Korean J Med Hist.  2020 Dec;29(3):735-782. 10.13081/kjmh.2020.29.735.

Trend and Prospect of Study on Chinese Medical History - Diversification of the Study on Medical History Study Through Integration and Communication -

• KIM Dg

• KMID: 2511377
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.13081/kjmh.2020.29.735

Abstract

This study has focused on studying Chinese medical history for the past 10 years (2010-2019). There has been no overall introduction to how the study of Chinese medical history has been carried out so far in Korea. To understand the trend for the recent 10 years, understanding of the period before that is needed. This study had classified the study trend of Chinese medical history from the 1950s when the study of Chinese medical history started in full swing until the last 10 years into the following three periods:
First period: internal study period on Chinese medical history (the 1950s-1980s)
Second period: external study period on Chinese medical history (the 1980s-1990s)
Third period: diverse study period on Chinese medical history through integration and communication (2010-2019)
There can be an opinion that various studies by each period have not been adequately reflected, and the classification has been excessively simplified. For example, the internal study has been considerably performed in the second period, and the consciousness of conflict between the internal study and external study remains in the third period. Nonetheless, the keywords that connote each period’s characteristics for the past 70 years are considered the keywords presented above.
The study of Chinese medical history has mainly placed importance on the modern times. Indeed, no change has been present as well. However, the fact that the study on the Chinese pre-modern medical history in Korean academia for the past 10 years has quantitatively grown from just a comparison of the number of papers can be identified. Also, the researchers and study themes have been confirmed to be diversified. In the past, ancient Chinese medicine was understood as a connection between Taoism and medicine. The environmental history researchers dealt with the connection between natural disasters and diseases, and just a few studies in the fields of medicinal herb distribution and the viewpoint of the body were carried out. Meanwhile, studies from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty were carried out based on new data such as the archaeological relics and bamboo and wooden slips in the Korean academia for the past 10 years. Discovering new data is undoubtedly a driving force to activate studies.
Studies on the Tang Dynasty Medical System and laws based on ‘Chunsungryeong(天聖令)’ are significant achievements connecting the Qin Dynasty & Han Dynasty and the Song Dynasty & Yuan Dynasty. Identification of each period’s medical system in medical history is the most essential thing, and the combination of environment and medical history is conducted. It is significant to examine medical history from the viewpoint of the academic disciplines’ integration. Approaching medical history from the female viewpoint has already started in the U.S., Europe, and Taiwan, and it is nice that such a study has been conducted in Korean academia.
There are not many researchers on Chinese medical history in Korean academia. As several researchers have led the study, the study’s concentration on specific periods or specific themes cannot be denied. The integration of systematic research achievements from the pre-Qin Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty is still minimal. Specifically, the study on pre-modern medical history targets a more extensive period than the study on modern medical history; therefore, researchers’ density is low. This is why the possibility of intersection is not high in the period, region, and theme between researchers. This can be the source of an evaluation that study on medical history chain is sparse. It is wistful that the study continuity or systematic research is lacking. To overcome such a limitation, existing researchers need to conduct collaborative joint planning and research centered on particular themes through cooperation. They need to complement the study’s sparse part in medical history through multidisciplinary co-research.
Beyond the research centered on country study history, attempts to understand history as global history are being carried out. Studies on the exchange and interrelations between Western medicine and Chinese medicine have been performed in Chinese medical history. Nonetheless, studies on the exchange and interrelations of medical knowledge, medical systems, medicinal herbs, medical books, medical workforce, and diseases (epidemics) from global history are insufficient.
Studies on a medical history that started from Chinese science and technology development history in the 1950s are developing to discuss one theme diversely. Plenty of studies on Chinese medical history need to be performed in various fields, including environmental history, the history of women, archeology, humanities, humanities therapy, integrated medical humanities, medical literature, medical theory, and medical system, which are the traditional fields.

Keyword

Chinese medical history; internal study; external study; diversification; global history; 중국의학사; 내재적 연구; 외재적 연구; 다원화; 지구사