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Heo Jun
Heo Jun (Korean: 허준; 1539 – 9 October 1615) was an ancient Korean physician. He was the royal chief physician of the Naeuiwon during the reign of King Seonjo (1597-1608) and King Gwanghae (1608-1623) of the Joseon Period.[1] BiographyHeo Jun was born in 1539 to an affluent military family. He was well-educated and financially secure throughout his childhood. Although he belonged to a wealthy and respected household, he is thought to have faced discrimination from his lineage from other aristocrats (yangban) because he was born to a concubine. During the Joseon period, illegitimate children of aristocrats could not maintain their fathers' yangban (noble status) and instead were considered chungins. Chungins, or "middle people," typically referred to the social class of technicians and administrators subordinate to the yangbans. While it is unknown why Heo chose to persue medicine, his social status as a chungin may have prevented him from becoming a civil or military officer like his father. He was appointed as a court physician at the age of 29. At age 32, Heo entered the royal clinic of Joseon (Naeuiwon), where he achieved rapid promotion. In 1575, Heo treated King Seonjo, the fourteenth king of Joseon. In 1590, he rose to a senior third-rank government official position after curing the Crown Prince's smallpox. The Imjin War (1592-1598) further solidified King Seonjo's trust in Heo, who accompanied the King throughout the war when other government officers fled to protect their lives. King Seonjo rewarded Heo for his allegiance and his second successful treatment of the afflicted Crown Prince by promoting him to the senior second rank in 1596. In 1600, Heo became the chief physician of the Naeuiwon - the palace's dedicated infirmary and pharmacy. During this time, King Seonjo ordered Heo to write a medical book for his people, who suffered in the post-war period from epidemics and famines. He wanted to publish a book promoting preventative care, detailed drug formulas, and treatment methods that commoners with little or no education could easily access and comprehend. King Seonjo's initiative is noted as one of Joseon's first public healthcare programs. In 1608 when King Seonjo died, government officials accused him of being culpable for the King's death. Heo was exiled to the southeastern countryside of Ulju, where he nevertheless continued to work on his book. In 1609, King Gwanghaegun, the successor to Seonjo, restored Heo to office despite the disapproval of many officials. In 1610, Heo finally completed the twenty-five volumesDonguibogam, a compendium of Korean medicinal knowledge after fifteen years of writing. He spent the last years of his life educating young physicians of Naeuiwon until he died in 1615. The title of senior first-rank officer was conferred posthumously—a feat that yangban officials had long been denied him. He wrote several medical texts, but his most significant achievement, Donguibogam ("Mirror of Eastern Medicine"), is considered his magnum opus as well as the defining text of traditional Korean medicine. The work spread throughout East Asian countries like China, Japan, and Vietnam, where today it is regarded as one of the classics of Oriental medicine. It is divided into five chapters: "Internal Medicine", "External Medicine", "Miscellaneous Diseases", "Remedies", and "Acupuncture". In the first chapter, "Internal Medicine", Heo describes the interdependence of the liver, lungs, kidney, heart, and spleen. The chapter on "External Medicine" explains how the skin, muscles, blood vessels, tendons, and bones allow for movement and maintenance of posture. The chapter on "Miscellaneous Diseases"' describes various diseases' symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment methods. Heo's remedies rely on medicinal herbs and plants, for which provides detailed instructions on how to extract, maintain, and consume. The last chapter explains methods of acupuncture. A work of originality, virtue, and ingenuity Donguibogam is one of the most valued treasures of Korea. In addition to providing valuable medical knowledge, it also reflects the philosophy of seventeenth-century East Asia. Although Heo Jun worked extensively with the royal family, he emphasized making treatment methods accessible and comprehensible to common people. Whereas common medical knowledge and most court physicians considered the effectiveness of a given treatment to be a factor of the rarity and cost of the ingredients involved, he instead found natural herb remedies that were easily attainable by commoners in Korea and were just as effective. Furthermore, he wrote the names of the herbs using the simple hangul letters instead of using more difficult hanja (Chinese characters), which most commoners did not understand.[2][3] Donguibogam was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2009. Family
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