Library

I originally knew nothing of medicine. In my youth, I traveled widely, witnessing countless practitioners who casually prescribed remedies and treated human lives as if they were grass or weeds; I pitied them in my heart. Consequently, I began to peruse medical texts, but I suffered from the fact that various schools held differing opinions: some were rigidly attached to ancient methods, others stubbornly clung to biased views, and yet others were constrained by sectarian habits, each inheriting their master's teachings and engaging in heated debates. Those with shallow knowledge, being ignorant and narrow-minded, were easily confused; those well-read found themselves torn between opposing views, unable to know which path to follow. Thus, the more medical books there were, the more chaotic medicine became; indeed, it was better not to take medicine than to adhere to such a confused practice. I once wished to seek out specialized masters capable of rivaling the ancients, so that we might examine various compilations, judge them with the clarity of an empty mirror and the fairness of a scale, determine the most appropriate standards, and enable practitioners to unify their approach and regard these as definitive guidelines. This would prevent them from acting counter to reason or deviating into heterodox paths, turning medical books from mere hidden treasures into compasses for medicine—would this not be the culmination of the achievements of the "Apricot Grove" (a metaphor for the medical profession) and the "Orange Well" (a metaphor for virtuous medical practice)? Alas, while I had the aspiration, I lacked the person. Later, upon traveling to the capital, I had the fortune to meet Mr. Lü Meiqing of Kuaiji. I observed his pulse diagnosis and prescription formulation: he handled heavy matters with lightness, his dosages were precise, neither biased nor slanted. He could truly be said to unite the schools of Liu Wansu, Li Dongyuan, Zhu Danxi, and Zhang Congzheng into one family. The person I had previously spoken of as capable of rivaling the ancients—was he not essentially you? Having been deeply convinced by his expertise, I frequently sought his guidance. Upon parting, I begged him for a few words of advice. He said: "Alas! Ancient and modern medical books are piled high enough to fill ox-carts and fill buildings; how can one claim to have mastered and integrated them through the limited perspective of looking at the sky through a tube or measuring the sea with a gourd? Nevertheless! There is a method of mastering complexity through simplicity, and a method of returning to essentials after extensive study. You are from Wu; do you know of Master Ye in Wu? Have you seen his book *Yi Heng* (Medical Balance)? If one could truly obtain this book and ponder it repeatedly, it would be equivalent to having broken one's arm three times and thus becoming a skilled physician." I vaguely remembered having glanced at it before. Upon returning home, I searched through my old boxes, and the original book was indeed there. I was overcome with joy. However, I learned that it had not been printed in Wu prior to this, making it a unique and rare edition. Mr. Guan Jingbo of Yanghu and Mr. Peng Xiaojiu of Changzhou, both versed in a hundred schools and particularly proficient in the learning of Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) and Nanjing (Classic of Difficult Issues), declared it unprecedented and urged its immediate reprinting to spread its influence. I brought it back to my hometown. At that time, Grand Secretary Yang Bingshi was residing at home for convalescence and borrowed it for over a month. He meticulously added notes and corrected errors and omissions in every character and phrase, bringing it to perfection. I requested him to write a preface, but he declined, stating that he was not a practitioner of medicine by long-standing habit. At that time, those famous in medicine who rose to prominence following Master Ye included Mr. Cao Zhihan from Wu Gate and Mr. Liu Gusun from Chengjiang, both of whom were willing to write prefaces. They detailed the efficacy of this book. I merely recorded the origins of the collation and printing, along with the collaborative efforts of the gentlemen involved.
Recorded by Miao Eliao of Yushan at Yifang Garden in the autumn of the Jiawu year, the 20th year of the Guangxu reign.