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Yang Shitai, courtesy name Muru. He was a Juren (provincial graduate) in the Ji-Mao year of the Jiaqing reign and was proficient in medical practice. Since the Ming Dynasty, physicians in the Jiangnan region generally revered Zhou Shenzhai (Zhou Zhigan). Shenzhai was skilled in applying the theories of the mutual restriction and transformation of the Five Elements (Wuxing) and the ascending and descending of Yin and Yang to deduce the state of visceral Qi, using it as a standard for dosage. After the Yongzheng reign, the trend shifted towards revering Zhang Luyu (Zhang Lu), who advocated formulating prescriptions flexibly according to the disease, trying various formulas upon encountering illnesses. However, after exhausting these trials, one would often be at a loss. Yang Shitai deeply grasped the essence of Shenzhai’s teachings in medicine, particularly excelling in inferring the cold, heat, deficiency, and excess conditions of the Zang-Fu organs by analyzing concurrent and changing pulse manifestations. His medication strictly followed the principles of Liu Ruojin, fully mastering the subtle logic of tonification, purgation, opening, and closing among the Four Masters of the Jin and Yuan dynasties. Whenever facing complex and obscure diseases, he would often combine a few herbs into a prescription, akin to dispelling confusion to reveal the truth. People widely admired and trusted his medical skills. In the Bing-Xu year of the Daoguang reign, he passed the "Da Tiao" examination with first-class honors and served as the acting Magistrate of Shen County, Shandong, where he died. He authored *Bencao Shu Gouyuan* (Essentials Extracted from Bencao Shu), which is an abridged version of Liu Ruojin's *Bencao Shu*, removing its redundancies.

In the Bing-Xu year (1826) of the Daoguang reign, I was in the capital, residing in the residence of Vice Minister Chengguo Ting. Qu Lijiang, a Bubu (Ministry official), presented me with an unedited manuscript of this book. After reading it several times, I cherished it so much that I bound it myself. During my leisure, I edited and summarized the theoretical discussions within. This process spanned the Ding-Hai and Wu-Zi years. Later, I compiled and arranged the citations from the beginning and end. The work was not yet finished when I returned south from the capital and took up residence in the Yuncheng (Salt Transport Commissioner) office of Kang Er'ru in Taizhou. Er'ru enjoyed discussing medicine, and his official duties were minimal. Thus, I devoted myself entirely to collecting and editing this manuscript. That winter, I began hand-copying the latter half of the volumes. Over the course of three years (Geng-Xin-Ren), the work was completed, though I still regretted that the final volumes lacked uniformity.
Recorded by Yang Shitai on the Winter Solstice, November 12th, Gui-Si year of the Daoguang reign.

The Dao (Way/Principle) resides in things, yet things cannot encompass the entirety of the Dao; principles are expressed through words, yet words cannot exhaust the principles. This is why those engaged in medicine may become stuck in verbal descriptions, inevitably harming their understanding of the underlying principles. The world often claims that a certain substance can treat a specific disease. When treated according to this method, only one out of ten cases is effective, while nine are not. Therefore, one must deeply distinguish the necessity ("so what") and investigate the rationale ("why"). Ancient texts are concise because of this; modern texts are verbose. Conciseness makes understanding difficult; verbosity leads to errors. To achieve a proper balance between conciseness and detail, one must clarify the ultimate direction of the Dao without ambiguity and make decisive judgments on the most appropriate principles. This is why Master Yang Muru wrote *Bencao Shu Gouyuan*. *Bencao* materials are profound and ancient, indeed transmitted orally from master to disciple since the Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou). Since the Han Dynasties, Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Tuo promoted them; Tao Hongjing (Zhenbai) streamlined the flow; Zhen Quan and Ri Hua assisted the waves; Chen Zangqi (Shenwei) clarified the destination. They all pointed out the necessary correspondences between the nature and function of substances. The Four Masters of the Jin and Yuan dynasties attempted to explain the rationale but failed to carefully examine whether the nature and function of drugs closely matched the pathogenesis and clinical presentation. Instead, they fabricated connections such as "belonging to Metal," "belonging to Wood," "entering the Lung," or "entering the Liver," claiming subtle synergies in classification and combination. This likely misled later generations who became stuck in verbal dogma. Mr. Liu Ruojin of Qianjiang wrote *Bencao Shu*. His aim was to deduce the Five Qi, Five Flavors, and Five Colors based on the time of drug generation to illuminate the ascending and descending of Yin and Yang, intending to integrate the teachings of the Four Masters into a single thread. Unfortunately, the text was verbose, leaving readers unsure of its ultimate goal. Master Yang, a learned Confucian scholar proficient in administrative principles, removed the redundancy and sought simplicity, eliminating forty percent of the superfluous content and clarifying sixty percent of the underlying logic, making the main themes even more distinct. The selection was refined, the language detailed, and the meaning clear as day. Later, serving as an official in Shanlu (Shandong), he achieved outstanding merit, acting as both a capable administrator and a benevolent physician, saving countless lives. Alas, exhausted by bureaucratic labor, he died before he could have his works printed, leaving manuscripts at home for decades. Upon the return of his disciple Wu Zhongchang to his hometown for mourning, fearing the book would be lost, Wu exerted great effort to arrange for its publication. Delighted that the book has come to fruition, I take up my pen to write this preface.
Respectfully prefaced by Zou Shu of Piling on the Mid-Autumn Festival, August, Ren-Yin year of the Daoguang reign.