• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2022

Uirimchalyo (醫林撮要) was published in advance of the Donguibogam (東醫寶鑑) in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty. This book was a pioneering form of the Donguibogam. This paper examines the acupuncture and moxibustion methods used within Uirimchalyo. Because this book was produced for the general public as well as professional Korean medicine doctors, it did not present complex symptom classification and complicated acupuncture prescriptions. Instead, it summarized acupoints in a simple way and could be used as a standardized treatment guideline. In addition, in the acu-moxa methods of the Uirimchalyo, moxibustion was used more than acupuncture. This implies that the author's intention was to treat the disease gently, and furthermore, that the book inherits the acu-moxa method of Hyangyakjipseongbang (鄕藥集成方). There are many suggestions of experienced prescriptions, which can be seen as focusing on experience-based medicine. In addition, the characteristic of not using many acupuncture points served as the cause of the emergence of Saam acupuncture techniques.