18세기 후반 의학계의 변화상 -『欽英』으로 본 조선후기 의학 -

Abstract

Heum Yeong, a diary Yu Man-ju (1755~1788) wrote from 1775, is a collection of his book reviews and materials on actual life in Hanyang, the capital of Joseon, in the late 18th century. Even though he was a youth who prepared for a civil service examination and a member of the Noron faction, he read many writings by Silhak scholars (scholars of the Realist School of Confucianism) and had considerable interest in knowledge of miscellaneous matters as well as Juja Neo-confucianism. He left a lot of records on medicine and they were part of his efforts to apply medicine to actual life beyond his intellectual interest. For such reasons, Heum Yeong reflected changes in the medical world in the late 18th century. What was the most notable characteristics was rapid commercialization of medicine. Yu Man-ju visited many doctors to treat diseases of his family and made transactions with multiple drug stores in order to procure medicinal ingredients prescribed by the doctors. This was a phenomenon resulting from commercialization of pharmaceuticals centered on Hanyang. Such commercialization affected the trend of medical studies to some degree. First, medical theories of Onbo School from China in the 18th century were introduced in earnest and conservatism of medicine led to proliferation of onboje (drugs that make the body warm) like ginseng. Second, thanks to gradually deepened medical knowledge doctors did not follow prescriptions recorded in medical books as they were but added or subtracted medicinal ingredients to be suitable for the given condition. Lastly, doctors who specialized in a certain discipline started to emerge to meet the demand by the people. The departments of ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics were newly brought into relief.