왕실의 議藥

Abstract

Seungjeongwon Ilgi[『承政院日記』], the Diaries of Royal Secretariat of the Joeson Dynasty is the most massive compilation of records in Korean history. Medical records in Seungjeongwon Ilgi have been studied but the procedures of clinical discussion[議藥] have not yet been studied. In this paper, main agents of clinical discussion, formation of participant doctor system, particularity of clinical discussion in Royal Court and problems derived from it will be discussed. Main agents of clinical discussion were court doctors[內醫], royal doctors[御醫] and participant doctors[議藥同參]. The king himself decided ultimately as a matter of form. Head of the Medical Dpt. of the Palace[藥房都提調] was in charge of attending to king, but head of the court doctor[首醫] led the actual discussion of deciding treatment. The Medical Dpt. of the Palace[內醫院] was divided into three sectors―court doctor division, acupuncture doctor division and participant doctor division. Palace doctors payed a great attention to avoid serious error. This tendency led them occasionally to passive management. Sometimes aggressive treatment is needed in the course of treating disease, but palace doctors tended to choose slow and gradual methods. It induced minor conflict between palace doctors and participant doctors from outside palace, because doctors from outside palace subordinated effectiveness. Their opinion had not been always recognized by court doctors. However, their role was meaningful because they provided flexibility to the rigidity of clinical discussion in the palace. It is important to evaluate clinical records in Seungjeongwon Ilgi[『承政院日記』]. If we have broader eye on the clinical procedure in the palace, we can estimate the value of the contents more objectively and accurately.