Hello again - meet 허준 (Jun Ho 1546-1615) a famous doctor, researcher, and author who laid important groundwork for Korea's practice of 한의학 Oriental Medicine.
Dr. Ho was a dedicated and compassionate physician who was always looking for better ways to treat his patients. However, the only medicine books of the day were from China and what Dr. Ho found in them did not always seem like effective or appropriate treatment for Koreans. Since Koreans were acclimated to a different environment, and because local diseases, and available medicinal herbs were different than those in China, Dr. Ho surmised that methods of treatment should reflect those differences. Therefore he spent 16 years researching and cataloging the anatomy of the human body, medical diagnosis, and methods to treat disease and preserve health. His efforts culminated in the publishing of 동의보감 Tong-eui-bo-gam (Eastern Medicine Revered Examples?) comprised of 25 volumes. This in itself is quite an accomplishment but what makes it even more amazing is that over 400 years later, these volumes are still considered valuable reference material by practitioners of Oriental medicine.
Posted by your fellow student George Posten - AKA 나영훈
