• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2005

This report investigates on the subject of the development of medicinal herb study through historic transition made by medicinal herb book publications. This report summarized publications of representative medicinal herb books of the times, the standing characteristics of the times and the development of the medicinal herb study. In addition, this report investigates the influence on Korean medicine by looking at the traces of medicinal herb books that had been introduced and deeply influenced to Korean medicine, and publication facts of Chosun edition.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.43-57
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• 2020

Essence of the Hwangchil tree (黃漆樹 Dendropanax morbiferus H.Lév.) has been used for various purposes, like waxing emperor's armors, covering an astrology board, or, during the Silla Dynasty, burying it to block something bad in the soil symbolically. Essence of the Hwangchil tree was known to have remarkable preservation effects such as waterproofing, damp-proofing, rust-proofing, and moth-proofing as well as not being easily peeled off from even soft surfaces like paper. There is a record in Prescriptions for Epidemic diseases of Cows, Horses, Sheep, and Pigs (牛馬羊猪染疫病治療方), published in 1541, of Hwangchil that is local to Jeju Island being used instead of benzoin (安息香), of burning Hwangchil, and of making cows inhale its smoke to prevent plague among them. Along the same lines, there are records in the Local Chronicle of Tamra (耽羅志) and the Book of Earth Geography (輿地圖書) that identify Hwangchil with benzoin. In Seonghosaseol (星湖僿說), a book written by Lee Yik in around 1760, it is acknowledged that Hwangchil could be medicinal herb. In 2000, Ahn Duk-Kyun registered the roots and branches of Hwangchil tree as 'Boncho' (本草 herbal medicine) in the Pictorial Book of Korean Medicinals (韓國本草圖鑑) and presented the method of taking it for medical purpose. Researchers have suggested that Hwangchil essence as well as diverse parts of the plant such as its roots, branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and gum have various meaningful medicinal properties. Regarding the history and recent researches of using Hwangchil tree, it has various medicinal probabilities such as, 'dispersing miasma' (辟邪), 'opening holes' (開竅), 'waking the heart' (醒心), 'smoothing spirits' (安神), 'piercing the block' (疎泄), 'removing the old and welcoming the new' (去故生新). This paper contributes ideas about how to expand the uses of Hwangchil Tree.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.60-70
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• 2017

This study traces the development of physic gardens in Korea and explores their significance in the history of landscape architecture. For this purpose, records related to physic gardens from medical sources from the period of the Three States to the Joseon dynasty, when herbal medicine was systematized as a field, were searched. Physic gardens had been developed by the time of the late Goryeo and early Joseon dynasties, in the 13th and the 15th centuries. Yakpo(kitchen gardens for medicinal herbs) were cultivated by a group of new high-level officials in the late Goryeo dynasty, when an increasing interest in hyangyak(native herbs) emerged under the influence of the Neo-Confucian perspective on nature, which emphasized locality. The sources analyzed in this study confirm that physic gardens called jong-yakjeon(royal medicinal herb gardens) were in operation in the early Joseon dynasty when policies to investigate, discover, cultivate, and research native herbs were put into place. It is likely that the jong-yakjeon were established at the beginning of the Joseon dynasty as subsidiary facilities under its central medical institutions, the Naeuiwon and Hyeminseo, and then declined in the late Joseon dynasty. Jong-yakjeon can be confirmed to have existed in the mid-15th century. Physic gardens were located in several places outside the Fortress Wall of Hanyang, such as Yakhyeon, Yuldo, Yeoudo, and Saari. The total area encompassed by physic gardens was about 160,000 square meters in the early 18th century. In jong-yakjeon, dozens of medicinal herbs were cultivated, including Schizonepeta tenuifolia var. japonica, Rehmannia glutinosa, and Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer, and these gardens were operated by physicians dispatched from the Naeuiwon and dozens of provincial slaves. In conclusion, the jong-yakjeon were similar to the physic gardens of Renaissance medical universities in that they reflected the interest in and development of theories about new herbs, and were similar to the physic gardens of medieval castles and monasteries in terms of species types, location, and function. This paper has limitations in that it does not present the specific spatial forms of the yakpo or the jong-yakjeon. Nevertheless, this paper is significant for the field of garden history because it shows that physic gardens in Korea appeared in the late Goryeo and early Joseon dynasties concomitantly with the development of medicine towards native herbs and functioned as utilitarian gardens to cultivate community remedies.