What must it feel like, receiving medical services from the Naeuiwon (court hospital), one of the three royal hospitals of the Joseon Dynasty?
Well, feel it for yourself!
The Changdeokgung Office of the Cultural Heritage Administration, in cooperation with the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, is offering various hands-on Oriental medicine programs at the Naeuiwon in Changdeokgung Palace.
Naeuiwon, along with Jeonuigam and Hyeminseo, was the place where medical practitioners mixed medicine and provided medical services for the king and the rest of the royal family. The number of staff was around fifteen and the renowned court physician Heo Jun is said to have worked in Naeuiwon for 44 years.
The hands-on programs at Changdeokgung Palace are designed to help visitors learn more about the traditional medical practices of Korea that have long been revered for their effectiveness. Doctors affiliated with the “Association of Korean Oriental Medicine” offer visitors a variety of health services, even dressed in traditional medical attire.
Services and treatments offered include pulse examinations for health diagnosis (“jinmaek”), acupuncture (“chim”), and moxibustion (“tteum”). In order to ensure high-quality examination throughout the day, the number of patients seen each day will be limited to 40 on a first-come, first-served basis.
The program is equipped with several language volunteers who facilitate communication. You will be asked to fill out a brief questionnaire on your physical conditions and have a counseling session prior to the examination.
Nicolas from Columbia commented, “It was a mysterious experience. It was like magic.” Lesanne from France who visited Korea to see her daughter said that after getting a “chim” treatment, it felt like the pain in her joints she had been experiencing after childbirth significantly improved.
Hands-on programs include the traditional wrapping/packaging of medicine (visitors can take it home with them as a souvenir), traditional medicine grinding, copying medical diagrams out of the Donguibogam (Korean medical book). Also, after participating in one of the programs or receiving treatment, visitors can relax on the wooden floor with a cup of traditional Korean medical tea.
The programs are scheduled to run from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm every Thursday from May 20 to June 24, 2010 and from September 2 to October 28, 2010.
Take this opportunity to experience the wonders of Korean medicine!
