Library

*Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) represents the profound and essential principles of medicine. Various prescriptions constitute merely the superficial applications or foundational traces of medical practice. In recent times, contemporary physicians have successively transmitted prescriptions to one another, yet few seek to explore the classic theories. Abandoning the profound principles to focus on superficial applications, how can one hope for miraculous and excellent medical skills? Nevertheless, how can prescriptions be discarded? Prescriptions are used to establish treatment methods, and treatment methods are employed to adapt to specific conditions. It is like a craftsman: although possessing unique ingenuity, no one can create objects without adhering to compasses and squares (rules and standards). Whether one can achieve divine and enlightened mastery depends entirely on the practitioner themselves. Ancient medical texts were transmitted only to worthy individuals; Bian Que and Cang Gong both referred to their formulas as "forbidden prescriptions," keeping them secret and not imparting them lightly. Therefore, prior to the Han Dynasty, established prescriptions were extremely rare. Zhang Zhongjing is revered as the ancestor of prescription literature. After Zhang Zhongjing, prescription books piled up like beams, yet while those formulating prescriptions increased daily, those annotating them were rarely seen. In the Song Dynasty, Cheng Wuji began to discuss and annotate the 113 prescriptions of Zhang Zhongjing, allowing readers to understand their sequence and gradually grasp their meaning. However, he merely explained the text literally, failing to fully elucidate the excellent methods and subtle meanings of Zhang Zhongjing. It was not until the rise of the Ming Dynasty that Wu Hegao published *Yifang Kao* (Examination of Medical Prescriptions), categorizing prescriptions by disease with clear and concise language, which became widely popular throughout the realm. Yet, its collection was inevitably incomplete. Recently, Wang Ang, imitating the intentions of Cheng and Wu, expanded upon their work, compiling ancient prescriptions titled *Jijie* (Collected Explanations). He first detailed the causes of disease, then explained the rationale behind medication, gathering abundant grand theories and famous quotes. However, it still contained errors inherited from previous works and failed to include newly created prescriptions, thus falling short of being a comprehensive whole. I, Wu Yiluo, disregarding my own ignorance and limitations, took the compilations of Wu and Wang, added to and revised them, obtaining over 1,100 excellent prescriptions from ancient and modern times. I examined their conformity through the meridians and revealed their subtleties through clinical manifestations, compiling them into thirteen volumes. I titled the beginning section "Chengfang Qieyong" (Essential Use of Established Prescriptions). This is because all recorded prescriptions are those pertinent to current clinical use, and more importantly, they address the urgent needs of practitioners in matching prescriptions to patient conditions. Why is this? The prevailing ethos has gradually deteriorated, and human constitutional endowments today are far inferior to those of antiquity; thus, some prescriptions suitable for ancient times may not be suitable for today. If Zhang Zhongjing were alive today, he would undoubtedly constantly examine pathogenesis, observe changes, and adjust treatments accordingly. Would recording prescriptions not need to be pertinent to current usage? Furthermore, diseases have distinctions of root and branch, priority and sequence, while treatments involve considerations of urgency, slackness, directness, and contrariness. Physicians must excel in adaptability, and medicines must be appropriate. If one rigidly adheres to fixed prescriptions to respond to infinite variations of syndromes, one risks exacerbating excess conditions and depleting deficiency conditions, damaging what is insufficient and augmenting what is already excessive, thereby causing more deaths. Is it easy to apply prescriptions appropriately to match the disease? Then, how should one proceed? The answer is: thoroughly study the *Lingshu* (Spiritual Pivot) and *Suwen* (Basic Questions), so that the meanings of the classics will be fully understood; meticulously inquire through inspection, auscultation/olfaction, inquiry, and palpation, so that the causes and syndromes cannot escape detection; deeply comprehend the flavors and yin-yang properties of herbs, so that the subtleties of drug nature will be clearly analyzed. Only then, using treatment methods as the warp and prescriptions as the weft, can one synthesize knowledge, where integration and transformation occur naturally, resolving difficulties effortlessly and hitting the critical points accurately.

Written in the winter month of Xinsi year of the Qianlong reign, at Liji Hall in Xiachuan, Wu Yiluo of Ganshui, following the teachings of Master Cheng.