I can heal myself. 13. What is Oriental medicine?

Since Oriental medicine is a medical system that combines Confucianism and Buddhism, most scholars of the Joseon Dynasty basically studied Oriental medicine and served as local doctors. Among scholars, those who were particularly well-versed in medicine are called ‘Confucian doctors,’ or scholar doctors. Representative figures include Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, Gosan Yun Seon-do, and Seongho Ik. The author was fortunate enough to have studied the Four Books and Three Classics and Laozi and Zhuangzi at the age of fourteen, and later studied the Diamond Sutra from Master Jeonggong, and has been devoting himself to traditional Chinese medicine from an early age.

The author summarizes the thinking system and paradigm of Oriental medicine into three points.

First, it is the idea of the unity of heaven and man.

Considering humans as an independent microcosm, the physiology and pathological mechanisms of the human body are explained as natural phenomena. The head is compared to the sky, the torso is compared to a person, and the limbs are compared to the ground. In Oriental studies, the number 7 means heaven, and the fact that there are seven holes in a person’s head is interpreted to mean that the person’s face belongs to the sky. In terms of the face, the forehead was again seen as heaven, the nose as earth, and the bottom as human. The reason there are 24 ribs on the left and right sides is in preparation for the 24 solar terms, and the Zhenmai is seen in three parts, Chon-Gwan-Cheok, and that is also to see heaven, earth, and people. Among the genes that create and maintain the uniqueness of living things, Codon, the code for making proteins, is designed with 64 cases, which exactly matches the 64 lines of mechanics. Just as there are mountains, rivers, and air flows, the body is believed to have meridians and energy flows. Oriental medicine focuses on eliminating artificial treatments as much as possible and complying with the laws of nature.

Second, the ultimate goal of Oriental medicine is to become a true human being. A true person is a being who is completely one with nature, with no birth or death. He or she cultivates the body, cultivates energy, becomes aware of God, and finally achieves emptiness. In other words, it remains in a state where selfishness has completely disappeared. It may have the same meaning as becoming a perfect person in Christianity, attaining Buddhahood in Buddhism, and enlightenment in Confucianism. Oriental medicine is not limited to medicine but pursues the essence of life.

Third, Oriental medicine is the theory of yin-yang and five elements based on epidemiology. Oriental medicine encompasses diagnosis, prescription, control, pharmacology, acupuncture, physiology, and pathology from birth to death, all comprised of yin-yang and the theory of the five elements.

Oriental medicine requires insight into astronomy, human resources, and geography, and is in line with the reason we live.

Dr. Jin-man Kim, director of Peace Oriental Clinic