King Hyojong's diseases and death records - through the Daily Records of Royal Secretariat of Joseon Dynasty Seungjeongwonilgi(承政院日記)

Abstract

Dept. of Medical History, College Korean Medicine, KyungHee UniversityObjectives : King Hyojong (1619-1659) was the 17th king of the Joseon Dynasty. He was on the throne from 1649 to 1659. The king was a center of state rule in ancient times. This meant that the physical and mental status of a king was very confidential information. In the royal court of Joseon Korea, the treatment process for the king had to be performed under the surveillance of close associates, and this whole process had to be recorded by the official secretary. This is the reason that I referred to the Daily Records of Royal Secretariat of Joseon Dynasty. Methods : Relevant articles were extracted from Daily Records of Royal Secretariat of Joseon Dynasty and analyzed according to the main arguments of this paper. Some other related sources were referred in terms of King Hyojong’s ailments and treatments.Results & Conclusions : King Hyojong suffered from various diseases during his time on the throne. Fever was the most frequent ailment; he also often had diarrhea followed by poor appetite. I assume that he must have suffered from diabetes considering his ailments. Additionally, his final treatment records clearly show that his ailments were similar to diabetic complications.Key Words : King Hyojong, Korean Medicine, Royal Secretariat of Joseon Dynasty, Joseon Medicine, Medical Records.