医者意也。以我之意。揣病之情。始终洞悉。然后可以为医。但天下之意有有本之意。有无本之意。无本者
师心自用。未尝有所闻见。妄而不可为训也。有本者得之师资。鉴之往昔。论一症。订一方。皆有上下千古之识。
不敢以己意为臆逆也。然而几此亦甚难矣。晋朝以前。司是术者。类皆缙绅先生。苦心济世。精言微论。卓有可
观。后世用为糊口之术。文人学士。概不与焉。脉理方论。已自不工。而又当兵火之后。医经残缺。凑合成书。
其中虽有可采之说。精奥难解。不可从者十之六七。若非临症参考。将何去而何从乎。予不敏忝生名阀。
当以书香为急。不幸稚年失怙。叠罹水患。不能沉心于举业。一生虚度。何以告无罪于祖宗。然而择术于医。
固为温饱之计。而删述纂修之功。固当亦有责焉。于是访投明师。讲习数年。其所获者。医学之规矩已耳。法律
已耳。临症不无少隔。因思孟子有云。大匠诲人。能与人规矩。不能使人巧。孔子曰。吾道一以贯之。是知学道
之功。始而求其中规，继而求其能贯也。然中规之学在乎师。而能贯之功则在乎我。不博无以为约。不约无以为贯。
遍览群书。上而神农轩岐。张朱李刘。下而医统准绳。薛氏之十六种。以及指掌医鉴。无不细加详阅。
究之相同者多。互异者少。宜遵者不过约略数言。纂集成编。尽可塞责。其中隐而未发之义。因此悟
彼之妙。犹未之知也。先辈云。熟读王叔和。不如见症多。三十年来。阅历既
烦。有一症。必有一症之理。以理思症以症合理。方敢下手调治。又于今医之中。一长可取者。虚心访问。一一笔
诸笥中。悠而游焉。渐积而久焉。古今之妙义。始得融会于吾心。不揣庸陋。妄蹈作述之咎。更订十数余次。苦志
成书。将古今奥妙。深入而浅出。言近而指远。高才视之。鲜不以为迂。然而病机之源流。治法之初终。俱莫遁乎是矣。
非敢曰医囊无底。可于是集而大备也。但理路既明。由此扩而充之。其入于精微之地。岂有他哉。予之气
禀甚怯。天鉴下民。加我数年。再将伤寒女科素难本草终其注释之事。则
天祖之生我不虚耳。斯道之行废。又何足论乎。
时康熙庚辰菊月尚友斋陈岐德求氏自识
The essence of medicine lies in "Yi" (mental perception/intuition). By employing one's mental perception to gauge the reality of the disease, and thoroughly understanding it from beginning to end, then one can be called a physician. However, the "Yi" in the world has two types: those with a foundation and those without. Those without a foundation are subjective and self-willed, having never heard or seen anything substantial; they are absurd and cannot serve as a standard. Those with a foundation are acquired from teachers and learned from past experiences; when discussing a symptom or prescribing a formula, they possess insight spanning antiquity to the present, daring not to make presumptuous deductions based on personal opinion. Yet, achieving this is extremely difficult. Before the Jin Dynasty, practitioners were mostly scholars and officials who devoted themselves to saving the world with painstaking effort; their profound words and subtle theories were outstanding and worthy of observation. In later generations, it became merely a livelihood skill, and literati generally did not participate. Their understanding of pulse diagnosis and formulas was already imperfect, and after wars and fires, medical classics were incomplete. Books pieced together, though containing some valuable ideas, have profound and obscure meanings that are hard to understand, with six or seven out of ten being unadaptable. Without clinical reference, how can one know what to follow? I, though incompetent, am ashamed to belong to a distinguished family. I should have prioritized scholarly pursuits, but unfortunately, losing my father in childhood and suffering repeated floods prevented me from focusing on imperial examinations, leading to a wasted life. How can I face my ancestors without guilt? Choosing medicine was indeed for sustenance, but I also bear responsibility for compiling and editing medical texts. Thus, I sought out enlightened masters and studied for several years, acquiring only the rules and laws of medicine. Clinical practice still felt somewhat disconnected. Recalling Mencius: "A master craftsman can teach others the rules, but cannot make them dexterous." Confucius said: "My way is permeated by a single thread." Thus, learning the Way begins with seeking conformity to rules, and proceeds to seeking integration. Conformity to rules depends on the teacher, while integration depends on oneself. Without breadth, there can be no conciseness; without conciseness, there can be integration. I read extensively, from ancient figures like Shennong and Huangdi (Qibo), to Zhang Zhongjing, Zhu Danxi, Li Dongyuan, and Liu Wansu, down to works like *YiTong*, *ZhunSheng*, Xue Ji's sixteen types, and *ZhiZhang YiJian*, carefully reviewing them all. Upon study, similarities outweighed differences; what needed following amounted to only a few words. Compiling these into a book could suffice for duty. However, hidden meanings and insights gained through cross-referencing remain unknown to me. As predecessors said, "Being familiar with Wang Shuhe's writings is inferior to seeing many cases." Over thirty years, with extensive experience, for every symptom, there is its underlying principle. Thinking about symptoms through principles and verifying principles through symptoms allows me to dare to treat. I also humbly consulted contemporary physicians with unique strengths, recording their advice in my notes, accumulating knowledge leisurely over time, until the subtleties of past and present merged in my mind. Presuming upon my mediocrity, I risked the blame of authorship, revising more than ten times, and finally completed this book with great determination. It presents ancient and modern profundities in simple terms, with near words pointing to distant meanings. Scholars may find it pedantic, yet the origins of pathogenesis and the beginnings and ends of treatment methods are fully covered here. I do not claim this collection exhausts all medical knowledge, but if the logical path is clear, expanding upon it leads to subtlety. My constitution is weak; if Heaven grants me a few more years, I will complete the annotations for *ShangHan Lun* (Treatise on Cold Damage), *NüKe* (Women's Diseases), *SuWen* (Basic Questions), *NanJing* (Classic of Difficult Issues), and *BenCao* (Materia Medica). Then my ancestors' creation of me would not be in vain. The rise and fall of this art is hardly worth discussing.
Signed by Chen Qi, courtesy name Deqiu, at ShangYou Zhai, in the ninth month of the GengChen year of the KangXi reign.