五洲 李圭景의 醫藥論 - 『五洲衍文長箋散稿』를 중심으로 - (Oju Lee Gyugyeong’s Study of Medicine)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 진단학회
· 수록지 정보 : 진단학보 / 121호 / 83 ~ 111페이지
· 저자명 : 김호

초록

오주 이규경은 자신의 질병 치료를 위해서만 의학을 연구하지 않았다. 그는 향촌 지식인으로서 濟衆의 책무를 마다하지 않았으며 의약학은 그 중심에 있었다. 오주에게 의약공부는 개인적으로는 山林經濟의 처세인 동시에 사회적으로 經世濟民의 방도였다. 그는 인간에 대한 깊은 이해야말로 사회 질서의 토대가 된다고 생각했다. 오주는 서양의학의 인간관과 전통적인 氣論을 결합하여 인체를 설명했다. 오주는 의학공부를 천시하는 조선후기의 풍속을 비판했다. 그는 필부들의 소소한 경험방에 주목하는가 하면 구황의 良方을 찾기 위해 조선의 풍속을 변증했다. 오주는 조선후기 가짜 약물의 유통과 허술한 본초 지식을 비판하고, 『본초강목』을 근거로 정확한 약물학을 구축하고자 했다. 나아가 본초의 이용후생을 위해 단순한 채집이 아닌 적극적인 재배를 권장하기도 했다. 그는 상품가치를 잃어가던 인삼을 대체할 조선의 특산 약재들을 발굴했다. 오주는 새로운 것을 수용하는데 주저하지 않았다. 청으로부터 수입된 외과 기술 그리고 아편에도 관심을 기울였다. 또한 그는 문헌을 고증하는데 머물지 않고 직접 실험하고자 했다. 마지막으로 조선후기 두창과 마진 그리고 콜레라 치료법에 대한 그의 열정적인 탐구는 濟衆의 책임을 다하려는 지식인의 태도를 잘 보여주고 있다. 요컨대, 오주의 학문은 새로운 것들을 과감하게 수용하면서도 時宜와 通俗의 절실함을 간직하고 있다. 세상의 흩어진 지식을 끌어 모으고 이것들을 변증하여 체계를 부여함으로써 濟衆의 목적을 달성하려던 것, 이것이 오주 의약학의 궁극적 목표였다.

영어초록

Lee Gyugyeong, whose pen name was Oju, did not study medicine to treat his own sickness or care for his own health. He was a local intellectual who considered taking care of the public to be his moral duty, so he studied medicine to help himself do just that. To him, medical studies was the way for a Sallim figure to live a worthy life(山林經濟), as well as a way to help the public and the society(經世濟民). He believed that only a deep understanding of the human being would lay a firm foundation for social order. He combined the western civilization’s pragmatic perception of human anatomy with the traditional Gi theory(氣論) of the east, in order to explain and analyze the inside of a human body.
He criticized the customs of the Joseon dynasty (especially in its latter half) which did not appreciate and even denounced medical studies. He took notice of the laymen’s miscellaneous notes of their own experience of treating themselves, and he also tried to verify Joseon’s previous practices in order to find ways to relieve the public of the pain. He criticized the Joseon reality in which false medicine was being circulated and the people’s understanding of medicinal herbs was trapped at a tragically limited level. He wanted to establish a genuine theory of medicinal properties based on Pentsaokangmu (Bonchokangmok). He also encouraged the people to not only collect such materiel from nature but also grow them themselves. He discovered certain items that could be secured within the environment of Joseon, whose medicinal properties would be enough to replace the ginseng products which were losing its charm and potential as a commercial product. He did not hesitate to embrace new things, and was quite interested in surgical techniques imported from the Qing China and also the effects of opium. He was also determined to not only verify the contents of written texts but engage himself in actual experiments of his own. His passionate pursuit of a cure for smallpox, measle and cholera was indeed that of a true thinker who just wanted to help others.
Oju was brave enough to accept new things, but was also determined to stay true to his own reality and the needs of his fellow members in the society. He wanted to collect knowledge, verify them, and reassemble them in a new system which would actually be helpful to the people.

참고자료

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