Category: Traditional Medicine

Byungchan Kim is runner-up in HIX Award 2018

posted by Philip Gowman 3 minute read

Quite by chance last week I happened to be visiting the offices of one of the sponsors of the HIX Award – though I didn’t know this connection in advance. The HIX Award is open to current art students and graduates of the last two years and is aimed at helping with the transition between […]

Donguibogam to be upgraded to National Treasure status

posted by Philip Gowman 1 minute read

To be honest, I’ve always wondered why an item listed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register was only rated a “Treasure” (no 1085) rather than a “National Treasure”. The three sets of the encyclopaedia’s first edition are currently held by the National Library of Korea, the Kyujanggak Institute For Korean Studies and the Academy […]

2013 Travel Diary #24: Yin, Yang and Ginseng

posted updated 16 Dec 2017 by Philip Gowman 5 minute read

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 5:30pm. Refreshed by our nap on the fragrant pillow, we move on from the Traditional Medicine Experience Pavilion to the Theme Hall, outside which stand the statues of the two best known figures in Korean Traditional Medicine, who have now made it into popular culture courtesy of TV dramas: […]

2013 Travel Diary #23: The pillow of eternal youth

posted updated 16 Dec 2017 by Philip Gowman 6 minute read

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 5pm. At Korean expos, the emphasis is not on the looking. It is on the experiencing. You have to immerse yourself, to touch, to feel, to try something out. At the Sancheong International Traditional Medicine Fair and Festival, then, it was no surprise when the organisers, who had come […]

2013 Travel Diary #22: Tiger, Bear and herb: the traditional Korean medicine experience

posted updated 16 Dec 2017 by Philip Gowman 6 minute read

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 4pm. In Korean mythology, it seems that it’s not the bear that has the sore head. It’s the tiger. In the Korean Medicine Theme Park, which forms part of the Donguibogam Village, the exhibits focus on the different parts of the human body, but throughout there is the recurring […]

2013 Travel Diary #13: The Sancheong Oriental Medicinal Herb Institute

posted updated 16 Dec 2017 by Philip Gowman 6 minute read

Sanchong-eup, Sancheong-gun, Monday 9 September, 10am. At the Institute, the chief researcher Dr Kim Yun-geun shows me round the various laboratories. It’s one of those scenarios where the guide has only a few words of English, the subject is extremely specialist and so Kyung-sook, who I discover later has been press-ganged into delivering the presentation […]

2013 Travel Diary #4: Honouring the spirits, feeling the gi

posted updated 16 Dec 2017 by Philip Gowman 13 minute read

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 6 September, 9am. In the daylight, I am beginning to get my bearings. The Sancheong World Traditional Medicine Expo is set in a 109 hectare (269 acre) site dominated by the dramatic peaks of Pilbongsan (pencil-peak mountain) and Wangsan (the King’s mountain). The natural slopes of these mountains establish the geography […]

Traditional medicine is thriving in North Korea

posted by Philip Gowman 1 minute read

An interesting Associated Press article on the prevalence of Traditional Korean Medicine (called Koryo Medicine) in North Korea: “Doctors are more interested in Koryo medicine rather than Western medicine because they can get it more easily,” said Ri Hye Yong, who manages [Pyongyang’s Man Nyon Pharmacy], opened by the government nearly three decades ago. “It’s […]

Traditional Chinese, Korean and Kampo Medicine: an introduction to the three main strands of Traditional Medicine in Northeast Asia

posted updated 15 Dec 2012 by Jinwoong Lim and Sena Lee 7 minute read

By Jinwoong Lim and Sena Lee According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional medicine “refers to the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, used in the maintenance of health and in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.” Implicity bound up […]

Needles and a mouth organ at Team Korea House

posted updated 26 Dec 2017 by Philip Gowman 4 minute read

Yes, there have been K-pop flashmobs, dancing robots, traditional music performances and comedy magic shows at Team Korea House. There has even been a live radio show broadcast from there, with presenters dressed in royal hanbok. Last Saturday (4 August) was the final performance by Dulsori before they head off to Germany. They opened with […]

Chinese Health and Well-being Day at Asia House

posted updated 7 Aug 2017 by Events Editor 1 minute read

A bit off-topic, but since LKL is proud, whenever we can, to publish articles on the subject of traditional Korean medicine, people may be interested in this session at Asia House next Saturday. I’m sure the Chinese do it just as well. Chinese Health and Well-being Day Saturday 14th July, 11:00- 16:00 Asia House In […]

What is the Donguibogam and what is in it?

posted by Jin-woong Lim 3 minute read

Koreans usually have two choices when they have to visit a clinic: one is a medical clinic, employing western medicine for treatment; and the other is a traditional clinic, employing traditional medicine. There are many obvious differences between the two types, mainly concerning methods of diagnosis and treatment. Most importantly, the traditional medical clinic has […]