Changes in Korea-Japan medical exchange through Joseon Tongsinsa during the late Joseon period : A focus on medical conversation from a translation and interpretation perspective

This pioneering study examines the medical exchanges between Joseon and Japanese intellectuals, particularly through the medical conversation sessions conducted during the Joseon Tongsinsa missions, from the perspective of translation and interpretation. It provides empirical evidence that these medical conversation sessions can be framed as translation and interpretation activities, highlighting how two groups with different languages met and communicated, and how the knowledge from one group was transformed and disseminated in an understandable form to the other group. Additionally, this study illustrates that the medical exchanges via the Joseon Tongsinsa surpassed the traditional view that advanced knowledge flowed unilaterally from Joseon to Japan. It demonstrates that Western medical knowledge, initially absorbed by Japan, was being transmitted to Joseon. However, this advancement in Japanese medicine through the assimilation of Western medicine did not ultimately reach Joseon. The reason for this is that the Joseon intellectuals who participated in the 11th Tongsinsa mission of 1763-1764, despite observing the dialectical progress of Japanese medicine, were reluctant to adopt it. Consequently, the medical Q&A sessions conducted during this 11th Tongsinsa mission were, in effect, the last official medical exchanges between Joseon and Japan.