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The *Treatise on Cold Damage* (Shanghan Lun) is believed to expound and inherit the intent of the Great Sages. No other medical works can compare with it. Therefore, Huangfu Mi of the Jin Dynasty wrote in the preface to the *Jia Yi Zhen Jing* (Classical Classic of Acupuncture): "Yi Yin, endowed with the talent of a primordial sage, utilized the *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica) to create decoctions. Zhang Zhongjing of the Han Dynasty discussed and expanded upon these decoctions into several volumes; their clinical application has proven highly effective. Wang Shuhe, the Imperial Medical Director of recent times, meticulously compiled Zhang Zhongjing's remaining treatises with great precision, making them applicable for use. Thus, Zhang Zhongjing followed the methods of Yi Yin, and Yi Yin followed the classics of Shennong. Is this not an inheritance of the Great Sages' intent?"

Zhang Zhongjing has no biography in the *Book of Han*, but appears in the *Record of Famous Physicians*. He was from Nanyang, his given name was Ji, and his courtesy name was Zhongjing. He was recommended as a Filial and Incorrupt Candidate (Xiaolian) and rose to the office of Prefect of Changsha. Initially, he studied medicine under Zhang Bozu of the same commandery. People of the time remarked that his diagnostic acumen and therapeutic application surpassed that of his master. His written treatises are characterized by profound and subtle language, and concise yet detailed methods, which are beyond the reach of those with shallow knowledge. Since Zhang Zhongjing's era, eight hundred years have passed, and only Wang Shuhe has been able to study his work. Figures such as Ge Hong, Tao Hongjing, Hu Qian, Xu Zhicai, and Sun Simiao were not lacking in talent; however, they each established their own schools of thought and failed to properly cultivate and clarify this specific discipline. During the Kaibao era, Gao Jichong, the Military Governor, had previously compiled and submitted a version, but its textual coherence was flawed and it had never been critically corrected. Although kept in imperial libraries through successive dynasties, it lacked rigorous collation. Consequently, few practitioners of medicine knew of it. The state issued an edict for Confucian scholars to collate medical texts, and I, Chen Qi, was subsequently selected. I believe that among all diseases, none is more urgent than cold damage. We now present the collated ten volumes of Zhang Zhongjing's *Treatise on Cold Damage*, comprising twenty-two chapters, covering three hundred and ninety-seven syndromes/methods, and excluding duplicates to establish one hundred and twelve formulas. We respectfully request its promulgation.

Submitted respectfully by Gao Baoheng, Right Praise and Goodness Official of the Crown Prince; Sun Qi, Assistant Director of the Department of State Affairs; and Lin Yi, Secretary of the Bureau of Enfeoffment and Collator of the Secret Pavilion.

Zhang Ji, courtesy name Zhongjing, was from Nanyang. He studied under Zhang Bozu of the same commandery. He was skilled in treatment, particularly excelling in classical prescriptions (Jingfang). Recommended as a Filial and Incorrupt Candidate, he served as Prefect of Changsha. Later, he became a renowned physician in the capital, ranking among the best of his time. Observing that out of over two hundred members of his clan, more than two-thirds had died within ten years since the beginning of the Jian'an era, with seven-tenths of these deaths attributed to cold damage, he composed his treatise. It consists of twenty-two chapters on syndromes, encompassing three hundred and ninety-seven methods and one hundred and twelve formulas. The prose is concise, ancient, profound, and elegant. No practitioner of cold damage, past or present, has transcended its scope. This book serves as the ancestor of all prescriptions. Contemporaries believed that even Bian Que and Cang Gong could not surpass it. Hence, later generations have honored him as the "Medical Sage" (Yi Sheng).