Abstract
Objective : This study considered the annual cyclical rituals related to medicine in an effort to look into the general medical conditions in the late Joseon Dynasty. Method : This study selected Uibanghappyeon 'Wolhaeng' as its research material in that it reflects the medical conditions at that time as a writing in the late Joseon Dynasty, and it's a record about annual cyclical rituals included in a medical book. The annual cyclical rituals are possible to analyze from various angles, but this study perceives the fundamental elements forming the annual rituals as (1) the time when a ritual was held (2) purpose, (3) method, and analyzed the calendaric rituals by dividing them according to the three elements. Result : There appear 97 sorts of annual rituals period in all according to their contents in Uibanghappyeon 'Wolhaeng.' (1) the case of directly suggesting a specific day like May 5 was found to be the most with 46 cases on the basis of the character of the implemented time, followed by the part (16 cases) with the sexagenary cycle like the Day of the Ox. (2) From the aspect of the purpose, the case of aiming at preventing diseases was found to be the most with 24 cases, and the case of expressing 'having to do like that' without any clear reason, or 'that would be better' was found to be the third-most 19 cases. In a broad sense, should these two be perceived as disease prevention, these statistics accounted for a half of the whole with 43 cases. Meanwhile, the style of rituals whose purpose was disease treatment(22 times) was to make a medicine on a specific day. Among the 22 sorts related to disease treatment, 16 sorts were the custom of making medicine on a designated day. (3) When classified from the aspect of methods, they can be divided into pharmaceutical preparations(23 cases), specific behavior(20cases), taboo(19 cases), taking medicine(15 cases), fasting(11 cases) and external medical treatment(9 cases), etc. This shows a comparatively even distribution rather than the case of dividing the annual rituals into a period or purpose. Conclusion : Medicine is the knowledge for preventing and treating diseases. However, the medical science and medical treatment of a traditional society show not a little difference from what we feel. The research on the annual cyclical rituals related to medicine is expected to be helpful to our perception of such a difference.
