Abstract
The three major medical compilations of the Joseon Dynasty, Hyangyak-jipseongbang, Uibang-yuchwi, and Dongui-bogam, directly cited a total of 376 kinds of medical books. Among them, 11 medical books were commonly referred: Gyeongheom-yangbang, Deukyobang, Saminbang, Seonmyeongnon, Seongje-chongnok, Seonghyebang, Eoui-chwaryo, Yeongnyu-geombang, Wisaeng-bogam, Cheongeumbang, and Tangaek-boncho. Most of them were medical classics and formularies representing the period from the Song to the early Ming Dynasties, which most likely influenced the establishment of Joseon's medical tradition throughout the Joseon Dynasty. The reason why the majority of the medical reference books was formularies seems to be that prescription practices and the use of medicinals value knowledge with accumulated experience over a long period, whereas medical ideas and doctrines change with time. Besides, except for Eoui-chwaryo compiled in the Goryeo Dynasty, the three significant compilations referred to Chinese medical books, which indicates that the compilers made efforts to accommodate the newly introduced foreign knowledge. At the same time, the former compilations, Hyangyak-jipseongbang and Uibang-yuchwi, later appeared as primary references in Dongui-bogam's Medical Formularies of Successive Generations. However, in order to avoid overlapping the same contents, the compilers tried to form a differentiated version by extracting only the unique contents.
