• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.17-24
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• 2011

Cho Heon Yeong's 'Tongsokanuihagwollon' is an introductory and essential book on Traditional Korean Medicine(TKM), and now we can nearly take it as classic. It contains almost whole contents of TKM : physiology, pathology, herbology, meridian & acupoint, internal medicine, diagnostics, formula science, etc. He wanted to help people get TKM services easily on their own through this book. In the first chapter following the introduction, he inserted Yin-Yang theory, and his lecture on Yin-Yang theory continues for 88 pages, taking 17% of the whole book. Yin-Yang theory chapter is composed of 14 parts which tells about concept, definition and meaning of Yin-Yang, change of Yin-Yang according to time, season, constitution, body region, meridian, herb, etc. Last part refers to disharmony & dysfunction of Yin-Yang in body, so he showed both theoretical and clinical view of Yin-Yang theory. He wrote some quotations from the book 'Complete Works of Jingyue(景岳全書)', 'Huangdi's Internal Classic(黃帝內徑)', 'Introduction to Medicine(醫學入門)', etc. He tried to explain easily about Yin-Yang theory with modern but rough language of science. He seemed to already know clearly that without modern science TKM cannot progress and will soon be overwhelmed by western medicine, and acted his own way to spread spirit of TKM in the period of rapid change & conflict between two civilizations.