, phlegm syndrome and cold treatment. Treatments of acupuncture and moxa rarely appear in the documents.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.107-126
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• 2009

King Seonjo, the second son of King Jeongjo, is the twenty-third King of the Joseon Dynasty. He suffered mainly from spleen-stomach weakness syndrome[脾胃虛弱], neurasthenic neurosis and abscess according to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty[朝鮮王朝實錄]. He experienced chicken pox at the age of twelve, measles at thirteen, smallpox at sixteen. In his twenties he was ill with chronic breakdown due to the spleen-stomach weakness[脾胃虛弱], accompanied by neurasthenia. Abscess occurred during his twenties and the septicemia induced by abscess worsening led him to death. Most treatments were herb-extract medication taken orally, and to some extent ointment care was applied as a cure for abscess.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1-31
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• 2010

Objective : The objective of this study is to verify the characteristics of acupuncture methods of Joseon Dynasty by looking into the relationship between five viscera diagnosis and acupuncture methods. Material & Method : In the process, I've reviewed the relationship between meridian/exterior and viscera/bowels, along with a thorough comparison of the academic tendency in acupuncture of Ming-China, Qing-China and Joseon. Result & Conclusion : The two fields of meridian and exterior, and viscera and bowels had been theoretically merged, and based upon that, foundation methods applying the five viscera diagnosis were designed. Joseon acupuncture exceeded the existing concept of viscera which simply related itself to the exterior meridian and exterior by integrating the concepts from the visceral manifestation theory. With this, large proportions of medicine related to the visceral manifestation theory were invited into acupuncture, expanding therapeutic boundaries for acupuncture treatment. A historical review on medical texts starts from the Hyangyakjipseongbang("鄕藥集成方") which familiarized the public with mainstream acupuncture knowledge up until the Song dynasty, followed by Uibangyuchwi("醫方類聚"), which sparked up interest on the acupuncture methods based on viscera and bowels. Donguibogam("東醫寶鑑") organized the medical theories up until then, building a foundation upon which viscera/bowel-based acupuncture was able to develop further. In Chimgugyeongheombang("鍼灸經驗方"), viscera/bowel-based acupuncture methods started to blossom, integrating the meridian and exterior theory with the viscera manifestation theory, which in turn provided various methods through five viscera diagnosis. In the Saamdoin acupuncture method(舍岩道人鍼法), diagnostic criteria moved on to the five viscera diagnosis, and new methods resulting from the inter-complimentary and inter-prohibiting relationships between the five phases were introduced, opening a new world of acupuncture.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.43-50
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• 2019

The medical book Yosandangsinjipeuibangkeumnangjibo (『樂山堂新集醫方錦囊至寶』, below as Yosandang, 『樂山堂』) is housed in the Handok museum of Medicine and Pharmacy. At the end of the Yosandang, written in manuscript, contains a rhymes of herbal medicine (藥性歌). The rhymes of herbal medicine is a record of song form about herbal medicine. Song-forms were widely used because they were easy to sing and memorize. In particular, there are many records of song forms in Korean medical books, which have been used in various fields such as herbal medicines, acupuncture points, and diagnosis. Although Yosandang is not a widely known medical book, it is meaningful in that it shows a cross section of late Joseon Korean medicine. So, this paper considers rhymes of herbal medicine in Yosandang. Yosandang is a medical book of the late Joseon period written by doctor Byun Gwangwon in 1806. This book consists of 6 books and 14 volumes, 13 of which are rhymes of herbal medicine. The rhymes of herbal medicine in Yosandang is 7 words-2 phrases form for the first time in Korea. This is almost 80 years earlier than the same form of Bangyakhabpyeon (『方藥合編』). The first part of rhymes of herbal medicine in Yosandang is considered to refer to the rhymes of herbal medicine in Jejungsinpyeon (『濟衆新編』), and the last part seems to be based on the contents of Donguibogam (『東醫寶鑑』). In other words, rhymes of herbal medicine in Yosandang could be considered as the result of trying to contain herbal medicine knowledge as a new 7 words-2 phrases form based on the Jejungsinpyeon (『濟衆新編』) and Donguibogam (『東醫寶鑑』). Unlike the previous rhymes of herbal medicine made during the compilation of medical books led by the late Joseon government, the rhymes of herbal medicine in Yosandang is a new type of rhymes created based on individual efforts in the early 19th century. It has a medicine historical significance in that it can show some aspects of Korean medicine in the late Joseon period.