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Koryo medicine is part of precious medical heritage created and developed by Koreans through a long historical course.

During the period of Ancient Joson (the early 30th century BC-108 BC), ancestors tried to cure diseases based on the simple view that human life and diseases were related to physical conditions, regimens and panaceas.

A historical record about wormwood and garlic from the “Myth of King Tangun”, a legendary tale about the founding of Ancient Joson, shows that the Koreans used the plants as medicines at that time.

It is said that they lived a relatively long life those days thanks to the development of various therapies using abundant medicinal substances.

People of neighbouring countries called Ancient Joson Kunjabulsajiguk (a country of decent people enjoying longevity) and frequented the country to procure “elixir of life” or “herb of eternal youth”.

In those days, Koreans created and developed a therapy using stone needles.

As to this, an old history book of a foreign country said that Koreans were susceptible to carbuncles as they liked fish and salty foods and they used stone needles as a good remedy for them.

In particular, the people of Ancient Joson were keen on keeping dirty and untidy things away from them as they aspired to clean and pure things, and they were positively encouraged to adopt a sanitary way of life.

Medical sciences were further developed and enriched during the period of Koguryo Kingdom (277 BC-AD 668).

The Koguryo people used insam (ginseng) for the treatment and prevention of diseases, and exported such herbal medicinal substances as pine nuts, Schizandra chinensis, Asari radix and Aconitum coreanum and such animal medicinal materials as Scolopendra mulitans.

In particular, their use of kelp for the treatment of thyropathy is the earliest record in the use of the iodine-containing medicinal substance in the world.

In the period of Koryo Dynasty (918-1392), the Koreans created and developed medical technologies based on traditional medicines in the course of steadily developing and enriching their excellent traditional medicine inherited in the long historical period.

As to this, foreigners said that doctors of Koryo “do not use more than three medicinal materials in the treatment of a disease”.

Doctors in the period systematized in a comprehensive way their knowledge about traditional medicines, while publishing and spreading medical books recording in a systematic way the medical techniques and experiences of using traditional medicines, including the methods of cultivation of herbs, those of collecting and processing them and those of preparing medicines, and promoting exchanges with other countries.

Hyangyakhyemingyonghombang compiled in the closing years of Koryo is a medical book introducing prescriptions capable of easily curing diseases with traditional medicines. It was used as a textbook for training doctors in the early days of the feudal Joson dynasty (1392-1910).

In the period of the dynasty, medical sciences based on traditional medicines were put on a scientific, systematic basis and the system for teaching medical sciences was improved.

The ancestors gained rich experience in the cultivation of medicinal herbs as well as in the gathering of them.

In particular, the successful trial cultivation of licorice led to a state measure taken to introduce it nationwide and as they started the cultivation of insam, they got good experience and developed the cultivation methods.

The technique of making rabyak enabled the pharmacological sector to make a more effective use of traditional medicines.

Rabyak refers to a medicine made from meltwater or dew water just before or after rabil (third or fourth day after December 22 or 23). Such medicines were also exported to other countries as a Korean speciality.

Successes were also made in the field of surgery.

At that time, a method of healing wounds by applying needles for detoxification and cleansing them with boiled salty water before applying a medicine for external use and a surgical method of incising an abscess and getting rid of pus made a great contribution to the development of surgery.

A theoretical system of Korean-style acupuncture and moxibustion was established and smallpox vaccination was introduced, heralding an innovative change in the prevention of infectious diseases.

The medical theory of four physical constitutions that was advanced in the closing years of the feudal Joson dynasty is a heritage element of Koryo medicine leaving an indelible mark in the development history of the Korean traditional medicine and modern medical sciences.

In addition, the Korean people created and developed original medical techniques suitable for their constitutions by dint of such therapies as moxibustion and cupping.