• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2015

This study examines the meaning of medical-text publication in the Joseon Dynasty by applying anthropological notions of "health care system" and "popular health care sector" to the social and political contexts of the pre-modern state. The present study focuses on the social network of senders and receivers in which medical knowledge is communicated and shared. Exploring the multi-layered structure of the network among the state, the author-practitioners, and populace, this study argues that the network of knowledge sharing system by publication of medical texts itself is a core structure in the health care system of the Joseon Dynasty. This pre-modern health care system aimed to vitalize and reinforce the "popular health care sector" by sharing medical knowledge with populace through the book-publication system. Foucault's notion of "biopolitics" provides a comparative window between the modern health care system and the health care system of the Joseon period, articulating the particularity of the pre-modern health care system.