Library

Life is the greatest virtue of Heaven and Earth, disease is the greatest disaster for living beings, and medical arts are the fundamental method for treating diseases. In ancient times, Shennong and Huangdi independently observed the primordial chaos (Tai Chu) and widely illuminated subtle existence. They tasted hundreds of herbs to distinguish their properties and examined hundreds of diseases to preserve life. They established names, categorized by analogy, regulated the roles of Sovereign (Jun), Minister (Chen), Assistant (Zuo), and Envoy (Shi). These were recorded in texts like the *Tai Su Yu Ce* and in the dialogues between Leigong and Qibo. This likely opened the mysteries of divine wisdom, exhausted the variations of Yin and Yang, traced the principles of nature and destiny, and thus shared the burden of creation with Heaven and Earth.

Since the middle antiquity, these teachings were carved on jade tablets and stored in golden caskets. Their efficacy benefited plants and trees, and their grace extended to cattle and horses, leaving a profound legacy for the world and future generations. However, as years passed, malpractices became increasingly severe; dregs remained while profound meanings were not transmitted. The *Neijing* (*Huangdi Neijing*, Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) contains disease names but no one investigates them, and treatment methods but no one studies them. Even reaching the level of understanding immortality, one still fails to comprehend it. Human life holds a position parallel to Heaven and Earth, and its spirit is more precious than all things. Though the body is less than seven chi tall, the mind equals the creative power of nature. The "Kunlun" (head/face), if cultivated, can lead to longevity; the "Inch Field" (heart/mind), if kept quiet, allows for introspection; the "Heavenly Gate" (respiration/dantian), if regulated, can summon harmony. Removing earth talismans, writing golden inscriptions, refining elixirs, abstaining from grain, controlling qi to transcend the void—these require no external objects yet provide abundant self-sufficiency. Alas! The enlightened can achieve spiritual understanding, but the ignorant cannot even nourish their bodies, let alone understand their minds.

Internally, the Zang-Fu organs (Five Zang and Six Fu organs); externally, the nine orifices and four gates. These manifest in complexion, emit in voice, and are located in the three positions and nine pulses (San Bu Jiu Hou pulse diagnosis). Once balance is lost, disease follows immediately. The sage treats before signs appear; the skilled artisan remedies after the condition has formed. Unless one is the most refined in the world, who can probe the most obscure? Unless one is the most coarse in the world, who can assist the most divine? I pity the stagnation of the Great Dao, the entrenched habits of common customs, the chronic ailments of the people, and the reckless actions of mediocre physicians. Their learning is neither precise nor broad, and their insight lacks comprehension. Regarding the numbers of the Five Elements and the transformations of the Six Qi, no one seeks their hidden aspects or simulates their distant effects. They speak of Cold, of Heat, of the struggle between Cold and Heat. A difference of a hair's breadth leads to an error of a thousand li. For excess conditions, they apply tonification; for deficiency, they apply reduction. Acting arbitrarily with prescriptions, mixing grasses and minerals indiscriminately, causing half of the patients to die prematurely—is this not lamentable?

Amidst my duties governing ten thousand affairs, I composed forty-two chapters elucidating the subtleties of the *Neijing*, naming it the *Shengji Jing* (*Classic of Holy Healing*). Its meaning is subtle, its purport far-reaching, and its discourse aligns with reason, aiming to explore the deepest mysteries of the world. I also decreed that medical formulas be submitted from across the realm, combined with those collected in the Imperial Treasury, and promulgated as one volume of *Supplementary Records* and one volume of *Treatment Methods*. The entire work comprises two hundred volumes, containing nearly twenty thousand formulas. Diseases are categorized into sections, each with its own discussion and introductory narrative. It begins with the variations of Wind diseases and ends with the ingestion of elixirs by immortals. Details regarding acupoints and meridians, Zhu You (spiritual healing) and talismanic spells, are all comprehensively included. It is named the *Zhenghe Shengji Zonglu* (*Comprehensive Record of Holy Healing during the Zhenghe Era*). The events recorded therein serve to demonstrate the divine efficacy of medicine. Generally, the foundation of the sage's governance lies above, while its implementation lies below. Without visibility from above, the way of governance is not established; without visibility from below, the tools of governance do not function. What the Classics discuss is the Dao (Way); physicians who grasp it can exhaust divine subtlety. What the *Zonglu* records are the tools (Ju); physicians use them to treat diseases.

In the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing wrote the *Shanghan Lun* (*Treatise on Cold Damage*), interspersing it with formulas. In the Tang Dynasty, Sun Simiao wrote the *Qianjin Fang* (*Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold*), followed by the *Qianjin Yi* (*Supplement to Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold*). They believed that without such measures, the world would not be able to utilize their techniques. However, these two individuals merely wandered within the realm of medical arts. Those who transcend and see independently beyond medical arts, looking down upon figures like Qibo to debate with them, can truly be said to know the Dao. I compiled the *Zonglu* to urgently meet worldly needs and save the people from disease; this is merely a means to attain the Dao. Future generations should strive to forget the means and attain self-realization. In the span of looking up and down, mastering the numbers of the Five Elements and operating the transformations of the Six Qi, one assists Heaven and Earth and nurtures all things. To revive the Ying (Nutrient) and Hun (Ethereal) spirits and restore the dying—is this not a significant matter? There will surely be successors to accomplish this.