The purpose of this study was to review epidemic diseases prevalent in Cho-Sun Dynasty and health care policies in the above-mentioned period.
The results can be summarized as follows
1. The outbreak of the epidemic diseases continued from 1390 to the end of the Dynasty in 1910 intermittently. The damage was more serious than that of wars and it became the biggest factor of population reduction in the period. The northeastern region received special attention by the Central Government very often because it was the border zone as well as the damage of the epidemic diseases reduced often the population radically, and the Dynasty took actions often to move the people to the region from the southern part of the peninsular, along with the policy of replacing them with the criminals.
2. The causes of the epidemic diseases was thought as follows: according to the traditional medical texts, it was caused due to "irregular seasonality", "changes of 5 functions and 6 energies "unclean living environments", "theories of evil sprits" and "overcrowding."
3. The medical care policies taken by the government can be summarized as follows
1) To rescue the poor people in advance because the epidemic diseases were thought due to hunger and excessive cold.
2) To provide the free medicines for the relief care from the Central Government.
3) To emphasize the locally produced medicines by collecting the locally produced materials. 4) To help self-care by spreading the folk therapies.
5) To move the towns where the leprosy was epidemic and isolates the patients to the remote islands. 6) To prevent the accelerated infections, isolated the ´patient accommodation facilities .in the faraway areas.
7) To operate the recuperation facilities over the nationwide at- many hot spring zones.
8) To exempt or reduce the various taxes and compulsory services for the government from the, damaged people.
9) To disseminate the medical knowledge by publishing the booklets for the prevention of the: diseases.
10) To recommend the sacrificial rites for the diseases and perform a religious services for the lance. and water.
In the meantime, the government policies in relation with health can be observed in 3 distinctive aspects.
The first was to perform the sacrificial rites or buddhist rituals, the second was to rescue the patients through the medical care services and the third was to conduct the preventive measures in advance.
In summary, the health policies in the Cho-Sun Dynasty had gradually moved from respecting ghosts and superstitious rites to reasonable and scientific activities.
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