SEOUL, KOREA — Under the theme of “The Value of DongUiBoGam and Traditional Knowledge,” the 2012 International Academic Symposium on DongUiBoGam was held at the COEX Convention Center in Seoul on September 14. It was hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea and organized by Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM) and the Global DongUiBoGam Center. To the satisfaction of the host and organizers, the turnout was far higher than expected since the symposium coincided with the 16th International Congress of Oriental Medicine (ICOM).
The symposium was attended by Dr. Sook-young Kwak (Director at Division of Traditional Korean Medicine Policy of Ministry of Health & Welfare), Dr. Seung-hoon Choi (President of Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine), Dr. Kim Jeong-gon (President of the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine (AKOM)), Myoung-Sik Lee (Executive Committee Chairperson of 2013 World Traditional Medicine Expo in Sancheong, Korea), Dr. Kim Namil (Chief of the Council for College of Korean Medicine Education & Dean of the College of Korean Medicine, Department of Medical History at Kyung-Hee University) as well as others.
The Greatest Common Denominator of DongUiBoGam and Global Traditional Medicine Is Herb Research
The Symposium was also partaken in by speakers from overseas. Delivering a keynote speech, Dr. Rujaya ABHAKON (Chair Register Sub-committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme Committee for Asia/Pacific) said, “From the perspective of world history, the fact that DongUiBoGam is a compilation of East Asia’s medical sciences of the ages and has stressed the importance of government-led public health care as early as the 16th century. This alone should allow it to be rated highly among medical professionals and the public.” He added, “UNESCO thinks highly of DongUiBoGam on the grounds that it introduces great treatments obtained through doctors’ clinical practice and has made progress not only in the development of medicinal herbs but also in overall medicine.”
He went on to say, “In the process of fighting against ailments and diseases, the traditional/modern dichotomy and attempts to rank western medicine and oriental medicine in a hierarchical order should be discarded. Human beings have survived for several hundred thousand years thanks to traditional remedies and therapies that are based on holistic knowledge and human life closely linked to resources obtained from nature and the environment.”
He stressed, “In that sense, any attempt to abolish oriental medicine in the name of modernization or scientific advances is nothing but a blunder. Judging from costs and long-term efficacy, Asia’s traditional medical knowledge and western medicine’s scientific methods should interact with each other and both should be continuously globalized as the two major components of the world’s public health system.
He said, “As UNESCO has put various traditional medical books on its Memory of the World Register, we have learned that traditional medicine had also developed in Europe, China, the Middle East and India before anatomy emerged. Just like DongUiBoGam, the medical books inscribed on the Memory of the World Register underscore the importance of herbal research.” He ended his keynote speech by saying, “There is a book titled “The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine,” which argues that treatments solely based on western sciences are so costly that only the rich can afford them. I hope continued researches on DongUiBoGam will eventually cure more patients around the world.”
DongUiBoGam Harbors Asian Beliefs and Values
In the academic presentation session #1 of the symposium, Dr. Sang-woo Ahn (Director of the Global DongUiBoGam Center) mentioned, “DongUiBoGam, the best compilation of East Asia’s medical sciences during the 16th century, was compiled by medical affairs officers for royal family members during Japan’s invasion of Joseon (the last dynasty of Korean history). DongUiBoGam, a medical encyclopedia containing the 16th century’s best medical expertise, puts prevention before treatment, thereby significantly contributing to the spread of medical knowledge to the general public.”
Director Ahn emphasized, “Since DongUiBoGam cherishes the gist and values of oriental medicine that encourages people to maintain physical and mental health and sound social life by living in harmony with nature, DongUiBoGam teaches today’s people suffering from chronic incurable diseases how to break from the evils of the machine civilization.” He explained, “DongUiBoGam sums up eco-friendly, noninvasive medical treatments such as views on nature based on Asia’s traditional ideas (including Confucianism, Buddhism and Zen), ways to perceive life based on such views on nature, diagnosis, remedies, medicinal herbs, medicinal resources from nature, the circulation of Qi and blood and acupuncture. Thus, it seeks customized treatment for each individual according to his physical appearance and constitution.”
He added, “International institutions like the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have set out to reevaluate the underappreciated value of intellectual property rights to traditional knowledge and have sought varied ways to protect them. Accordingly, efforts to study the original texts of DongUiBoGam are underway to analyze DongUiBoGam’s knowledge system and characteristics to shine the spotlight on the value of traditional medical knowledge enshrined in DongUiBoGam.”
Similarities between DongUiBoGam and Hippocrates of Cos
Dr. Nile Pierre (President of History of Medicine Center) came all the way from France to make a presentation titled ‘Comparative Study ShinHyungJangBuDo of Donguibogam (XVI-XVII century)’ at the symposium. During his presentation, Nile Pierre mentioned, “ShinHyungJangBuDo of Donguibogam is an anatomical chart that primarily depicts the functional characteristics of internal organs bearing a resemblance to the West’s anatomical charts drawn during the same period. There is a similarity between ShinHyungJangBuDo and an anatomical chart from the 13th century, which is currently on display at the British Museum. Doctors practicing modern medicine believe that have to explain everything from the point of view of modern medicine, but history says differently.”
He continued, “ShinHyungJangBuDo of Donguibogam shows how human Jīng circulates in the body. It also reveals the images of internal organs with a focus on their functions.” Comparing ShinHyungJangBuDo to Charles Estienne's De dissectione partium corporis humani libri tres (an anatomical chart), drawn by Andre Du Larurens in the 17th century, he said, “This 17th century anatomical chart is simply focused on the structure of the human body.” He elaborated, “The dotted blood vessels run down from the head to the feet in this anatomical chart drawn in the 13th century. This is similar to the meridian system. Given that Hippocratic medicine sees the human body operating in a single circular motion with no starting or ending point of the circle, this 13th century anatomical chart is akin to Donguibogam.”
He stressed, “Though western medicine is based on Hippocratic views, westerners now are oblivious to methods of seeing things from a holistic point of view. All of the traditional medical sciences have similarities with one another, so those who think there are only western medicine’s epistemological views in the world need to take a moment and think about their long-held, unquestioned beliefs.”
Donguibogam Is an Amalgam of the Humanities and Sciences
During the academic presentation session #2, Dr. Emanuel Yi Pastreich (Associate Professor of Humanitas College of Kyung-hee University) said, “Though Joseon’s Confucian scholars tended to look down on technology studies including medicine, Sejong the Great (the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea) mobilized a large number of scholars working at the Hall of Worthies (or Jiphyeonjeon) to compile the unprecedented, 365-volume medical encyclopedia “Eui-bang Yu-chi.” By doing so, Sejong the Great put forward Confucian precepts to encourage the Confucian yangban class (the traditional ruling class or nobles of dynastic Korea) to commit to practical, non-theoretical studies.” He added, “Such policies eventually led to the completion of the finest medical encyclopedia “Donguibogam” by medical affairs officers and military officers with in-depth medical knowledge in the 16th century, when Joseon was beset by a wave of invasions from the Japanese.”
He said, “The epoch-making event of compiling Donguibogam is the quintessence of all-out efforts by traditional Korean medical doctors to fuse medicine with science-backed practical knowledge based on the humanities. As a matter of fact, after the 1600s, a new academic trend called Silhak (the Realist School of Confucianism) started to permeate into Joseon’s academic circles. “I am confident that Donguibogam, the epitome of medieval Asia’s medicine, will significantly rev up the advancement of medicine and public health by combining the East’s moral cultures with the West’s sciences,” added Professor Yi.
Meanwhile, Sook-young Kwak (Director at Division of Traditional Korean Medicine Policy of Ministry of Health & Welfare) made the opening remarks at the 2012 International Academic Symposium on DongUiBoGam. Direct Kwak mentioned, “I hope that DongUiBoGam holds the key to enhancing the health and welfare of human society.”
Delivering a welcome speech, Seung-hoon Choi (President of Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine) said, “Since the inclusion of DongUiBoGam in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in July of 2009, DongUiBoGam has become Korea’s invaluable intellectual property and one of the world’s cultural heritages.
Kim Jeong-gon (President of the AKOM) also made a welcome address, saying, “DongUiBoGam, a medical encyclopedia written by Heo Jun (a royal physician and renowned doctor), is still widely read as a medical reference. As DongUiBoGam is expected to help the world’s traditional medicine take a giant step forward, I hope DongUiBoGam will upgrade the international standing of traditional Korean medicine and lay the groundwork for its globalization.”
Dr. Kim Namil said, “If a certain set of medical knowledge was proven effective, it can work for anyone regardless of race and nationality. Conducting researches on traditional Korean medicine, I found out that DongUiBoGam was well received by many overseas scholars in China, Japan, and other nations. DongUiBoGam’s contribution to the world’s medical circles is deeply appreciated by a plethora of people around the globe.
