Library

One day, I passed by the residence of Mr. Xue Lizhai and saw him with disheveled hair, holding a scroll, pondering and searching through it intently. He appeared trance-like, resembling ancient scholars (Jingsheng) studying diligently within their study curtains. Upon noticing my arrival, Mr. Xue entered his room to adjust his clothes and cap. I carefully observed his desk, which was covered with fragmented books and broken bamboo slips, their covers falling off. I took one volume to read; the annotations and corrections made therein were far more extensive than those of the scholars studying behind curtains. I said, "Mr., you have exerted yourself with great diligence!" Mr. Xue replied, "If the principles of medicine are not clarified, where will those suffering from premature death in the world appeal for justice? This is especially true for infants, as they cannot speak. The ancients said: 'Protect the infant like a newborn; if one seeks with sincerity, even if one misses the mark, one will not be far off.' Hitting the desired outcome is not difficult; what is required is sincere seeking. How much more so for diseases characterized by pain, itching, and myriad transformations! Today's physicians mostly adhere rigidly to a few prescriptions to test them. When these fail, they say, 'It is fate.' To seek disease based on a prescription, rather than prescribing based on the disease, is no different from carving a mark on a boat to find a sword or gluing the tuning pegs of a zither. Yet, ultimately, they attribute everything to fate. How tragic! Mr. Xue added, 'True essence combines to create human life. Thus, the human body is indeed a shell formed by the Five Phases (Wu Xing). Among the Five Phases, Earth generates all things; therefore, the human body also relies on Spleen-Earth for growth. This is essentially a theory regarding the root.' Although infants cannot speak now, their cries, the expression of their form and Qi, and the direction of their desires reveal mechanisms that can be perceived. Methods such as tonifying deficiency, draining excess, supporting upright Qi, and suppressing pathogenic factors are established methods of the ancients. However, they may be obscure and hard to distinguish, or mixed and undifferentiated, which explains why students of medicine feel overwhelmed. I said, "I hope you will compile and condense this work, and I will have it printed for dissemination." Mr. Xue agreed readily. I further said, "In recent years, the Wokou (Japanese pirates) have been restless. For the people in ruins and villages, who rely on farming and weaving, two or three out of ten have perished. I hope you will carefully proofread this book. If this text is indeed worthy of transmission, then those saved today, though not necessarily all outstanding talents, are indeed the surviving remnants of the Han dynasty, engaged in the plowing and weaving of mulberry and elm. Your benevolence is truly abundant." The book was completed in the first month of the Bingchen year. Being unskilled, I wrote this preface. Mr. Lizhai's given name was Ji, and he held the office of Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, coming from a prominent family in the Sanwu region.

On an auspicious day in the spring of the first month of the Bingchen year of the Jiajing reign
Lin Maoju, Jinshi degree holder, Zhongxian Dafu, Prefect of Suzhou, former Censor of the Office of Scrutiny, from Min (Fujian), inscribed.