A Study on the Disease of King Seonjo of the Joseon Dynasty

King Seonjo, the second son of King Jeongjo, is the twenty-third King of the Joseon Dynasty. He suffered mainly from spleen-stomach weakness syndrome[脾胃虛弱], neurasthenic neurosis and abscess according to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty[朝鮮王朝實錄]. He experienced chicken pox at the age of twelve, measles at thirteen, smallpox at sixteen. In his twenties he was ill with chronic breakdown due to the spleen-stomach weakness[脾胃虛弱], accompanied by neurasthenia. Abscess occurred during his twenties and the septicemia induced by abscess worsening led him to death. Most treatments were herb-extract medication taken orally, and to some extent ointment care was applied as a cure for abscess.