Discussion on 「Oh-Gyun Pyun」, 『Ma Gwa Hwe Tong』

『마진회통(麻疹會通)』·「오견편(吾見篇)」에 대한 제문제(諸問題)

Ma Gwa Hwe Tong, or 麻疹會通 is a general medicinal classic on measles which was an attempt to cope with the situation in the later Joseon Dynasty, when measles was prevailing all throughout the country. It was written in 1798 by Jung Yak Yong, who was a famous realist and a distinguished scholar, and in one of the chapters called Oh Gyun Pyun shows his thoughts. What he is trying to do through his writings, Ma Gwa Hwe Tong, was not reforming the current medicinal studies but to organize the classics on measles that he had access to with a system in order. The progressive thoughts shown in his other book, Eui-Ryung or 醫零, should be considered as his own thoughts only, and it is an overstatement to consider the book of Ma Gwa Hwe Tong to be his tryout in such thoughts.