• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.59-72
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• 2015

Simyak (審藥) was a government officer to lowest, but it was appointed and dispatched directly by officials from the central government. Simyak played a role in mediating between the provincial and central health care. Therefore, understanding Simyak is necessarily required in the researches on the local health care in Joseon dynasty. Preceding researches of Simyak only have contained superficial information causing many errors. The purpose of this paper is to understand Simyak correctly through the historical literature review. The author found the following facts in this study. First, Simyak was succeeded to the government officer of Uihakgyoyou (醫學敎諭) in the previous period. Second, through the change of the name of Simyak, it can be presumed that the main task of Simyak was changed from the role in local medical education to the officer sending the herbs to the central government. Third, in the later Joseon dynasty Simyak was monopolized by some families just like any other medical officials. Fourth, Yangdowollyengui (兩都月令醫) and Tongyeongguryogwan (統營救療官) can also be put in the category of Simyak.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.61-69
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• 2019

Simyak (Finding Herbs) was a medical bureaucracy appointed directly by the central government of the Joseon Dynasty to the province. Simyaksalye (Casebook of Finding Herbs) was a 19th-century manuscript dealing only with Simyak. This study has outlined and analyzed the contents of this document. This article reveal facts which include : 1) The year of completion of this document was after December 24, 1873. However, the contents of the text were mixed with different writing periods in the 19th century. 2) The author of this document was assumed to be a member of Jeonuigam. Jeonuigam-based expressions appear in the content. 3) Simyak's main focus was not on contributing to local health care, but on the procurement of goods for central care. Much of Simyaksalye's content were on medicines and goods facts and their benefits. If Simyak's role was important in local medical cadet education, then there would have been rules related to it.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2021

During the Joseon Dynasty, Jeju had a unique aspect that differentiated it from other regions in terms of their medical system, such as the exclusive deployment of shimyak dispatched to Gamyeong and Barracks units due to the uniqueness of being an island. This study uses various historical sources to verify that these differences existed throughout the medical system and procedures of Jeju in the late Joseon Dynasty. The following significant conclusions were drawn: 1) Looking at the work and characters of Jejushimyak reveals the inherent limitations of Jeju medical care in the Joseon Dynasty. Compared to other regions' shimyak, Jejushimyak had two limitations: it was difficult to engage in only medicine and the quality of medical doctors declined due to the avoidance of major medical doctors' households. 2) The establishment of public health care in Jeju through Medical Cadets failed. Jeju medical science obviously played an essential role in public health care in the early 18th century. However, there was no continuity in the garden, etc. Hyangri, who was in charge of Medical Cadets, was in charge of various fragrances as needed. Thus expertise in medicine was lacking. 3) The cultivated herbs of Jeju's herb field show the failure to supply herbs for institutional medicine. It was impossible to supply enough herbs to implement institutional medicine in Jeju. In that case, it would have been necessary to discover alternative local herbs or to bring them in from outside, but there was barely any such effort. In conclusion, in the late Joseon Dynasty, Jeju failed to establish a foundation for centrally administered institutional medicine. There was a lack of all the entities that provided medical care and herbs that could be used for medical care. The reason that Jeju continued to follow traditional shaman medicine in the late Joseon Dynasty was because there was no other alternative.