Korean medical traditions originated in ancient and prehistoric times and can be traced back as far as 3000
BCE when stone and bone needles were found in
North Hamgyong Province, in present-day North Korea. In
Gojoseon, where the
founding myth of Korea is recorded, there is a story of a tiger and a bear who wanted to reincarnate in human form and who ate
wormwood and
garlic. In
Jewang Ungi (제왕운기), which was written around the time of
Samguk Yusa, wormwood and garlic are described as 'edible medicine', showing that, even in times when incantatory medicine was the mainstream, medicinal herbs were given as curatives in Korea. Medicinal herbs at this time were used as remedial treatment such as easing the pain or tending injury, along with knowing what foods were good for health. In the period of the
Three Kingdoms, traditional Korean medicine was mainly influenced by other traditional medicines such as
ancient Chinese medicine. There was important trade with foreign countries during the period of the Three Kingdoms. "In particular, medical knowledge from China and India supplemented the foundation of traditional medicine that had been handed down from the Old Joseon period." These efforts were systematized and published in the Hyangyak Jipseongbang (향약집성방, 1433), which was completed and included 703 Korean native medicines, providing an impetus to break away from dependence on Chinese medicine. The medical encyclopaedia named
Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions (醫方類聚, 의방유취), which included many classics from traditional Chinese medicine, written by Kim Ye-mong (金禮蒙, 김예몽) and other Korean official doctors from 1443 to 1445, was regarded as one of the greatest medical texts of the 15th century.,
National Museum of Korea After this, many books on medical specialties were published. There are three physicians from the
Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) who are generally credited with further development of traditional Korean medicine—
Heo Jun, Saam, and
Yi Je-ma. After the
Japanese invasion in 1592,
Dongeui Bogam (동의보감) was written by Heo Jun, the first of the major physicians. This work further integrated the Korean and Chinese medicine of its time and was influential to Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese medicine. In the late period of Joseon, Yi Je-ma's "unique system of constitutional medicine" illustrates the "nature of" the medicine that has been traditionally developed in Korea by example. Sasang typology (사상의학) focuses on the individual patients based on different reactions to disease and herbs. Treat illness by the treatment of the root cause through proper diagnosis. Key to this diagnosis is to first determine the internal organs or pathophysiology of each patient. The next recognized individual is Saam, a priest-physician who is believed to have lived during the 16th century. Although there is much unknown about Saam, including his real name and date of birth, it is recorded that he studied under the famous monk Samyang. He developed a system of acupuncture that employs the five element theory. In the late Joseon dynasty, positivism was widespread. Clinical evidence was used more commonly as the basis for studying disease and developing cures. Scholars who had turned away from politics devoted themselves to treating diseases and, in consequence, new schools of traditional medicine were established. Simple books on medicine for the common people were published.
Yi Je-ma classified human beings into four main types, based on the emotion that dominated their personality and developed treatments for each type: • Tae-Yang (태양, ) or "greater yang" • So-Yang (소양, ) or "lesser yang" • Tae-Eum (태음, ) or "greater yin" • So-Eum (소음, ) or "lesser yin" The Japanese took control of Korea, which made the Korean traditional medicine fall on difficult times. "Principles of traditional medicine call for an assessment of eight symptoms." The meme '한무당'(Hanmudang), a neologism that relates Korean Traditional Medicine to shamanism has become too prevalent among young generations that there the association of Korean Traditional Medicine Protectionists had to take measures to stop the meme from auto-completing in internet searches. In general, the history of Korean medicine can be divided into five periods. The first period, up to about the 12th century, was one of the alleged dark ages of Korean medicine, with TKM based primarily on folk tradition and some foreign (mostly Chinese) elements. In the second period, the 13th to 15th centuries, Hyangyak medicine, which emphasized the use of domestic herbs, emerged. Hyangyak medicine is a type of TKM that prescribed only Hyangyak. This local focus was crucial during times of war, when access to foreign medicinal supplies was limited. The third period, the 15th to early 17th centuries, was marked by the creation of the great medical texts such as Hyangyak Jipseongbang, which combined indigenous and foreign knowledge to form a complete system of Korean medicine. In the 17th to 19th centuries, TKM became more independent with the publication of the
Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine (東醫寶鑑, 동의보감,
Dongui Bogam) in 1613, a seminal text that solidified TKM as distinct from TCM. The fifth period, roughly the 20th and 21st centuries, required a great deal of adjustment to TKM to modern medical research, yet retained TKM. This period is the time of Korea trying to incorporate KM into the national health care system and at the same time dealing with modernization and globalization. To sum up, the growth of Korean Medicine reveals how traditional wisdom can evolve when faced with external factors or contemporary demands. Synthesis of TKM with modern science traces TKM's evolution from folk herbal medicine to integration with scientific research, albeit with a cultural dilemma of retaining the past while modernizing. Such progression provides insights into the durability and applicability of traditional systems in the contemporary world. ==Methods==