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Numerous topics related to Korean culture and art are mentioned in middle and high school national history textbooks, but most of them are briefly described by era, making it difficult to understand their concepts, transition processes, and characteristics.
<Culture & Art Stories from Korean History> produces and provides video materials based on expert commentary on the flow, change process, characteristics and characteristics of each major topic in the field of culture and art in Korean history.
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Scenario

Epidemics have a long history

Epidemics were believed to be the Work of the Supernatural?

Epidemics are infectious diseases caused when viruses, bacteria, parasites, or other pathogens invade the body.

Despite modern advancements in medicine, epidemics like the coronavirus that put the world in crisis are a constant threat to mankind.

A yeokbyeong (plague) spread and killed many. – Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms),
“Annals of Silla”, Volume 1 (22 CE)

In twelfth month, snow did not fall, but a great yeokbyeong broke out. – Samguk sagi, “Annals of Goguryeo”, Volume 5 (256 CE)

Spring and summer were dry, and famine and yeokbyeong befell the country. - Samguk sagi, “Annals of Baekje”, Volume 1 (15 BCE)

Epidemics have bothered mankind since prehistoric times. They have appeared in Korean history too, beginning from the Three Kingdom’s period. It was called a plague because the disease could spread from person to person.

The most detailed records to come down to us are from the Joseon Dynasty. It is believed that during the early Joseon Dynasty typhoid spread to every corner of the country.

Typhoid fever, pestilence, dysentery. These three great misfortunes have run rampant to kill more than can be counted. - Gu Sangdeok, Seungchong myeongnok (Better Than a Good Memory), Month 12, Day 29, Year 8 of King Yeongjo’s reign (1732)

In the latter half of the Joseon Dynasty, several plagues ravaged the country simultaneously, resulting in mass casualties.

Around this time, typhoid fever rose up on northwestern provinces (…) and resulted in almost 500-600 thousand deaths … - Yeongjo sillok (Veritable Records of King Yeongjo), Month 12, Day 4, Year 25 of King Yeongjo’s reign (1749)

Most notably, records from the 25th year of King Yeongjo’s reign note the death toll of the epidemic as between 500,000-600,000 people.

The most common epidemics in the Joseon Kingdom were typhoid, measles, cholera, and smallpox. Typhoid, characterized by high fever and gastroenteritis, was common from the Unified Silla period onwards.

A tremendous amount of people died in former years of onyeok (typhoid) and of measles this past winter. It was the same across the whole country. - Yeongjo sillok (Veritable Records of King Yeongjo), Month 10, Day 3, Year 29 of King Yeongjo’s reign (1753)

I couldn’t tell you how many thousands died of typhoid, smallpox, or measles these last few years. Yeongjo sillok(Veritable Records of King Yeongjo), Month 6, Day 3, Year 29 of King Yeongjo’s reign (1753)

The infection rate of measles among small children was extremely high. Those who contracted smallpox typically died within two weeks.

The body remained covered in blisters and pocks even after one recovered.

When looking at a portrait of those who passed the military service examination in 1774, the pockmarks on three of the 18 individuals’ faces are clearly visible.

Cholera arrived in Joseon Korea from India at the beginning of the 19th century. As the illness’ source and treatment method were not yet known, it was called “the mystery disease.”

People in the Joseon period widely believed a pestilence was caused by a ghost angry at having died from the plague.

The spirit was revered and called the goddess of smallpox, “Hogumama.” They even performed shamanistic rituals, made spiritual charms, and undertook all manner of things to battle the disease.

The fear of the unknown is a reoccurring theme with epidemics both in the past and now.

Epidemic prevention systems during the Joseon period?

Today, even if an epidemic is limited to one region, it can easily spread to the rest of the world.

South Korea’s preventative action system has been praised around the world during the COVID-19 epidemic! But did you know there was a similar quarantine system in place during the Joseon Dynasty?

When signs of a measles epidemic became apparent, King Jeongjo ordered the compilation of a manual to study and treat the infected.

Distribute medicine to the most pitiful among the literati, the commoners, and the lowborn. - Ilseongnok, Month 4, Day 21, Year 10 of King Jeongjo’s reign (1786)

Examine the sick and determine how many symptoms need to be treated. Then advise on the amount of distributed medicine to be administered…report back every five days. - Ilseongnok, Month 4, Day 21, Year 10 of King Jeongjo’s reign (1786)

Through these passages, we can identify the establishment of a kind of preventative measure system not only for the management of medicines, but for managing medical house calls and the compilation of treatment statistics.

In addition, they prevented the spread of the disease by quarantining all afflicted individuals outside the walls of Hanyang(modern Seoul), and distributed grains to the sick to help ease their anxiety about their livelihoods.

At the worst of it, the number of infected became so great that most people were quarantined. - Gu Sangdeok, Seungchongmyeongnok(Better Than a Good Memory), Month 1, Day 7, Year 26 of King Yeongjo’s reign (1750)

An old beggar woman was lying down in a ditch (…)
I gave her some thin rice gruel to help her stave off starvation. - Gu Sangdeok, Seungchongmyeongnok (Better Than a Good Memory), Month 11, Day 24, Year 3 of King Yeongjo’s reign (1727)

Officials and residents in each region played a large role in this system. They implemented a communal code of helping each other in hard times, whereby sick patients were to be quarantined and the poor were to be cared for.

“In the event of an epidemic, a village made efforts to maintain the local community by tending to each other’s farms, buying medicinal herbs for all, and treating each other. Local people regarded this as a virtue to help enforce the idea of a community working together. If this role of communal self-help had not been added to the epidemic prevention system, the government effort alone would have never been enough.” Kim Ho, Professor / Gyeongin National University of Education, Department of Social Education

While isolation is important, active treatment is also important.

Though it may not be a novel prescription, it will be good enough to be used as treatment (…) Have both medical offices (Office of Benefitting the People [Hyeminseo] and Directorate of Medicine [Jeonuigam]) translate, print, and distribute them throughout the land. - Jeongjo sillok (Veritable Records of King Jeongjo), Month 5, Day 28, Year 10 of King Jeongjo’s reign (1786)

When an epidemic appeared in Joseon Korea, both treatment methods and medicines were distributed throughout the country.

The most common manuals distributed were the Gani byeogonbang, translated into Hangeul during the reign of King Jungjong, and the Sinchan byeogonbang from the reign of Gwanghae-gun.

Method for Preventing Infection
“Apply sesame oil to the tip of the nose and fill the nose with a fidibus. It is best to induce sneezing.” - Sinchan byeogonbang

Method for Preventing Infection
“In the event a house is afflicted with a contagious disease, thoroughly wash the clothes of the person afflicted first, then put them in the rice steamer to steam. The fear of transmission will then be gone.” - Sinchan byeogonbang

In the Sinchan byeogonbang, various simple methods to avoid disease were introduced, as well as various medicines to be used. These were perfect for use by the common people.

In addition, during King Jeongjo’s reign, local remedies were collected and then distributed throughout the land. The seungma galgeun soup is a perfect example of this. Seungma galgeun soup, long used as a fever-reducer, was effective in the treatment of measles, colds, and smallpox.

“Seungma galgeun soup is recorded in the Dongui bogam as a treatment for high fevers and headaches. The recipe calls for relatively few ingredients. Since arrowroot, bugbane, peony, and other ingredients could be easily acquired on the mountains, it was easy to prescribe this to the common people.” Choi Hyun-Myung / Doctor of Oriental Medicine

After one Englishman’s cowpox treatment spreads across the world, smallpox is eradicated by 1980. The smallpox vaccine involved injecting a healthy individual with the cowpox virus and is one way of creating immunity against the disease.

Several Joseon people were studying smallpox before the vaccine reached the Joseon kingdom. One of these was Jeong Yakyong (or Dasan), who had an interest in variolation.

Variolation is a method of vaccination where the virus is taken from someone afflicted with smallpox and then injected into a healthy person’s body.

Jeong Yakyong completed his Magwa hoetong, a guide describing the treatment of smallpox and measles. In the Magwa hoetong, it states smallpox vaccination is affected by grounding smallpox scabs into powder and having patients absorb these through the nose.

Later, Western research materials on cowpox inoculation were obtained and its effects and methods were studied. But vaccinating healthy people was considered unacceptable medical advice at the time.

“Owing to the pioneers, people in several regions came forward to start vaccinations. When Jeong Yakyong was exiled to Gangjin in 1807, he heard the news that vaccinations in Gyeongsang-do were being performed. And later in the 1820s and 1830s, there are records of efforts in Gyeongsang-do to prevent smallpox through vaccinations.” Kim Ho, Professor / Gyeongin National University of Education , Department of Social Education

The advance efforts of pioneers including Jeong Yakyong served as the foundation for the acceptance and spread of the cowpox inoculation method at the end of the Joseon Dynasty.

Unprecedented pandemic circumstances caused by COVID-19!
Just as they fought these epidemics in the past, we will find hope to overcome this one as well!

[Epilogue]
Must-Know Facts on Culture and Art in Korean History

1. In the late Joseon Dynasty, the fatal diseases typhoid and smallpox were prevalent, and at the end of the dynasty, cholera broke out.
2. King Jeongjo compiled the Epidemic Investigative Manual to prepare against measles.
3. As a means of preventing smallpox in the Joseon Dynasty, variolation and the cowpox vaccine were used.

Managing Epidemics throughout Korean History