Human life is sustained by food harvested from the earth and air that comes from the sky. One can survive for three weeks without food and three days without water, but it is difficult to live beyond three minutes without breathing. Yet, while we tend to place great importance on food and water, we often…
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Humanity’s effort to find answers to the questions “Where did I come from?”, “Where am I going?”, and “Why do I exist?” can be found in literature, philosophy, religion, and thought. Jesus clearly stated the reason for his existence: “I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. ” He also…
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“I looked up to the sky and prayed that I would not have a single bit of shame. I was in pain even when the wind blew through the leaves,” is Korea poet Yun Dong-ju’s prologue. “To look up at the sky with not a single shame, even in the wind brushing the leaves, I…
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Healthy life expectancy is not just about living a long time but about the period one lives without being plagued by illness. As average life expectancy increases, the time spent suffering from diseases also increases. In fact, the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy exceeds ten years. This means that about a decade…
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In his book Gyeokmongyogyeol (“Essential Teachings for Awakening the Ignorant”), Yulgok Yi I, a prominent Confucian scholar of the Joseon Dynasty, wrote: “Revere Heaven as the root, understand the principles of nature to clarify goodness, and carry them out through diligent practice—these three are the lifelong tasks of a human being.” This is summarized as…
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In Korean medicine, Jing, Qi, and Shen (Essence, Vital Energy, and Spirit) are considered the fundamental components of the human being. They are often likened to a candle: Jing is the body of the candle, Qi is the flame, and Shen is the light radiating from the flame. Jing refers to the essential life substance…
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The concept of Cheon-in-sang-eung (天人相應) is interpreted as “the mutual correspondence between Heaven and Man.” Here, Heaven (天) refers to the laws of nature or the universe. It suggests that humans and nature interact, respond, transform, and resemble each other. Unlike Western philosophy, which tends to separate humans from nature and sees nature as an…
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This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to scientists who uncovered the mechanisms of the biological clock. The concept of the biological clock posits that all living organisms perceive light and, based on that, set an internal time. This time then governs various physiological activities to maintain optimal health. In the East,…
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In Oriental medicine, physiological and pathological phenomena are explained using principles such as “Sounds of the same frequency resonate” (同聲相應) and “People of the same energy attract each other” (同氣相求), applying these to clinical treatment. For example, it’s commonly believed that eating animal liver benefits the human liver, or that walnuts, which resemble the brain…
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Over 2,400 years ago, a physician named Bian Que was said to be able to see through a person’s internal organs just by looking at them, much like how a CT or MRA scan works today. This ability to diagnose illness based on outward appearance was called “divine” (神), while diagnosing through questioning was considered…
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