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Su Dongpo once said: "Although medicines are administered by the hands of physicians, prescriptions are mostly inherited from ancient masters." These words are truly profound. How can those who discuss the arts of Qi Bo and Huang Di (the legendary founders of Traditional Chinese Medicine) ignore their origins?

The field of obstetrics and gynecology is renowned throughout the world. It is heard that there exists a volume of secret prescriptions, passed down through generations of mentorship without interruption for a long time. Alas, it is regrettable that no one in the world has been able to see it.

My friend, Mr. Chen Bingyuan, claimed that his ancestor, while residing at Zhulin Temple in the past, had a very close relationship with the temple monks. Taking advantage of leisure time, he secretly took several volumes of these secret texts home. I once requested permission from Mr. Chen to borrow and copy them, but he did not agree.

This spring, Mr. Chen was staying near Qingdao Bridge in the county town. I went to visit him, but he happened to be out. I opened his chest and found the aforementioned secret text on obstetrics and gynecology inside. I hurriedly took it back and copied it for several days, then returned the original manuscript. Mr. Chen remained unaware of this.

Alas! What Zhulin Temple refused to pass on to others was obtained by Mr. Chen's ancestor through calculation; what Mr. Chen did not wish to show his good friends, which was kept by his ancestor, I nevertheless copied and brought home. From this, we can see that if an object benefits humanity, it cannot remain secret forever; generally speaking, this is how things work. However, I do not understand medicine. Moreover, since what I copied belongs to the private collection of the Chen family, its authenticity remains uncertain. Furthermore, the prescriptions and symptoms recorded therein may still be incomplete. I intend to visit experts proficient in *fuke* (gynecology) to distinguish truth from falsehood and correct errors. If they prove to be effective prescriptions, I will endeavor to disseminate them, expressing my humble intention to save the world. Thus, I record their origin here.

When I was a child, I heard that my sister-in-law suffered multiple miscarriages and could not conceive. Various medicines proved ineffective. My eldest brother went to Zhulin Temple to obtain some medicine. After taking a few doses, she eventually conceived. At that time, I became aware of the reputation of the gynecology department at Zhulin Temple. Later, I also heard that women surnamed Zhang and Dai, suffering from strange diseases, all sought treatment at Zhulin Temple. The secret prescriptions were not transmitted to the public. When treating patients, they might explain the cause of the disease but would not write out prescriptions; instead, they simply packaged herbs for the patients. Therefore, people did not know the specific formulas used.

In late autumn this year, I accidentally visited the home of my wife's elder brother, Fan Yuanpu. Knowing that I could read medical books, he said to me, "Brother, do you also know about the gynecology of Zhulin Temple? I have a copied version of the secret text. Why don't you help me collate it?" Hearing this, I was overjoyed. I immediately reviewed the book and found that the content was clearly organized, with case records and prescriptions differing from common practices. Although the use of herbs might sometimes be excessive or insufficient, reading it made everything clear at a glance. It was indeed a secret key to gynecology. I therefore hid it in my sleeve, took it home, and copied it. Upon finishing the copying, I recorded my feelings of joy and relief.

On the second day after the full moon in the first month of winter (October), in the Gui Chou year of the Qianlong reign, Cha Shan Wu Yu, wrote at Qinghui Study Room.