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Mr. Su Dongpo once said, "Throughout my life, in seeking medical treatment, I have silently observed the proficiency or incompetence of doctors during ordinary times. When illness strikes, I first inform them completely of my ailments before allowing pulse diagnosis. This enables the physician to clearly understand and locate the disease, establishing a prior judgment on deficiency/excess (Xu/Shi) and cold/heat within their mind. Consequently, ambiguous pulse findings will not confuse them. Thus, even a doctor of average skill can often cure diseases. My sole aim is recovery; I do not intend to make things difficult for the physician." These words are indeed true, serving as a corrective remedy to awaken the deluded and benefit the world. Why? Because pulse and syndrome (Zheng) travel together in interdependence. The pulse serves to analyze syndromes that are not yet clear, while the syndrome helps to uncover hidden aspects of the pulse. Relying on the pulse to verify the syndrome is what is meant by "the heart's resonance" (De Hu Ying Xin); questioning the syndrome to corroborate the pulse is what is meant by "the physician's intuitive understanding" (Yi Zhe Yi Ye). How can one adopt one and discard the other? I privately wonder: Since modern times, many patients conceal their symptoms to be diagnosed, thereby testing the physician's capability. Physicians, in turn, disdain asking questions, rashly taking a single pulse reading to boast of their expertise. Worse still, if the patient has previously taken incorrect medicines or has taboos regarding diet and lifestyle, they may withhold information even when asked. This forces the physician to seek the cause in obscurity and distinguish deficiency/excess and cold/heat amidst ambiguity. Is this not risking a thousand-li error due to a millimeter's deviation, gambling one's life on another's experimental skills? This is why I specifically cite the maxims of predecessors at the end of this work, to dispel worldly confusion. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the statement in the *Nan Jing* (Classic of Difficult Issues): "Ask what flavors the patient desires to know the origin and location of the disease"? (For adults and children recovering from various illnesses, diet must be gradually increased. One should always feel slightly hungry; do not let food stagnation damage the Stomach Qi, causing the disease to return. After high fever subsides, one must particularly avoid overeating. For infants with milk injury, if heat recurs, it is treated similarly.)

Before and after the publication of *Yi Jian Fang Lun* (Easy and Simple Formulas), countless lives were saved. However, scholars of recent times tend to judge it using the critical standards of the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, labeling it *Yi Jian Sheng Qian* (Correcting Errors in Easy and Simple), *Zeng Guang Yi Jian* (Expanded Easy and Simple), and *Xu Yi Jian Lun* (Continuation of Easy and Simple Discourse), borrowing the great reputation of ancients to promote their own subjective theories. Alas! What did Wang Haogu owe to the people? I maintain that *Yi Jian Fang Lun* serves as a guide for junior learners and a summary of seasonal treatments. Its discussions naturally contain the moral compass of human conscience. Moreover, Wang revised dosages numerous times in his later years. Just as solar and lunar eclipses do not diminish the brightness of the sun and moon, these revisions do not detract from its value. If one insists on nitpicking and being overly critical, public opinion may well disapprove.