If a Tiger Bites You, Try “Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment” Instead of Dialing 119... Become a Joseon-Era First Responder with Your Child at Handok Museum

[Financial News] An emergency treatment manual from 537 years ago, during the Joseon Dynasty, is being brought back to life through light and video. A new exhibition lets children and their parents become Joseon-era “first responders” and experience how people in the past treated emergencies. 
Handok Museum in Eumseong, Chungcheongbuk-do, is holding the special exhibition “Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment Comes to the Village” through the end of December. Supported by the Korea Heritage Service, Chungcheongbuk-do and Eumseong County as part of the 2026 National Heritage Utilization Project in Our Local Area, the exhibition offers a modern reinterpretation of the museum’s Treasure, “Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment, Volume 6.”
Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment is an emergency medical text compiled in 1489 by Yun Ho, Wonjun Im and others at the command of Seongjong of Joseon. It describes a range of emergencies and treatments that people could encounter in everyday life, including illnesses, injuries and animal bites. A key feature is that the text was explained in Hangul so that people without medical knowledge could use it. The book reflects an effort to widely share medical knowledge to protect the lives of ordinary people and is considered part of Korea’s medical heritage. The museum’s copy of “Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment, Volume 6” was designated a Treasure in 1996.
The exhibition presents the life-saving wisdom contained in Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment through light, video and interactive content. Visitors can do more than simply view the artifacts; by taking part in the programs, they can experience emergency medical practices from more than 500 years ago.
The main program is the projection-mapping exhibition “Light, Prescribing Life.” It follows the four-season journey of Han Do-gi, a Joseon-era pottery merchant. On his way home after completing his business, Han Do-gi faces several emergencies, including being kicked by a horse, bitten by a mad dog and attacked by a tiger. As visitors follow his story, they experience the emergency prescriptions and treatments actually used at the time through light and video.
The exhibition also offers participatory programs, including “Emergency Treatment Coloring,” which lets visitors color exhibition scenes, and the interactive O/X quiz “Emergency! Quiz Mission!” No separate reservation is required for either program.
The educational program “Dispatch! Joseon Emergency Responders!” is also available for elementary school classes. Students become Joseon-era emergency responders, examine various emergency situations and complete missions to identify appropriate treatment methods based on Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment. The program operates by advance application, and schools can apply through the Handok Museum website.
More information about the exhibition is available on the Handok Museum website. 
[email protected] Myung-jin Jung, Reporter