Library

*Qianjin Baoyao* (Precious Essentials from the Thousand Gold Formulas) is a compilation of essential excerpts selected by Guo Si, Academician of the Huiyou Pavilion during the Song Dynasty, from the *Qianjin Fang* (Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold), originally compiled by Sun Simiao, known as the True Man of the Tang Dynasty. In the sixth year of Xuanhe (1124), Guo Si had the text carved onto stone at the Huazhou government office. In the eighth year of Zhengtong (1443) of our Ming Dynasty, Liu Zheng, the Prefect of Huazhou, reprinted it. In the sixth year of Jingtai (1455), Prefect Yang Shengxian found that stone carvings were inconvenient for copying and printing during winter, so he replaced them with woodblock prints. In a previous spring, I obtained this book and was delighted by its simple and convenient formulas and readily available medicinal materials; it allowed physicians to achieve rapid effects without complexity. It was indeed highly practical for people's daily use. Therefore, I treasured it like a precious jade artifact and did not keep it secret, but ordered it to be printed. I privately thought that since *Baoyao* was compiled from the True Man's *Qianjin Fang*, and visitors to the True Man Cave in Yaozhou are numerous every day and hour, yet no stele was erected before the cave to facilitate its wide dissemination, I therefore had it carved on stone before the cave.

Recorded by Zhu Shouzhong, Prince of Qin, on an auspicious day in the third month of the spring of Ren-Shen year (1572).
Respectfully viewed by Zuo Chongyao, a fellow native.

*Qianjin Baoyao* consists of seventeen volumes, with appended discussions and *Qianjin Xu Zhi* forming the eighteenth volume. During the Xuanhe period of the Song Dynasty, Academician Guo Si selected essentials from the *Qianjin Fang* written by Sun Simiao, the Retired Gentleman, and carved them on stone at the Huazhou government office. There were wood and stone editions from the Zhengtong to Jingtai periods of the Ming Dynasty. In the sixth year of Longqing (1572), Prince of Qin Zhu Shouzhong re-carved the stone at the True Man Shrine in Yaozhou. This work was not included in the *Siku Quanshu* (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries). While traveling in Guanzhong, I obtained a rubbings copy and stored it in my collection. According to records, my respected gentleman Sun Simiao was born in the Later Zhou dynasty and died during the Yongchun era of the Tang Dynasty. Ye Mengde, in his *Bishu Luhua* (Record of Leisure Talk in the Summer Retreat), stated that he was already over one hundred years old when he wrote the *Qianjin Qianfang* (Earlier Thousand Gold Formulas), and thirty years later he wrote the *Qianjin Yi Fang* (Supplemental Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold). Duan Chengshi, in his *Youyang Zazu* (Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang), claimed that there were three thousand immortal prescriptions in the Dragon Palace of Kunming Pool, which Sun Simiao obtained by saving a dragon. Because the Supreme Emperor did not permit arbitrary transmission, he subsequently composed the *Qianjin Fang* in thirty volumes, containing one formula per volume. Originally, *Qianjin Fang* and *Qianjin Yi Fang* were two separate books; thus, the biography in the *Old Book of Tang* only recorded *Qianjin Fang* as thirty volumes. However, bibliographies by Chao Gongwu and Chen Zhen-sun state that each contained thirty volumes. The current popular edition of *Qianjin Yi Fang* has ninety-three volumes, and it is unknown who altered its order. The original *Qianjin Qianfang* can no longer be distinguished. This selection from the Xuanhe period was likely extracted from the earlier work. Since the Dragon Palace immortal prescriptions are included within, it is truly a rare and secret book of the world, which should not fail to be widely disseminated for the benefit of like-minded individuals. The book mentions that what is commonly called smallpox today is referred to as "pediatric erysipelas" (Xiao'er Dansu), and also includes "reverse-flow sores" (Fan Hua Chuang). It was not until the Yuan Dynasty's *Qixiao Liang Fang* (Excellent Effective Formulas) that these were collectively termed "smallpox and measles" (Douzhen). This proves that the common belief that this disease originated in modern times is incorrect. Hanging victims can be revived, and drowning victims may still survive after being underwater overnight. If one does not know the methods in emergencies, this book details these techniques, representing a particularly benevolent art for saving lives. Officials in the world do not follow Gai Gong's advice regarding non-interference in judicial and market affairs, but instead focus solely on entanglement and interrogation. They neglect matters beneficial to the people such as grain storage, water conservancy, agriculture, schools, and education, thereby damaging their own vital energy (Yuan Qi) and inviting disasters. It is certainly better to consult medical texts, keeping the intention to save lives in mind, for doing good brings the greatest joy, here rather than elsewhere.

Written by Sun Xingyan of Yanghu, a Jinshi degree holder passed in the imperial examination, conferred the title of Tongfeng Dafu, acting Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shandong and Grain Transport Supervisor, with four additional ranks, on July 3rd of the twelfth year of Jiaqing (1807) at the Jixing Hall of the Provincial Administration Office.