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Proponents of health preservation claim: "All people in the world can achieve immortality." This statement is absurd. Why? After weaning, human beings begin to grow, first as infants and children, then as adults. Would eliminating desires and passions lead to immortality? Some might say: "It is labor that harms the body." Would avoiding labor lead to immortality? Others might say: "It is excessive thinking that disturbs the mind." Would abstaining from thinking lead to immortality? If one could truly eliminate desires, avoid labor, and reduce thinking, it might be possible to avoid disease and premature death. However, natural death due to old age would still occur. Moreover, before the age of forty, people are not devoid of desires, toil, and worry, yet their bodies continue to grow and strengthen; after the age of forty, even without desires, toil, or worry, the body continues to decline and wither. What is the reason for this? Essentially, human life is fleeting, like a summer insect. People laugh at its brevity, unaware that human life is similarly finite. At the moment of conception, a fixed destiny is already established. This so-called fixed destiny is Yuanqi (Primordial Qi, the fundamental energy sustaining life). It is invisible and intangible, residing within Blood and Qi, and governing them prior to their movement. When the physical form is shaped, a fixed destiny is also established. This fixed destiny is Yuanqi. It is invisible and intangible, residing within Blood and Qi, and governing them prior to their movement. When the form is complete, there is already a set number. This is like placing firewood on a fire: initially, the flame is small; over time, it grows fierce; when the fuel is exhausted, the fire extinguishes. The difference in duration depends on whether the wood is hard or brittle. Therefore, those who remain healthy throughout their lives die only when their Yuanqi naturally exhausts itself; this is what is meant by fulfilling one's natural lifespan. As for those who are ill, if Yuanqi is unharmed, severe illness will not cause death; if Yuanqi is damaged, even mild illness may prove fatal. There are distinctions among these cases: some have their Yuanqi damaged prior to contracting disease, which is incurable; some damage their Yuanqi due to disease, which requires prevention; some damage their Yuanqi due to misdiagnosis or improper treatment; and some have slightly damaged Yuanqi that can still be preserved. Thus, physicians diagnosing disease and determining life and death should focus not on the severity of the disease but on the presence or absence of Yuanqi, thereby achieving near-perfect accuracy. Where does Yuanqi reside? Each Zang organ possesses its own True Essence (Zhen Jing), which represents a part of Yuanqi. Its root lies in what the Daoist scriptures call Dantian (Elixir Field), what the Nanjing (Classic of Difficult Issues) calls Mingmen (Gate of Life), and what the Neijing (Inner Canon) describes as "the careful heart beside the joints." Yin-Yang opening and closing depend on this, and respiration enters and exits through this. Without fire, it warms all parts of the body; without water, it moistens the five Zang organs. As long as this thread of vitality remains unbroken, life persists, relying entirely on this. How, then, should one preserve Yuanqi when diseased? Although Yuanqi has its specific location, it is intrinsically connected to the Zang-Fu organs. If cold, heat, purgative, or tonifying treatments are applied incorrectly, excess conditions become more excessive and deficiency conditions more deficient, inevitably causing severe harm to one Zang organ. Pathogenic factors enter internally, and Essence cannot replenish, leaving Yuanqi without attachment and thus injured. Therefore, every part of the human body must be carefully protected, and medicinal drugs should not be taken lightly. Regarding prevention, only skilled physicians can anticipate disease before it manifests, preventing the pathogen from becoming rampant and incurable. If Yuanqi is fully preserved, it will naturally expel pathogens outward; if pathogens are abundant and harmful, one must strike decisively while Yuanqi remains intact, avoiding future regret. This is the divine and illuminating art of medicine. To contend with Nature (Zaohua) and ensure no one ever dies is simply impossible.