Publication of the Hyangyak gugeupbang

During the Mongol invasions the Tripitaka Directorate published the Hyangyak gugeupbang, a collection of emergency remedies using native herbs — the oldest surviving Korean medical book.

It was published under King Gojong by the Daejang Dogam, the directorate carving the Tripitaka Koreana. Instead of costly imported Chinese drugs (dangyak) it collected remedies for sudden illness and injury using native herbs (hyangyak), and it is the oldest Korean medical book to survive. By using ingredients ordinary people could obtain, it is seen as the beginning of an independent Korean medicine.

Its appendix lists the names and uses of some 180 native herbs, written in Korean with borrowed Chinese characters, making it valuable for the history of the Korean language too. The first edition is lost; a reprint from King Taejong’s reign in Joseon (1417) survives. Its approach led on to the Hyangyak jipseongbang under Sejong.