This paper examines the history of mask-wearing regulations in barbershops in colonial Korea, specifically in Keijō (modern-day Seoul) during the 1910s and 1920s. It focuses on the introduction and implementation of these regulations, as well as their political involvement with colonial hygiene governance and ethnic politics in the barbering industry. In 1911, the Government-General of Korea introduced a mask-wearing mandate for barbers as part of the Barbering Business Regulation Rule, making it one of the earliest mask mandates in the Japanese Empire. Initially, the colonial police enforced this rule to discipline colonial subjects under the guise of hygiene. However, starting in the mid-1910s, both Korean and Japanese barbering professionals began to utilize this regulation to compete against the rising number of Chinese migrant barbers. This paper illustrates how hygiene-related regulations, including the mask mandate in barbershops, interacted with ethnic rivalries within the colonial Korean barbering industry. Stereotypes portraying Chinese barbers as unhygienic and their shops as unsanitary were produced and fueled as Korean and Japanese barbers sought to eliminate their Chinese competitors, often with support from the colonial police. Ultimately, this case study will shed new light on the history of hygienic masks, which has so far mostly focused on medical settings, and will suggest future research avenues, particularly regarding its intersection with the social history of medicine.

The advent of experimental medicine in the early nineteenth century marked a crucial turning point in history of medicine. Historians unanimously recognize François Magendie (1783-1855), a physician and physiologist, as a pioneer of experimental medicine. Despite his significance, research on Magendie’s achievements and contributions remains limited. This scarcity stems from conflicting evaluations of Magendie's experimental medicine. On one hand, some claim that Magendie avoided hypotheses and simply accumulated individual facts. On the other hand, others argue that he implicitly used hypotheses. These differing views traces back to his disciple Claude Bernard (1813-1878), who believed it was impossible to conduct experiments without hypotheses. If Magendie was a pioneer of experimental medicine, then he must have had hypotheses as well. However, interpretations of his viewpoint on hypotheses vary. This paper aims to clarify this issue. By examining contemporary evaluations of physiology during Magendie’s time, the concept of collaborative research with chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), and the laboratory environments where these ideas were realized, this study finds new insights into Magendie’s approaches to experimental medicine. Magendie was extremely cautious in formulating his own hypotheses, but he often designed experiments based on the hypotheses of other physiologists. His criticism of Bichat exemplifies this tendency. The conclusions derived from this study are as follows: first, there is a need to reconsider the current historical understanding of Magendie's experimental medicine; second, the history of early nineteenth century medicine, particularly in the context of large-scale collaborative research, requires a different analytical approach than that applied to earlier periods.

This article examines the historical trajectory of South Korea’s maternal and child health (MCH) programs from the late 1970s to the 1980s, focusing on the establishment and operation of MCH centers funded by the World Bank population loan. It investigates how these centers reflected the evolving relationship between population control policies and public health services within South Korea's developing healthcare system.
The MCH centers, established nationwide but primarily located in rural areas, were intended to improve maternal and infant health indicators while ultimately contributing to fertility reduction. Despite the ambitious vision of integrating family planning with comprehensive maternal and child healthcare, the centers faced significant challenges, including funding shortages, difficulties in recruiting midwives, and competition from the rapidly expanding private medical sector, which offered modern diagnostic technologies and access to specialist physicians. In response, the government attempted to redirect remaining funds toward establishing comprehensive MCH centers within private hospitals; however, this shift did not substantially increase the utilization of local MCH centers.
This study demonstrates that, despite the rhetoric emphasizing maternal and child health, MCH programs remained subordinate to fertility control objectives within South Korea’s population policy framework. The history of these centers highlight the tension between demographic goals and public health service needs, as well as the complex interplay between international development organizations, national policy priorities, and local healthcare practices during a period of rapid social transformation in South Korea.

In this study, I examine how Chinese medicine, particularly from the Song 宋 and Yuan 元 dynasties, was received during the late Koryŏ 高麗 dynasty, along with the responses of the Korean peninsula’s medical community. Previous discussions of Koryŏ medicine have primarily focused on hyangyak 鄕藥, local herbs that were readily available. To move beyond these limitations, this study explores how the medical systems of the Song and Yuan were conceptualized as central, representing universal medicine, while Koryŏ’s and its medical practices were positioned as peripheral, characterized as local medicine. The broader field of medicine is examined across four categories: medical principles, diagnostic methods or pathological explanations, formulas, and herbs.
Situated on the eastern periphery of the Chinese continent, Koryŏ regarded Song medicine as advanced and central. In response, Koryŏ actively sought to study Song medical knowledge by importing comprehensive, government-compiled medical texts and petitioning for the establishment of medical education. Following the fall of Song, the Mongol (Yuan) dynasty emerged as the new ruling power and invaded Koryŏ nine times over a 30-year period. In 1259, the Koryŏ king succumbed to the Mongols (Yuan), and Koryŏ remained under the political influence of the Yuan Empire until 1356. As a result, Yuan medicine was adopted in Koryŏ, both semi-compulsorily and organically.
Evidence of Yuan influence can be found in surviving Koryŏ texts, which reflect the impact of the Comprehensive Record of Sagely Benefaction 聖濟總錄, a key text emphasized in the Yuan dynasty’s medical civil service examinations, as well as the new formulas introduced by the renowned physician Li Gao 李杲, Luo Tianyi 羅天益. Moreover, among the writings left by Yi Saek 李穡, a Koryŏ writer, are anatomical records derived from Yuan texts and correspondence with Yang Jongjin 楊宗眞, who is believed to be a Chinese medical practitioner. These records indicate that Koryŏ intellectuals made contact with Yuan medicine through various channels. However, effective clinical implementation of such newly acquired medical knowledge required access to specific medicinal herbs. While Koryŏ was under the Yuan rule, the close political relationship provided relatively easy access to valuable medicinal herbs, but this access was limited. As Koryŏ increasingly adopted Yuan medical practices, challenges surrounding the supply and demand of herbs became increasingly significant, prompting local medical practitioners to seek practical solutions.
To Koryŏ medical scholars and practitioners residing in the periphery, the medicine of Song and Yuan represented universal medicine. While they were able to acquire the knowledge of medical principles, diagnostic methods or pathological explanations, formulas, and herbs from this universal medicine, the political and geographical distance between the center and the periphery restricted the availability of medicinal herbs in Koryŏ. The most viable response was to establish a material foundation rooted in local herbs and to compile formularies that documented local herbs and simple prescriptions 單方 composed of only a few accessible herbs. This process reveals the conflict, compromise, and adaptation that occurred as Koryŏ’s local medicine confronted and adopted the universal medicine of the Chinese center.

This paper analyzes the historical origins and contents of the “Prices of Herbal Medicines” and “Prices of Prescription Medicines” sections within Gosachalyo (Selected Essentials on Verified Facts, 1554), examining how the accumulation of medical knowledge during the early Joseon dynasty influenced sixteenth century public healthcare services and clinical practices.
These price lists, which detail medicinal herbs and prescription drugs sold by the Jeonuigam (Directorate of Medicine) and the Hyeminseo (Office of Benefiting the People)—the Joseon government’s primary public healthcare institutions—were based on prices established during the reign of King Seongjong (1469-1494), with some subsequent adjustments. By the early sixteenth century, 141 prescriptions had been compiled in Yakmyeong (Names of Medicines). This collection was later annotated by an unknown medical official under the title Chiyobokbeop (Gist and Dosage of Medicine). During the compilation of Gosachalyo in 1553 (the eighth year of King Myeongjong’s reign), royal physician Yang Yesu significantly augmented this repertoire, incorporating numerous contemporary prescriptions and organizing a list of 266 medicines.
While some price adjustments are evident, the listed prices of herbal medicines and prescription drugs remained largely consistent with those established during King Seongjong’s reign. The Joseon government maintained these officially promulgated prices for approximately sixty years—from the late Seongjong period until the publication of the first edition of Gosachalyo in 1554—and this price stability continued into the early seventeenth century. This policy reflects the government’s commitment to ensuring a stable and accessible supply of medicines for the subjects.
Compared to Yakmyeong of the early sixteenth century, the mid-sixteenth-century Gosachalyo contains nearly twice as many prescriptions, covering a broader range of diseases. The newly added prescriptions targeted prevalent societal health threats, such as dysentery, and other previously under-treated illnesses.
Joseon medical practitioners actively engaged medical texts imported from the Ming dynasty, such as Yixue Zhengzhuan (Orthodox Documentations of Medicines, 1515), to meet the growing and diverse medical needs of society. By the mid-sixteenth century, Joseon’s clinical medicine was transitioning from the “Old Prescription” stage—reliant on older compendia like Hejijufang (Formulas from the Imperial Pharmacy, 1148) and Dexiaofang (Effective Formulas, 1337)—to a “New Prescription” stage, characterized by the adoption of the Ming dynasty’s medical knowledge. These sixteenth-century imports not only revolutionized Joseon’s clinical practices but also significantly impacted the government’s public health initiatives.

This paper examines the challenges and improvements associated with the training curriculum and implementation of the Peace Corps Health Auxiliary Program in South Korea from 1967 to 1970. Established as part of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War, the Peace Corps sought to promote modernization emphasizing economic productivity in developing countries through volunteer efforts. From 1967 to 1981, the Peace Corps dispatched approximately 500 health volunteers to South Korea across 18cohorts. These volunteers worked in local health centers on tuberculosis control, mother and child health, and other public health initiatives. Despite the program’s significance, the operational aspects of the health initiative and the activities undertaken by the volunteers remain under-explored in academic literature.
The early phases of the program, particularly the K-4 and K-6 cohorts, faced the challenge of transforming non-specialist B.A. generalists into competent health workers in the Korean medical field. These efforts encountered significant obstacles, including limited understanding of local health conditions, a lack of volunteers’ expertise, and inadequate operational guidelines. These shortcomings contributed to high early termination rates among volunteers. The enactment of the Tuberculosis Control Act in 1968 marked a turning point for the program, leading to improved coordination between donor and recipient parties and broadening the focus of the health program to include additional public health initiatives after the K-13 group.
This study highlights the importance of a well-structured pre-service training curriculum and collaborative engagement with relevant authorities for successful program outcomes. It illustrates that, while initial public health efforts faced setbacks, they laid the foundation for subsequent improvements in health services in Korea. This study underscores the need for continued exploration of the Peace Corps’ comprehensive health initiatives and their long-term impacts.

Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome, suffered from multiple health issues, including an unsteady gait, persistent tremors in his arms and head, and a speech impediment that caused him to stutter and mispronounce words since childhood. Despite possessing average or even above-average intellectual abilities, he was considered unfit for public office (cursus honorum) due to these physical conditions.
Based on remaining historical records, modern scholars have proposed several possible diagnoses, including cerebral palsy, dystonia, transverse myelitis, or Tourette syndrome. While earlier scholarship argued that he had cerebral palsy, more recent interpretations favor dystonia or Tourette syndrome. This claim is supported by historical records that show how Claudius' symptoms fluctuated over time since his childhood and how he was able to maintain a relatively stable health during his reign, carrying out his imperial duties effectively.
Claudius’s physical impairments subjected him to harsh treatment from his family. His mother Antonia the Younger, his sister Livilla, and his paternal grandmother Livia treated him with contempt. In contrast, his adoptive grandfather Augustus showed some leniency, expressing hope that Claudius’ condition might improve one day. None the less, both Augustus and his uncle Tiberius chose to excluded him from public service. His disabilities, especially his walking and speech issues, remained a source of ridicule even after his death. This is poignantly illustrated in Seneca’s satirical poem “Apocolocyntosis,” which was written after his death.
Unable to become a celebrated soldier or orator due to his physical limitations, Claudius was far removed from the Roman ideal of leadership both in his own times and in posterior times. He was often met with contempt and discrimination. Nevertheless, he proved to be a capable and successful emperor. Although none of his contemporary historians explicitly recorded the efforts Claudius may have made to overcome his disabilities, such perseverance can be inferred from the subtext of historical accounts. In this, Claudius offers a powerful symbol of resilience and hope.

HIV/AIDS control in Korea characterized with “AIDS Prevention Law”, enacted in 1987. It was one of the first separate legal enforcement around the world that governs control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yet with significant limitations regarding human rights, as it criminalized HIV infection, and dictates penal action against ‘transmitters’. This papers looks into how HIV/AIDS epidemic started in Korea in 1980s, with specific focus on disease narrative that was constructed by the government. It was known to United States Forces Korea, that HIV was already spreading steady into Korean female sex workers around U.S. military bases in 1985. This information was concealed by Korean Ministry of health, in the face of upcoming international events such as 1988 Seoul Olympics. Instead, the Korean government turned public attention to ‘imported’ cases, constructing narrative that HIV/AIDS as a foreign disease. With direction of president, HIV/AIDS control focus on compulsory testing and isolation of identified risk group of sexual minorities and sex workers around U.S. military bases. This narrative of foreign disease had lasting impact even after democratization of Korea in 1987, as civil society, unaware that HIV/AIDS had already became endemic in Korea, argued to enforced compulsory testing against foreign nationals upon entry. This paper argues that disease narratives were carefully constructed by the government during early phase of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Korea, and used legal structure as ways to conceal the actual prevalence from both domestic and international attention.

This paper examines the history of mask-wearing regulations in barbershops in colonial Korea, specifically in Keijō (modern-day Seoul) during the 1910s and 1920s. It focuses on the introduction and implementation of these regulations, as well as their political involvement with colonial hygiene governance and ethnic politics in the barbering industry. In 1911, the Government-General of Korea introduced a mask-wearing mandate for barbers as part of the Barbering Business Regulation Rule, making it one of the earliest mask mandates in the Japanese Empire. Initially, the colonial police enforced this rule to discipline colonial subjects under the guise of hygiene. However, starting in the mid-1910s, both Korean and Japanese barbering professionals began to utilize this regulation to compete against the rising number of Chinese migrant barbers. This paper illustrates how hygiene-related regulations, including the mask mandate in barbershops, interacted with ethnic rivalries within the colonial Korean barbering industry. Stereotypes portraying Chinese barbers as unhygienic and their shops as unsanitary were produced and fueled as Korean and Japanese barbers sought to eliminate their Chinese competitors, often with support from the colonial police. Ultimately, this case study will shed new light on the history of hygienic masks, which has so far mostly focused on medical settings, and will suggest future research avenues, particularly regarding its intersection with the social history of medicine.

The advent of experimental medicine in the early nineteenth century marked a crucial turning point in history of medicine. Historians unanimously recognize François Magendie (1783-1855), a physician and physiologist, as a pioneer of experimental medicine. Despite his significance, research on Magendie’s achievements and contributions remains limited. This scarcity stems from conflicting evaluations of Magendie's experimental medicine. On one hand, some claim that Magendie avoided hypotheses and simply accumulated individual facts. On the other hand, others argue that he implicitly used hypotheses. These differing views traces back to his disciple Claude Bernard (1813-1878), who believed it was impossible to conduct experiments without hypotheses. If Magendie was a pioneer of experimental medicine, then he must have had hypotheses as well. However, interpretations of his viewpoint on hypotheses vary. This paper aims to clarify this issue. By examining contemporary evaluations of physiology during Magendie’s time, the concept of collaborative research with chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), and the laboratory environments where these ideas were realized, this study finds new insights into Magendie’s approaches to experimental medicine. Magendie was extremely cautious in formulating his own hypotheses, but he often designed experiments based on the hypotheses of other physiologists. His criticism of Bichat exemplifies this tendency. The conclusions derived from this study are as follows: first, there is a need to reconsider the current historical understanding of Magendie's experimental medicine; second, the history of early nineteenth century medicine, particularly in the context of large-scale collaborative research, requires a different analytical approach than that applied to earlier periods.