AN INTELLECTUAL JOURNEY INTO
KOREAN GINSENG

The name “insam (ginseng),” the commercial crop representing Korea, is quite familiar to every Korean. I believe that most Koreans have had the experience of having one or two ginseng products in their life. It is a blessing given to them for being born in Korea, the suzerain of ginseng. There have been many books and press reports about ginseng. However, most of them are fragmentary information, unofficial content, or overly academic. Ordinary people reading these materials could be misled by the overly mystical or exaggerated information about Korean ginseng, fail to see the facts, or otherwise have difficulties understanding the content at all for it being too academic. I decided to write this book, “A HISTORY OF THE KOREAN GINSENG INDUSTRY,” in a way that ordinary readers would understand and ginseng experts to use as a reference. It is only my wish, and I am not sure whether it turned out the way I intended. I will leave that up to readers. Still, I would like to frankly confess and ask for an excuse that it was beyond my capacity despite my efforts to make it reader-friendly by combing through the works of writers from various fields, journalists, and experts in other areas for the terms, words, and sentences familiar to readers, as I have primarily been an author of scientific papers.
The books on the history of Korean ginseng that have been published until today are the “History of Ginseng,” which comprises seven volumes were written by a group of experts over a decade during the period under Japanese rule. The whole series was published by the Monopoly Bureau of the Governor-General of Korea in 1935 (editor: Tomo Iwamura, 今村?) and the “History of Korean Ginseng” in two volumes, written by several domestic experts of ginseng in 2002 (The History of Korean Ginseng Compilation Committee). These two books are indeed quite essential reading materials in terms of the history of ginseng science and academic aspects. However, they are difficult to understand in terms of the status of Korean ginseng and the direction in which the Korean ginseng industry has evolved within the context of the 500-year history of the Joseon Dynasty and of the world’s history of ginseng with a sense of coherence and by pointing
out essential aspects.
Until Korean ginseng gained its reputation, there were tremendous efforts made by the great ginseng industry people (蔘業人) of past generations who invented the “artificial cultivation method for ginseng” and a “method for manufacturing red ginseng,” enabling the industrialization of ginseng regardless of the Joseon Dynasty’s ignorance against the preciousness of ginseng, the continuous exploitation of people, and the suppression of commerce. I want to stress the fact that the industrialization of ginseng was entirely achieved by the sweat and wisdom of grassroots people without any help from the Joseon Dynasty at all.
Modern science and technology were applied to ginseng cultivation and the development of ginseng products at the end of the Joseon Dynasty era and under Japanese rule through the Residency - General and Governor - General to facilitate exploitation. It is an “uncomfortable truth” that this was when the modernization of the ginseng industry began. However, the ginseng industry people pioneered the ginseng market on their own with the techniques they learned under Japanese rule. I neither added nor subtracted the circumstances of the times in which they had to live.
Writing this book gave me the chance to enjoy the intellectual pleasure of reading and learning from the works of various experts in Korea and outside, which helped me enormously. Instead of listing their assistance one-by-one, I would like to keep my gratitude in my heart and express it whenever I have the chance. Also, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous support provided by the Korea Ginseng Corporation and the generous help provided by its officials and express my deep appreciation for them.
I will be happy if this book serves as a stepping stone for future research.

January 2021
Il-Moo CHANG, Professor Emeritus,
Seoul National University