Heo Jun

For other uses, see Heo Jun (disambiguation).

Heo Jun
Hangul	허준
Hanja	許浚
Revised Romanization	Heo Jun
McCune–Reischauer	Hŏ Chun
Pen name
Hangul	구암
Hanja	龜巖
Revised Romanization	Guam
McCune–Reischauer	Kuam
Courtesy name
Hangul	청원
Hanja	淸源
Revised Romanization	Cheongwon
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'ŏngwŏn

This is a Korean name; the family name is Heo.

Heo Jun (허준, 1537?/1539 – 9 October 1615) was a court physician of the Yangcheon Heo clan during the reign of King Seonjo of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. He was appointed as a court physician at the age of 29. He wrote a number of medical texts, but his most significant achievement is Dongui Bogam (lit. "Mirror of Eastern Medicine"), which is often noted as the defining text of traditional Korean medicine. The work spread to East Asian countries like China, Japan, and Vietnam where it is still regarded as one of the classics of Oriental medicine today. Although Heo Jun worked extensively with the royal family, he put a great emphasis on making treatment methods accessible and comprehensible to common people. He found natural herb remedies that were easily attainable by commoners in Korea. Furthermore, he wrote the names of the herbs using the simple hangul letters instead of using more difficult hanja (Chinese characters), which most commoners did not understand.

Heo Jun's name and accomplishments are widely recognized by Koreans even today. Korean people still refer to Heo Jun's natural remedies found in his Dongui Bogam.

In popular culture

• Portrayed by Kim Mu-saeng in 1975 MBC TV series Jibnyeom ("Tenacity").

• Portrayed by Lee Soon-jae in 1976 film Jibnyeom ("Concentration of Attention").

• The novel Dongui Bogam by Lee Eun-seong was published in 1990, and became a bestseller.

• Portrayed by Seo In-seok in 1991 MBC TV series Dongui Bogam ("The Wonders of Eastern Medicine").

• Portrayed by Jun Kwang-ryul in 1999-2000 MBC TV series Hur Jun, which reached record-breaking viewership ratings of 64%. In the series, Heo Jun was a youngster who worked as a helper with no relevant tasks, until he was mentored by Yoo Ui-tae, a doctor who taught him medicine and inspired him to become a doctor for and of the people. In reality, Yoo Ui-tae was younger than Heo Jun by about 100 years.

• Portrayed by Kim Joo-hyuk in 2013 MBC daily TV series Hur Jun, the Original Story (in Korean, Guam Heo Jun). Kim's late father Kim Mu-saeng had previously played Heo Jun in 1975.

See also

• Heojun Museum
• Dongui Bogam
• Ttongsul
• UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme

External links

• Information about Heo Jun
• Information about Korean Traditional Medicine