Military official Lee-Jema and his Bodies: A Bow-shooting Body

Lee-Jema (李濟馬) divided the human body into four zones of each with equal status and relative independence, called Sa-cho (四焦). The anterior and posterior parts assigned to each zone are balanced with each other and associated with specific postures for each zone. These parts of body are jaw versus the back of the head and neck (腦顀), chest (臆) versus shoulder (肩), navel (臍) versus waist(腰) and lower abdomen (腹) versus Buttock (臀). Corresponding postures are “rising high posture of the back of the head and neck (腦顀之起勢)”, “the embracing posture of the chest (胸襟之包勢)”, “the upright posture of the waist (腰圍之立勢)”, and “the seated posture of the pelvis (膀胱之坐勢)”. Most of the content originated from archery, except for the navel and the seated posture of the pelvis. In addition to the anterior-posterior relationship between parts within each zone, the bow-shooting body assumes an upright posture with the parts connected to each other beyond the zones. In the front, connections run to the jaw and chest, and to the chest and lower abdomen. In the back, connections run from the waist through the shoulder to the back of the head. The posture of the body as a whole, encompassing all four zones, is formed by the interweaving of two aspects: the generation and transmission of physical force, which occurs primarily in the back, and the smoother flow of Qi (氣), which occurs through abdominal respiration in the front. Since strength and Qi are generated from the body structure that is formed through the correct posture for archery, it can be utilized for treatment of diseases and nurturing of physical health. The implications of the body of archery for physical health were also introduced into Sasang Constitutional Medicine. This is the theoretical value of the external body that humans have in common before being divided into Sasangin (Four constitutions of human-being, 四象人). The bow-shooting body of Lee-Jema (李濟馬) presented in this paper shows that, in addition to the identities of Lee-Jema (李濟馬) as a Confucian scholar and a medical doctor, his identity as a military official who shoots arrows also has significant medical implications. His pen name Dongmu (東武), meaning “Joseon's military official,” led to his training in archery. It was the most important subject for the personnel evaluation for passing the military service examination and promotion to military official, and the insight into the human body gained through this was applied to Sasang Constitutional Medicine. This suggests that other military-related knowledge and resources required for success as a military official, such as military science books (兵書), may further illuminate Lee Je-ma’s thoughts and deserve closer examination.