Library

I have often said that an excellent physician and an excellent chancellor are equal in merit, for ultimately both serve to benefit the people and preserve life. I am a military man; I do not understand statecraft nor medicine. However, seeing the people suffer from illness is as painful to me as if my own relatives were sick. At this time of social upheaval and war, where the populace suffers from fire and sword, if they contract febrile diseases, although I have been appointed to pacify the region, I must regard the people's suffering as my own injury. I harbor deep regret that I cannot provide everyone with cooling and detoxifying prescriptions.

Since entering the Xin'an region, every time I inquire about the hardships of the common people, I see Mr. Cheng Yandao, who practices Confucianism yet is proficient in medicine, having long practiced benevolence by giving freely to relieve the masses. He has re-edited and woodblock-printed the *Waitai Miyao* (Secret Essentials of the Outer Tribunal), forty volumes authored by Wang Changling, a prefect of the Tang Dynasty, with detailed collation. Medicine possessing formulas is like warfare possessing strategies. Some say: merit confined to a corner is small, while merit spanning the four seas is great. Others say: merit lasting only a moment is small, while merit enduring for millennia is great. This is the intent behind Mr. Cheng's dissemination of medical strategies. If so, one might think Mr. Cheng's ambition lies in seeking conspicuous merit, but this is incorrect. Mr. Cheng fears that ordinary men and women will suffer from illness without recourse, and he also fears that excellent physicians and chancellors may not be complete across generations, resulting in an inability to prevent disease before it arises, leaving only treatment after onset. By continuing the printing of the Song Dynasty's *Shengji Zonglu* (General Records of Sacred Relief) to preserve the lives of the people, thereby stabilizing the state, he harbors profound intentions. Just as King Wen of Zhou deduced the hexagrams to make people aware of fortune and misfortune, and Confucius compiled the *Spring and Autumn Annals* to make people aware of ruler-minister righteousness, this is the same principle. Mr. Cheng is a scholar who practices the way of governance through medicine. His intention to pacify the people secretly aligns with mine, and he additionally assumes the role of a general. How can such a person converse with mediocrity? If people in the world and in future ages can expand upon this text, what harm to the people could there possibly be?

Inscribed by Zhang Tianlu, General Commander of the Military District of Hui, Ning, Chi, and Tai, and Joint Director of the Division of Palace Guards, from Yulin.

Worldly affairs have long been ruined by mediocre people, and mediocre physicians are no exception. The so-called "mediocre" are those who are unlearned and skillless. When encountering situations, they initially do not clarify the source of the pathology, nor do they examine the appropriate treatment methods. Instead, they either indulge the condition allowing it to fester or act rashly and experimentally. Ultimately, it is found that the harm caused by rashness accounts for five-tenths, while the harm caused by indulgence accounts for eight-tenths. They then leave this legacy for posterity, saying, "It is best for us to remain inactive." They fail to realize that pathogenic factors deepen daily, vital qi (Zheng Qi) diminishes daily, and life itself follows in decline. The situation where mediocre ministers ruin the state and mediocre physicians harm people is identical in nature and equal in guilt, with the root cause lying in a lack of learning. If they had studied and thoroughly investigated the sources of diseases in ancient and modern times, carefully examined treatment strategies of the past and present, understood whether the disease was at the branch or root, whether the formula required tonification or purgation, whether the disease would transmit or transform, and how to apply formulas without rigid adherence, they would understand that "accumulating mugwort for three years" allows treatment before disease arises, and "one spoonful restoring life" allows treatment after disease has set in. These were the exhausted thoughts of the ancient sages and worthies, and the inherent strategies for governing the state and healing people. Even timid individuals understand reason; why should they not urgently seek to study these matters and treat human life as a game? My friend, Mr. Jingtong, explores the subtleties of life and nature, harboring elegant sorrow. Through his tireless love for learning, he enlightens others with methods of broad benevolence and relief. Having first printed the *Waitai Miyao* and subsequently supplemented the *Shengji Zonglu*, thereby preserving the state and the people, this compilation is now complete. Is not the merit of Master Cheng truly magnificent?

Composed on an auspicious day of the fourth month in the Gengchen year of the Chongzhen reign, by Wu Kongjia, a native of the county, who passed the imperial examination at the highest level (Jinshi), served as Compiler in the Hanlin Academy, and was Lecturer for the National History.