[Joseon Images] The First Noble Patient

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Mon, October 2, 2023 | 07:50

Joseon ImagesThe First Noble Patient

Posted : 2020-03-10 16:42

Updated : 2020-03-10 19:57

Members of the Korean Foreign Office in Seoul circa 1883/84. Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

Horace N. Allen is often credited as being the first Western doctor to live and work in Korea. But that honor goes to an American doctor named Huntington who came to Korea in 1883 to work for the Korean Customs Service ― he only lasted a few weeks before he was fired.

Huntington's replacement was Allen, who arrived in the summer of 1884. For the most part, he led a relatively quiet life in Seoul until the Gapsin Coup on Dec. 4, 1884. During a party held to celebrate the inauguration of the postal service, Prince Min Yong-ik ― described as "one of the most prominent Corean noblemen [and] cousin to the queen" ― heard a fire alarm and rushed out to investigate. He was attacked by a sword-wielding assassin and received horrendous wounds before he managed to stumble back inside.

In his diary, Allen wrote that when he arrived at the building he found the prince "in horrible condition all blood and gore and attended by fourteen Corean doctors who made great objections to my heroic measures." He pushed them out of the way and began to stitch up the terrible wounds to the prince's head and upper body.

The prognosis seemed bleak but, with Allen's care, the prince managed to survive the night. He was Allen's most important patient and required almost constant attention. Allen's determination and skill may have saved the prince's life, but it also earned him the ire of the court physicians.

Horace N. Allen / Courtesy of Robert Neff Collection

Over the next couple of weeks, Min's health improved greatly. In his diary, Allen noted the Korean noble had asked him "in great earnestness" if his wounds had healed enough where it would no longer be dangerous for the women of his household to look upon them. According to Allen, the Koreans, like the Chinese, were afraid that women could contaminate wounds. He assured his patient it would be okay.

Of course, Allen was wrong.

The next day, Allen paid his daily visit and, much to his surprise and alarm, discovered one of the prince's wounds inflamed for no apparent reason. The Korean physicians pounced upon the opportunity and attributed the cause to letting in the women "and their dire influence [which] had bred the mischief." Allen conceded "they might have been the indirect cause of it but not by simply looking at the wound."

There were other issues that Allen confronted in his rather pompous and gruff manner that angered and offended Korean physicians and the prince. In his article published in a New York medical journal in 1885, Allen described Min as having a "great persistence in taking soup made of dog's flesh and dogs' heads." In the beginning, because Min's appetite was so poor, Allen thought it was "best not to interfere too much with [Min's] accustomed diet." He then went on to explain: "Dog flesh is always for sale in the shops, and though not eaten continually by all, yet there is not an adult native in the country who has not eaten more or less of it."

However, Allen's tolerance for his patient's diet ended in late January after he encountered the dismembered corpses of executed rebels lying in the streets and being fed upon by stray dogs. During his daily visit, Allen denounced the prince as a cannibal. He explained to the surprised noble that he "had seen the dogs eating the dead Japanese after the riots" and earlier that day, he had witnessed dogs eating Korean rebels' corpses. By eating dog soup, Min was, in effect, eating his own people as well as the foreign enemies.

Min was grateful for Allen's care and declared him a brother, but Allen did not share this brotherly love and, judging from his diaries and notes, took every opportunity to denigrate the noble, as well as the general Korean population.

One day, while examining some of Min's stool, Allen discovered segments of tapeworm in it. However, the nobleman seemed completely unconcerned. Allen later wrote, "It was with difficulty that I induced him to take the turpentine and castor-oil that eventually cured him. Since then I have been examining stools along the streets, and find pieces of tape-worm very common, which accounts for the unconcern."

Min eventually recovered from his wounds. Allen became the physician to the Korean court and established a successful hospital ― the first of its kind in Seoul.

Robert Neff is a historian and columnist for The Korea Times. He can be reached at robertneff04@gmail.com.

robertneff04@gmail.com