허준 許浚
Royal physician and author of the Dongui bogam; pen name Guam; Prince of Yangpyeong
| Life | 1539 ~ 1615 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 양천 허씨 |
Life & career
Heo Jun (1539-1615) was a mid-Joseon court physician and medical scholar of the Yangcheon Heo clan, with courtesy name Cheongwon and pen name Guam. He is said to have been born in the Gangseo area of Seoul; his birth year is given variously as 1537, 1539 or 1546, but 1539 is now most often used. His father is recorded as Heo Ryun, magistrate of Yongcheon (also written Heo Non), and a view that he was of illegitimate birth has been raised, so records on his status differ.
In 1569, on the recommendation of Hong Dam and Yu Hui-chun, he entered the royal clinic (Naeuiwon) and rose to its head by about 1572-73. For curing Prince Sinseong in 1590 he reached a senior court rank, though the censorate objected; in 1592, when the Imjin War broke out, he was made a merit subject for accompanying King Seonjo. In 1596 he cured Prince Gwanghae and was promoted to Jaheon daebu (senior second rank), in 1600 he became head physician, and in 1604 he was named a third-class Hoseong merit subject and Prince of Yangpyeong.
In 1607 blame fell on him when Seonjo's illness did not pass, though the king is said to have defended him; after Seonjo's death in 1608 he was dismissed and exiled (the place is given as Gongam or Ulju depending on the source). He is said to have kept writing the Dongui bogam in exile and finished it around 1610 (accounts differ between 1609 and 1610). He was restored in 1611, and after his death in 1615 was posthumously given the title Yangpyeong buwongun.
Besides the Dongui bogam his works include the Byeogyeok sinbang and Sinchan byeogon-bang, Hangul medical texts such as Eonhae gugeup-bang, Eonhae dudang jipyo and Eonhae taesan jipyo, and the Maekgyeol jipseong. The Dongui bogam was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2009 and was also published in Japan and Qing China. King Seonjo is said to have praised his command of many medical texts and skill in prescribing, and Chinese readers called him the maker of a "treasure of the world."
Family and Origin
The head association places Heo Jun in the Yeongwol-gong line of the Pandojwarang-gong branch. Some sources call him an eleventh-degree uncle of Heo Nanseolheon, and the Wikipedia entry for Heo Gyun lists Heo Jun as a distant kinsman, but the exact degree of kinship differs. The theory of illegitimate birth is disputed and is not asserted here.
Exile and the Dongui bogam
Dismissed in 1608 when King Seonjo died, Heo Jun kept writing in exile and is said to have finished the Dongui bogam around 1610. It is an encyclopedic compilation of clinical medicine, and he also left several Hangul medical books.
Memorials
The Heo Jun Museum, Guam Park and Heo Jun-ro are in Gayang-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. No authentic portrait is said to survive; the familiar image is a later one.
Grave
His tomb is said to lie inside the civilian control zone at Hapo-ri, Jindong-myeon, Paju, Gyeonggi. It was discovered in 1991 and designated Gyeonggi Monument No. 128 in 1992.