Yangnyeongsi
Yangnyeongsi ( 藥 令 市 , 약령시 ), roughly equivalent to "Official Medicine Market", is the Korean name for traditional herb and medicine markets. The first such markets came up during the Joseon Dynasty . Some still play important roles in the care of traders and sick people in South Korea today.
history
The establishment of the official drug markets began in the 2nd year of the reign of King Hyojong, the 17th king of the Joseon Dynasty , who ruled from 1650 to 1659. Easily accessible administrative centers in the provinces of Gyeongsang-do , Gangwon-do and Jeolla-do , the most important production sites for indigenous herbs , were chosen as the seat . Initially, it was a market held in the second and tenth months of the lunar calendar , i.e. in spring and autumn, of around ten days, because these were the seasons in which herbs were collected, brought to the market and transhipped. Some traders only appeared on these dates, others settled down, creating market streets.
In Daegu ( Daegu Yangnyeongsi ) the oldest market is of this kind. This is also where traders from neighboring China took a while Japanese merchants from the feudal Tsushima-Fuchū that its subsidiary ( Waegwan ) in Busan were not allowed to leave through intermediaries Ginseng and other drugs. The market once took place near a gate of the city surrounded by a wall. After the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, it was torn down and the market was to be closed forever. After strong resistance from the population, it was finally moved to its current location.
A similar market was set up in Seoul (then Hanyang, later Hanseong) in the 17th century . There was also an institution for the needy and sick ( Bojewon , 普 濟 院 ) nearby . Towards the end of the colonial period, the market was closed by the Japanese authorities as part of the containment of the independence movement. It did not flourish again until the 1960s. Today around two thirds of all traditional medicines in South Korea are handled here.
Among the modern foundings, the drug market of Jeonju ( Jeonju Yangnyeongsi ) should be mentioned in particular, which was established at the end of 1932 and mainly sells herbs from Jeju Island ( Jejudo ), the Jirisan , Naejangsan , Deogyusan mountains and the Byeonsanbando peninsula .
Both in Daegu (May) and Seoul (October), traditional medicine festivals (“Yangnyeongsi Herb Medicine Culture Festival”) take place every year. There are also small museums in the same quarter of both markets: Seoul Yangnyeongsi Herb Medicine Museum and Daegu Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine.
See also
literature
- Chung Seung-mo: Markets - Traditional Korean Society. Ewha Womans University Press, Seoul, 2006
- Korea Foundation (ed.): Korean Medicine - A Holistic Way to Health and Healing. Seoul, 2013.