| Heo Jun | |
 | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 허준 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Heo Jun |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hŏ Chun |
| Art name | |
| Hangul | 구암 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Guam |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kuam |
| Courtesy name | |
| Hangul | 청원 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Cheongwon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'ŏngwŏn |
Heo Jun (Korean: 허준; 1539 – 9 October 1615) was a Korean physician. He was the royal chief physician of Naeuiwon during the reign of King Seonjo and King Gwanghae of the Joseon dynasty in Korea.[1]
Heo Jun was born in 1539 to an affluent military family. He was well educated and financially secure throughout his childhood. Although he belonged to a wealthy and respected household, he is thought to have faced discrimination from his lineage members and other aristocrats because he was born to a concubine. During the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, illegitimate children of aristocrats could not maintain their fathers' yangban or noble status and instead, were considered chungins. Chungins, or "middle people," typically referred to technicians and administrators subordinate to yangbans. While Heo's motivation to pursue medicine is unclear, his social status as a chungin may have prevented him from becoming a civil or military officer like his father.
He was appointed as a court physician at the age of 29. In 1571, at age 32, Heo entered Naeuiwon, the royal clinic of Joseon. After that, he was continuously promoted within the clinic at an unprecedented rate. In 1575, Heo treated King Seonjo, the fourteenth king of Joseon, and rose to senior third rank government official position after curing the Crown Prince's smallpox in 1590. The Imjin War, further solidified King Seonjo's trust in Heo, who loyally accompanied the King throughout the war in contrast to other government officers who cowardly fled to protect their own lives. King Seonjo rewarded Heo's allegiance and yet another successful treatment of the diseased Crown Prince by promoting him to the senior second rank in 1596. In 1600, Heo became the chief physician of Naeuiwon. During this time, King Seonjo ordered Heo to write a medical book for his citizens, who suffered from epidemics and post-war famines. He wanted to publish a book that promoted preventative care and detailed drug formulas and treatment methods that even uneducated commoners could easily comprehend and access. King Seonjo's initiative is noted as one of the first public healthcare programs of Joseon.
In 1608, King Seonjo died. Government officials jealous of Heo's illustrious career accused him of being culpable for the King's death. Heo was exiled to the countryside Ulju, where he continued to write the book. In 1609, King Gwanghaegun, the successor to Seonjo, restored Heo to office despite many officials' disapproval. Like his father, Gwanghaegun appreciated Heo's talent and loyalty. In 1610, Heo finally completed the twenty-five volumes of Donguibogam after fifteen years of continuous effort. He spent the last years of his life educating young physicians of Naeuiwon until he died in 1615. The title of senior first rank officer was conferred posthumously—an unprecedented feat that had long been hampered by yangban officials.
He wrote several medical texts, but his most significant achievement is Donguibogam, which means 'Mirror of Eastern Medicine' and is often noted as the defining text of traditional Korean medicine. The work spread to East Asian countries like China, Japan, and Vietnam where it is still regarded as one of the classics of Oriental medicine today. It is divided into five chapters: "Internal Medicine", "External Medicine", "Miscellaneous Diseases", "Remedies", and "Acupuncture". In the first chapter, "Internal Medicine", Heo describes the interdependence of the liver, lungs, kidney, heart, and spleen. The chapter on "External Medicine" explains how the skin, muscles, blood vessels, tendons, and bones allow for movement and maintenance of posture. The chapter on "Miscellaneous Diseases"' describes various diseases' symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment methods. Heo's remedies rely on medicinal herbs and plants, and he provides detailed instructions on how to extract, maintain, and consume the herbs. The last chapter explains acupuncture strategies. Donguibogam is one of the most valued treasures of Korea owing to its originality and quality. It provides valuable medical knowledge and also reflects the philosophy of seventeenth-century East Asia.
Although Heo Jun worked extensively with the royal family, he emphasized making treatment methods accessible and comprehensible to common people. Whereas common medical practice was to elevate the perceived value of treatment by using rare and expensive ingredients, he instead found natural herb remedies that were easily attainable by commoners in Korea and were just as effective. Furthermore, he wrote the names of the herbs using the simple hangul letters instead of using more difficult hanja (Chinese characters), which most commoners did not understand.[2][3] As the backbone of Eastern medicine to this day, Donguibogam was recently included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2009.
To this day, Heo Jun is revered as a brilliant physician and a loyal and compassionate person, who strove to develop accessible treatments for the poor and uneducated citizens. Heo Jun's name and accomplishments are widely recognized by Koreans even today. Korean people still refer to Heo Jun's natural remedies found in his Dongui Bogam.
