Abstract
This study is a report on recently discovered medical records based on traditional medicine in the 1900s. First, the contents of the records and their significance are described in detail. Next, a simple example of the research follows, in order to explain the medical and historical significance the records contain and to answer the question of how this historical document can contribute to future medical and historical studies. The documents dealt with in this study, the Chunggang Medical Records, are medical records compiled by a Korean doctor of oriental medicine by the name of Younghun Kim who practiced in the center of Seoul for a period of over 60 years. The records, which eventually amounted to over 1,500 books, were made known to the academic world when the descendents recently donated them to Kyunghee University. The reason these medical records attract so much attention from academic circles, even though they are the work of one individual, is that they contain abundant information on general public medical health at the time, in addition to the fact that Kim Younghun was a well known figure among Oriental Medicine doctors in Korea. The medical records start in 1915 and continue until Kim Younhun's death in 1974, though they have some damaged or missing parts. Kim's medical records are a gold mine not only for scholars studying the medical history of the early 1900s, but also for doctors trying to emulate the techniques embedded in a great predecessor's medical practice.
