 |
|
| . |
As origens da Herbologia Coreana
The history of Korean herbology (본초학 em
Hangul, 韓方 em Hanja) is integrated into the history of the Chinese
herbology. Cultural and ethnobotanical structures are
almost the same in Northern China and Korea, and theory
and basic knowledge were developed in a very interactive
fashion. Until after the Tang dinasty most of the traditional
knowledge was based on the work of a few Chinese doctors.
The earliest medical book available in China is the Huang-ti Nei Ching Su Wen Chiao Chu Yü I (黄帝内竞素问校注语译 in Hanja), or Plain Questions: Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon
of Medicine.
This work consists of two treatises, one a dialogue about living
matter between Huang Ti and and his six ministers, including
Chi Bo and Lei Gong, and the other a description of medical physiology,
anatomy, and acupuncture. This famous classic is considered to
be the bible of traditional Chinese medicine but its true authorship
is unkown. It is generally agreed that it is not a product of
any single person in any single period.
The book reflects the medical knowledge acomplishments in China
during the Warring States Period (476-221 BC), with the additions
of Wang Bing, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), trying to
recover and correct the incomplete versions available at his
time. His work was finished in 762 AD, and is distributed into
24 volumes, divided into 81 chapters.
His work is base to all Chinese (and Oriental in general) medical work since then. It
covers materia medica, harmony and desase prevention, anatomy,
physiology and pathology, diagnosis, and treatment. This is a
classical medical book and is essential to be studied to understand
Oriental medicine principles and appications.
Following this trend, Cheng Chung Chin (張仲景 in Hanja) (168-196
BC), of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) wrote the Shang Han bing Lun
(傷寒雜病論 in Hanja) or Treatise on Colds and Fevers.
This work had a profound influence on Chinese
medicine and is considered to be the most important medical classic
after the Huang-ti Nei Ching. Chang Chung-Ching is called the
Hippocrates of China. He is regarded as one of the great physicians
of the the most glorious period in Chinese medical history.
The tradition says that the first herbalist in
Chinese tradition is Shen Nong (神農 in hanja) , the Yan Emperor, who is said to
have tested hundreds of herbs and imparted his knowledge of medicinal
and poisonous plants to the agricultural people.
It is said that Shen Nung was the god who invented
farming in the mythology of ancient China. He taught people how
to cultivate crops, as to avoid killing (hunting) animals, and to establish
markets for trading. Shen Nung is venerated as the Father of Chinese
medicine, and he is also believed to have introduced the technique
of acupuncture.
Shen Nung is assumed to be the author of Shen Nung Pen
Tsao Ching (神農本草經 in Hanja) or Divine Husbandman's Materia Medica, the earliest
work on pharmacology in China. In reality, the Shen Nung Pen Tsao Ching is
not a product of one person in a single period, and Shen Nong
was only a borrowed name for it.
At first, the Shen Nung Pen Tsao was included in the Chi Lu (Seven Records)
of the Liang Dynasty (502-557 AC). Also, there were some quotations
of it in the literature of the Six Dynasties (3rd century-6th
century). In reality, during the Warring States Period (476-221 BC), the Chin
Dynasty (221-206 BC) and the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), many
scholars dedicated to collect data on pharmacy, and hence produced
the Shen Nung Pen Tsao as a compendium.
Shen Nung Pen Tsao Ching is distributed in 4 volumes. The first
volume is the preface and the other three volumes are the body.
The "Preface" is actually on pharmacology, talking
about the classification of three kinds of medicines, namely,
the upper, the middle and the lower levels, which is the earliest
classification of medicines in China's history of pharmacy. Moreover,
it talks about many ancient beliefs and practical aspects of the medicines: ingredients with mutual
reinforcement and assistance, the harmony of the seven emotions,
the properties of drugs and their origins, the identification
between the real and the false, the different types of medicament
forms, the compatibility and incompatibility in clinical application
of drugs, the doses, the time for taking medicine, and the conditioning
relationship among medicines.
The text part presents more than 170 kinds of
diseases,
collects 365 kinds of medicines, of which, 252 are herbs, 67 are
animals or animal parts and 46 are minerals. Most of the medicines
in it are still in use today, and their efficacy has been proved
by clinical practice and modern scientific research.
The pharmacological theory and application principles
suggested in the book are mostly correct and have a very high
scientific value. The book laid a foundation for the pharmacological
theory of ancient China and the whole Oriental medicine.
Succeeding generations went deeper into medical
knowledge, but arguably the most important of these was the Pen
Tsao Kang Mu (本草綱 in Hanja) or The Great Herbal, compiled during the Ming dynasty
by Li Shih Chen (李時珍 in Hanja) (1518-1593 AD), which is still used today for
consultation and reference. Li Shih Chen was 35 years old when he began to compile his Pen
Tsao Kang Mu. He took 27 years to finish it.
This great pharmacopoeia, which summarizes what was known of
herbal medicine up to the late 16th century, describes in detail
more than 1800 plants, animal substances and minerals,
along with their medicinal properties and applications.
During the same period, influenced by the cultural
apex fo the Ming Dinasty, China expanded and improvement in communication
and transportation systems, Chinese medicine was introduced into
foreign cultures. In return, these foreign cultures contributed
to the advancement of Chinese medicine by expanding its knowledge
base. Chinese doctors were sent to countries such as Korea, Japan,
India and Vietnam, and many of the previously mentioned Chinese
medical texts were exported and translated into these countries'
languages. From Korea, herbs such as ginseng, giant Typhomium
tuber, Korean pine and others were introduced into China.
Influenced by such a cultural exchange, at the order of King
Seonjo (순조 in Hangul, 宣祖 in Hanja) (1567-1608 AD) of the Yi Dynasty, Ho Chun (허준 in Hangul, 許浚 in Hanja) (1546-1613
AD) wrote the Tong ui po gam (동의보감 in Hangul) or Mirror of Eastern Medicine, the
first medical written work of Korea.
In this work, originally published in 1611 on
25 volumes, Ho Chun compiled and classified the medical knowledge
of China, Japan, and Korea. The work was widely read in China
and Japan.
This medical compilation is considered one of
the classics in Oriental medicine in China and Japan as well
as Korea.
The work is composed of five parts: the internal
organs; the external organs; miscellany; drugs; and acupuncture
and moxibustion.
The contents were taken from the Chinese classics
but were extensively modified to addapt to the Korean environment.
The title Tongui po gam, reflects the author's desire to distinguish
Korean medicine from that of China, and shows the very same ecclectic sincretic Korean approach we see today in the Modern Korean Martial Arts.
His time was a very difficult period for Korea.
In 1592 the Japanese invaded Korea when he was 47. Due to his
position, he escorted the escaping of King Sonjo to Uiju, near
de Yalu River. In 1610, he completed the Tong ui po gam.
Since Ho Chun, several other famous korean physicians developed
an autoctonous body of medicine knowledge, until early 20th century,
before the last Japanese occupation (1910-1945).
Some of them were Kim Yong Sok (金永錫), of
the Koryo Dinasty, Choi Chong Jun (崔宗峻),
No Chung Nye (盧重禮), Pak Yun Dok (朴允德),
Chon Sun Ui (全循義), Kwon Chan (權),
Kim Sun Mong (金順蒙), Kim An Kuk (金安國)
and Lee Che Ma (李濟馬).
300 years after Ho Chun, Lee Che Ma, a versed Martial Artist
and self tought medical doctor, developed the Four Constitutional
Medicine (sa sang ui hak) or "four body types medicine",
an original Korean theory presented in his book Tong ui su se
bo won.
|
