人不学医，则不可救人；医不读《本草》，则不可用药。自神农氏尝药以来，发明《本
草》
者数十家，传疑传信，未克折衷至正，识者忧之，冀得一人出而辨论不可得。吾弟子陈远公
，实有志未逮。丁卯失意，肆志轩岐学，着《内经》未已，着《六气》书。今又取《本草》
着之，何志大而书奇乎。嗟乎！陈子欲着此书者久矣，而陈子未敢命笔也，陈子少好游，遍
历名山大川，五岳四渎，多所瞻眺，颇能抒发胸中之奇，且所如不偶。躬阅于兵戈患难兴亡
荣辱者有几，亲视于得失疾病瘴疫死生者又有几，身究于书史花木禽兽鳞虫者又有几。是陈
子见闻广博而咨询精详，兼之辨难纵横，又足佐其笔阵，宜其书之奇也，而陈子之奇不在此
。陈子晚年逢异人燕市，多获秘传，晨夕研求，几废寝食，竟不知身在客也。嗟乎！真奇
也哉。然而陈子雅不见其奇，遇异人忘其遇，着奇书忘其书，若惟恐人不可救而用药误之也
。汲汲于着书为事，着《内经》、《六气》之书甫竣，复着《本草》。嗟乎，真奇也哉，而
陈子更奇。谓医救一世其功近，医救万世其功远。欲夫用药之人，尽为良医也，则本草之功
用，又乌可不亟为辨论哉。甚矣，陈子之奇也。予评阅而序之首，喜得人仍出吾门而折衷至
正，实可为万世法，是则余之所深幸者乎。
吕道人岩题于大江之南时
康熙己巳灯宵后三日
If a person does not study medicine, they cannot save others; if a physician does not read the *Bencao* (Compendium of Materia Medica), they cannot prescribe medicines. Since Shennong tasted herbs to discover their properties, dozens of authors have elucidated the *Bencao*. Their works contain both transmitted doubts and confirmed facts, failing to reach a balanced and absolutely correct standard. Those with insight worry about this, hoping for someone to emerge and clarify these issues, but such a person could not be found. My disciple, Chen Yuangong, indeed had this ambition but failed to realize it. In the Dingmao year, disappointed by his imperial examinations, he devoted himself to Qihuang studies (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Before finishing his commentary on the *Neijing* (Inner Canon), he wrote a book on the Six Qi (Six Atmospheric Factors). Now, he has taken up the *Bencao* to write another work. How grand is his ambition and how extraordinary is his book! Alas! Chen Zi had long wished to write this book but dared not put pen to paper. In his youth, Chen Zi loved traveling, visiting famous mountains and great rivers, including the Five Great Mountains and Four Great Rivers, where he observed much and was able to express the wonders in his heart. Moreover, he often met with ill fortune. He personally witnessed the rise and fall, glory and disgrace amidst war and disaster countless times; he saw with his own eyes the gains and losses, diseases, plagues, death, and life countless times; he investigated books, history, flowers, trees, birds, beasts, fish, and insects countless times. Thus, Chen Zi's knowledge was broad and his inquiries detailed. Coupled with his vigorous debating skills, which aided his writing, it was fitting that his book was extraordinary. However, Chen Zi's extraordinariness did not lie here. In his later years, Chen Zi met an unusual person in the capital city of Yan (Beijing) and received many secret transmissions. He studied them morning and evening, almost neglecting sleep and food, forgetting that he was a traveler. Alas! Truly extraordinary. Yet, Chen Zi usually did not perceive his own extraordinariness; when meeting the unusual person, he forgot the encounter; when writing the extraordinary book, he forgot the book itself, as if fearing that patients were incurable and that medical errors would occur. He was eager to engage in writing. After just completing the books on the *Neijing* and the Six Qi, he began writing the *Bencao*. Alas, truly extraordinary, and Chen Zi is even more extraordinary. He believed that a doctor who saves people in one generation achieves a proximate merit, while a doctor who saves people for ten thousand generations achieves a distant merit. If those who use medicines could all become good doctors, then the functions of the *Bencao*, why should they not be urgently clarified and discussed? Chen Zi's extraordinariness is indeed profound. I reviewed his work and wrote this preface at the beginning, rejoicing that someone still from my school has achieved a balanced and absolutely correct standard, which can truly serve as a model for ten thousand generations. This is what I deeply rejoice in.
Lu Daoren Yan inscribed south of the Great River.
Three days after the Lantern Festival in the Jisi year of the Kangxi reign.