And now let's turn to arts and culture segment with our Yim Yoonhee, who joins us in the
studio for a look at a rather unique exhibition.
Good afternoon.
So you have some news on a museum that displaying some of the medical tools that were used by
the royal family during the Joseon Dynasty?
You wouldn't think of seeing medical textbooks and scalpels on display at a museum,... but
these aren't your normal gadgets.
They were, as you mentioned, used to treat the royal family members from the Joseon Dynasty.
Many of the artifacts are from the Handok Medico-Pharma Museum, which is the first medical
museum to be established in Korea.
Take a look at what the Joseon Dynasty royal doctors were using hundreds of years ago.
[VIDEO IN] This white porcelain kettle,... topped with
this fitted lid and often used with these spoons,... are just a few of the many tools
used during the Joseon Dynasty to treat illness and disease.
The National Palace Museum is displaying a plethora of precious artifacts from the Joseon
Dynasty,... in an exhibition featuring the tools and equipment that were used by medical
practitioners over the five-century period that ended in the late 1800s.
Everything from folding screens displaying the ten traditional symbols of longevity...
to books holding age-old secrets for good health and a long life were used to treat
the royal family.
"This small table was used to hold the porcelain medicine bowls.
If you look at the very bottom, you can see a healthy and long life represented through
the turtle ornamentation and lotus flower-shaped patterning."
The tools of the trade may look unfamiliar to the doctors of today, but they represent
a part of Korea's history and culture that is important to preserve.
"During the Joseon Dynasty, the royal family was not safe from disease.
So we created this exhibition to show people the richness of the Joseon royal family's
daily life."
Although the use for these paintings, tools, and books is long gone, many of them have
been marked as national treasures and important folklore cultural heritage items,... and each
still has so much to offer...
hundreds of years later.
[VIDEO OUT]
[STUDIO] You mentioned earlier that some of these items
are from the Handok Medico-Pharma Museum.
Tell us more about the museum.
The exhibition at the National Palace museum is dedicated solely to the medical aspect
of the Joseon Royal Family.
The Handok Medico-Pharma Museum is located in Eumseong County, Chungcheongbuk-do province.
The museum there features over 10-thousand artifacts spanning Korea's history of medicine,
so not just limited to the Joseon royal family.
As you saw,... some of these artifacts are considered priceless cultural heritage items.
This seems like a very valuable exhibition that gives a glimpse at a unique aspect of
the Joseon Royal family.
It's not every day you hear about the illnesses and diseases of a king.
They will also be hosting a series of special lectures at the National Palace Museum,
talking about the life and death of the king, as well as other subject matters from the
time.
This will be on the 19th, in just a few days, as well as on the first of next month.
Thank you for that report.
Always a pleasure.