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Zhang Zhongjing's *Shanghan Lun* (Treatise on Cold Pathogenic Diseases) has been compiled and arranged by no fewer than dozens of editors, leading to endless controversies. This is all due to a failure to understand the purpose behind Zhang Zhongjing's writing. Observing the preface and examples in the *Shanghan Lun*, it is evident that the text was established to address cases of misdiagnosis and mistreatment by mediocre physicians. Therefore, the correct treatment methods comprise only three or four entries per meridian, while the remainder consists of methods to rectify errors; consequently, the text itself is variable and not fixed. Readers who understand that this book is a work of hypothetical scenarios and simulations will be able to grasp its meaning in any situation. Modern scholars insist on altering the sequence established by Wang Shuhe, placing certain entries before others, or claiming that one symptom arises from another, or that disease transmission between meridians follows specific patterns, thereby criticizing each other. Few realize that pathological changes are myriad and transmission along meridians is indefinite. The ancients prescribed formulas based on the illness at hand, rather than compiling formulas in anticipation of diseases. Since the original sequence has long been lost, perhaps the arrangement by Wang Shuhe is trustworthy. Why? In his "Preface and Examples," Wang Shuhe stated: "I have now collected and selected Zhang Zhongjing's old theories, recording their symptoms, pulse diagnosis, and visual/auditory signs, selecting those true formulas that proved effective against specific diseases to guard against emergencies." Thus, this book was compiled by Wang Shuhe, yet people casually refute it, claiming the original was different. Consider: without Wang Shuhe, how would this book exist? Moreover, can the versions compiled by various individuals truly match Zhang Zhongjing's original text? The manifestations of the Six Meridians vary in similarity and difference. Later scholars seeing Yang meridian symptoms mixed within Yin meridian chapters assumed they should be moved to the Yang sections, unaware that Yin meridians also present such symptoms. Each person adheres to their private view, causing the flexible and adaptive methods of the ancients to be obscured and unheard. One who grasps the essential principles of a text clearly can comprehend it regardless of disordered arrangements; otherwise, merely changing and conflicting with ancient texts will only make them more obscure!

The *Jingui Yaolue* (Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet) is Zhang Zhongjing's treatise on miscellaneous diseases. It contains many omissions, yet the method of treating diseases with decoctions by ancient sages relies solely on the preservation of this book, making it the ancestor of formula literature. Its discussions on diseases are based on the *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) but apply divine transformation and variation. Its use of herbs is entirely based on the *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), integrating and mastering it. The formulas presented are classical prescriptions passed down through generations of ancient sages, with Zhang Zhongjing occasionally employing methods of adding or subtracting ingredients according to symptoms. Its pulse diagnosis methods are also true secrets passed down from the *Huangdi Neijing* and subsequent generations. Its treatments are precise and thorough, lacking any hesitation or error, truly penetrating the root cause and examining minute details. Thus, every prescription applied yields efficacy, like a drumstick striking a drum with immediate response; it is indeed the classic of medical formulas! Regrettably, the diseases recorded therein are not fully comprehensive, and it is unknown if there are missing parts. However, the general outlines of major diseases are roughly prepared. Later learners, treating it as a classic for reference and expansion, have already achieved half their understanding. Books written after this period are not the true secrets transmitted by ancient sages but represent individual schools of thought, and cannot be ranked alongside the *Jingui Yaolue*.