Medical Exchanges Between Koryo and Liao, Song, Jin, and Yuan During the Koryo Dynasty: A Review of the ‘History of Chinese Medicine’ Perspective

Abstract

In the most common research perspective, Korean pre-modern medical history has been explained as the ‘history of Chinese medicine’. If we approach medical care during the Koryo Dynasty from the perspective of the ‘history of Chinese medicine’, we can see that China was in the center and Korea was in the periphery. From this perspective of the center-periphery theory, it has been argued that ‘Chinese medicine’, which originated in China, always had an influence on the Koryo Dynasty, and that the scope and direction of its influence were comprehensive and one-sided. Therefore, this article specifically traced the exchange of medicinal materials, medical personnel, and medical knowledge between Koryo and Liao, Song, Jin, and Yuan. It was to confirm whether the perspective of the ‘history of Chinese medicine’ corresponds to the historical facts during the Koryo Dynasty. The available records show that the medical exchanges between Koryo and various Chinese countries were intermittent, not consistent. Moreover, the medical care method of one country was accepted selectively according to the needs of each country rather than as a whole. In addition, the flow of exchange developed in both directions, not in one direction. In other words, many countries in East Asia, including Koryo, were actors whose influences reached each other. It was not a structure in which the hypothetical political body called ‘China’ was always located in the ‘center’ and permanently supplied ‘Chinese medicine’ to Koryo while placing neighboring country in the ‘periphery.’ Therefore, the concept of ‘Chinese medicine’ does not have theoretical consistency, and it is insufficient to explain both the reality of pre-modern medical exchanges and the medical system of each country in East Asia. In order to fully explain the traditional medicine of East Asia, a new concept and a logical structure that go beyond the concept of ‘Chinese medicine’ are needed.