A Crisis of Ginseng Capital and the Countermeasures of the Ginseng-cultivating People during Daehan Empire / 의사학

This thesis examines a crisis of ginseng capital and the source of crisis during Daehan empire. After the China-Japan war of 1894, the Japanese merchants actively engaged in taking over the ginseng fields, so that ginseng-cultivating Koreans suffered substantial economic losses. After the Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese imperialists undertook the 'Currency Arranging Business'(CAB) in order to set a cornerstone for their invasion of Korea. The CAB eventually provoked a wide depression which in turn produced massive number of Korean merchants going bankrupt. The Kaesong merchants were no exception, since CAB stroke a severe blow on the ginseng industry, which relied heavily on the commercial capitals of the Kaesong merchants. Moreover, the Japanese imperialists broke the previous promise and bought ginseng at a dirt-cheap price, which put ginseng-cultivating Koreans in serious trouble. In order to combat such crisis, ginseng field-owners protested against such injustice by petitioning or stirring up Kaesong popular riot in vain, and consequently the number of ginseng field-owners decreased sharply. A few of the ginseng field-owners survived, and managed to maintain and even flourish more than before. These successful owners were characterized with their strong link with the official circle, utilizing their influence in ginseng industry. Their original background was not identical as some came from the influential families of Kaesong area for generations, while others made their own fortunes and continue to prosper through the difficult times of the late of the Daehan empire period.

A Study on the Origins of 'Korean Ginseng' / 의사학

Generally the originating area of ginseng is known to be in Shangdang, China. The originating time, which has been estimated according to textual and archeological outcomes, is known to be the first century B.C., during the Han dynasty era. This can be referred to as the 'Chinese origin theory of ginseng'. According to such hypothesis, the Chinese only discovered ginseng 'suddenly' during this time when it should have been self-generating for thousands of years before. However, Shangdang has been one of the historic centers of China since the ancient period and specially took prominence in terms of the beginning and development of Chinese pharmaceutics, which makes this theory largely dismissable. Moreover, there were six characters that expressed '[sim]' at the early stage and were used together with each other up to the days of Ming and Qing dynasty. Also this theory did not explain clearly about the formation of ginseng character. Hence it is fairly obvious that the 'Chinese origin theory of ginseng' do not answer appropriately to the fundamental questions of the origin of ginseng. In order to approach such mystery, perspectives need to be newly shifted to the 'outer origins' of Chinese ginseng. In this case 'outer' only points to Manchuria and Korea, since these areas are the only candidates regarding the natural circumstances of ginseng growth. So, it can be inferred that ginseng has first been identified with the locals of Manchuria and Korea, and then underwent influx to China to have been used as a medicinal stuff. Following such theory, the reason why ginseng suddenly appeared in Han China was that around this period, specially during the Han commandery epoch, it had just been introduced to China as a part of Korean culture. Also the reason there are many '[sim]' characters can be said that the sound of indigenous Korean 'sim' was considered in respect to selecting similarly-articulated words. Reaching such conclusion, the formating principle of '[sim]' can be no other than borrowing-sound character. To summarize our discussion, it is still unknown when was the actual origin of ginseng but it was far earlier than two thousand years ago as was previously accepted as the origin of this medicine plant. The originating place was not Shangdang of Shansi area of China as was commonly accepted, but Manchuria and Korea. Then ginseng must have been known and utilized by the locals of these areas. This is the 'Korean origin theory of ginseng' and simultaneously an indirect examination of the origin of 'Korean ginseng.'

The Ginseng Growing District, Taxation and Trade in Ancient Korea / 의사학

The very first record of ginseng in the Korean peninsula dates back to early 6th century A.D., with its concentration in Chinese sources. Regardless of the fact that the Korean ginseng was introduced to China before the birth of Christ, there is no writing about it for 500 years. This is because the Chinese substituted Korean ginseng for the Chinese one, which was cultivated around the Shangdang Area. The ginseng, however, is greatly influenced by natural environment and its native area being Manchuria and the Korean peninsula. It is believed that ginseng range from the northern mountains of Pyongando and Hamkyongdo provinces to the southern Taebaek and Sobaek mountains in Korea. Especially the area of Madasan (Baekdusan?) mountain was well-known for ginseng-growing district. The ginseng taxation of the Three Kingdoms period seems to have gone through certain changes along the development stages of the ancient state. The first taxation stage is estimated to be in the form of a tribute. Afterwards, as the governing power of central government was gradually strengthened in the subjugated places, there was a major replacement from tributary form to actual goods levy. The actual areas of such tributary collection is unknown, but the [Sejongshilok Chiriji] (geographical records of Sejong chronicles) of the early Choson era indicates 113 prefectures and counties as those which submit ginseng to the central government. These administrations provide permissible clues to the historic background of ginseng-taxed regions of the Three Kingdoms. The ginseng trade also is estimated to have flourished in ancient Korea through the Han commanderies of China. However, the writings of Korean ginseng trade is non-existent until 6th century A .D., Such phenomenon can be attributed to few reasons. First, the Chinese took little interest in Korean ginseng as they believed they had their own native ginseng in China. Second, same ignorance resulted from its inflowing but new feature. Third, active communication became impossible as the Goguryo-China relations deteriorated overall after the closing of the commanderies. Nevertheless, ginseng eventually was properly introduced into China as the relations between two regions improved after the 5th century A .D., which led the Chinese to realize the difference between Chinese and Korean ginseng. So it is estimated that such causes generated the real beginning of ginseng records in the 6th century. Based on the remaining texts, it can be inferred that trade in the Three Kingdoms era usually was conducted in each kingdom were all different, which was reflected in their respective contact with China. Such characteristics must have directly influenced their ginseng trade with China as well. For example, Shilla was only able to perform major ginseng commerce with China from the 7th century. There are various records of ginseng trade in Unified Shilla period, owing mostly to the previous tributary trade. Additionally, there is a case in which a certain individual presented Korean ginseng to a Chinese, as well as a case of Shilla ginseng trade in Japan. Aforementioned examples clearly illustrate that the fundamental structure of ginseng trade in East Asia was completed during the Unified Shilla period.

Paul D Choy A Life for Learning / 의사학

Paul D. Choy was born on February 26th. 1896. He spent his childhood in Japan and America, and he returned to Korea when he turned twenty one years old. He graduated from Severance Union Medical College in 1921. After graduating the college, he went to Peking Union Medical College to study parasitology. He came back to Korea after one year as the first parasitologist in Korea. On returning, he took the charge of the clinical laboratory of Severance Hospital. Before long he made another journey for study to Canada. He spent two years in Toronto University studying pathology. After studying pathology, he challenged a new field of medicine. It was medical jurisprudence. He stayed two years in Japan in order to earn his doctorate in medical jurisprudence in Tohoku Imperial College. This time he returned as the first specialist in medical jurisprudence in Korea. His field of study was not confined to medical field. He had deep interest in current situation in Manchuria and Mongol, and wrote a book on this matter. His interest also extended to the history of ancient Korean people. He made extensive studies on this subject, which resulted in publishing a huge work on the origin of Korean people and its ancient history. He was a true pioneer of medicine in Korea and his life was characterized by endless quest for learning.

A Study on the true nature of 'Chinese Jinseng' / 의사학

Studies Generally, it is believed that the ancient 'Chinese jinseng' did exist due to the fact that it is clearly recorded in the Chinese historical and medicine-related sources. Although it is hard to deny that such 'ginseng' did exist in ancient China, the re-examination of its true nature is also necessary. In other words, certain refutation can be made against the claim that ancient 'Chinese jinseng' was in fact 'Panax ginseng C. A. Mey', since the Chinese jinseng accounts do not tell that it is such. For example, when looking into its shape based on descriptions, the 'Chinese jinseng' has black seed hairy stem, and violet flower, 'Panax ginseng C. A. Mey', on the other hand, has opal seed, no-hair stem, and light-green flower. In terms of cultivation centre, most of mainland China is unsuitable for jinseng production with the exception of the Shangdang area of Shanxi province, which solely had the reputation of being the production centre of ancient 'Chinese jinseng'. However, when looking into the Chinese sources for jinseng-producing areas they show that Hepei and Liaoning province and Jiangnan (south of the Yangtze river) areas also have had some jinseng-related history. Regardless of such instance, these regions did not cultivate 'Panax ginseng C. A. Mey'. As shown above, ancient 'Chinese jinseng' was far from being identical, in respect to its shape or production areas, to 'Panax ginseng C. A. Mey'. Hence, this study came to the conclusion that there is indeed very high skepticism about whether the true nature of 'jinseng' in ancient China was in fact 'Panax ginseng C. A. Mey'. On the contrary, there is higher possibility that the ancient 'Chinese jinseng' is totally different plant from 'Panax ginseng C. A. Mey', which is actually Codonopsis pilosula. When examining the shape and production areas of Codonopsis pilosula, it is closely matched with many parts of ancient 'Chinese jinseng' texts. In short, it is presumed that the 'Chinese jinseng' did indeed exist in ancient China but it was Codonopsis pilosula instead of 'Panax ginseng C. A. Mey'.