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The profession of a physician is an endeavor to save lives, yet it can also be the mechanism for causing death. Today, medical books in the world are numerous, but few exhaust the variations of diseases; they are merely stale remarks on paper, of what use are they? Suppose a critical patient lies before you, and physicians gaze around: will he live or die? The answer is that he will die. How do we know this? Because adhering rigidly to ancient prescriptions to treat contemporary ailments—such practitioners are the ones who kill their patients. This applies to men as well. However, women's emotions are hidden and subtle, difficult to perceive; patients themselves may not know the cause of their illness and entrust everything to the doctor. If the doctor cannot discern these subtleties, and relies solely on pulse diagnosis without employing observation (Wang), listening/smelling (Wen), and inquiry (Wen), how can pulse diagnosis alone be fully trusted? It becomes mere speculation, a superficial engagement with treatment. Alas! How serious a matter is this, to be handled by mere conjecture and assumption? Yet, the subtle is hard to articulate. If one follows the subtle to interpret the subtle, everything appears obscure. For instance, when Cang Gong diagnosed a woman, he deduced her unfulfilled desires from the pulse appearing one cun above the Yuji point (LU10). Conversely, if one follows the manifest to interpret the manifest, everything becomes clear. For example, a woman went mad because her husband did not return, crying incessantly and cursing without limit. The physician intercepted her, snatched her sword, and feigned striking her; she crawled on the ground, daring not to look up, and after a long time, she recovered. As Yue Fei said, "The subtlety of application resides in the mind." This is both military strategy and medical art. From this, I further understand the principle of "Heaven generates One, Water" (Tian Yi Sheng Shui). Water can nurture life, but it can also drown and kill. Therefore, when Yu the Great controlled the floods, he traced the source and dredged it, guided it according to its natural tendency, thus avoiding disasters of overflow. Yu did not control water by force, but by following the nature of water. If people can understand Yu's method of controlling water, they will understand how to treat gynecological diseases. Thus, the book *Jiyin Gangmu* begins its theoretical framework with regulating menstruation; it has guidelines, origins and consequences, coherence, and distinctions. For each disease, careful consideration is given three times; for each prescription, detailed explanations are provided. By grasping the subtle and exhausting the variations, readers will feel a vibrant energy floating on the pages. Is this not a book that saves lives? Although it is said to aid women, it essentially supports Yang. Without Yang, Yin cannot generate; without Yin, Yang cannot transform. When Yang acts and Yin transforms, the capabilities of medicine are complete. I am not truly knowledgeable in medicine, but through medicine, I come to understand medicine. Therefore, I have revised it again to promote the heart of benevolence. Nevertheless, pointing at the moon is not the moon itself; readers should use the finger to recognize the moon.
Inscribed by Wang Qi, courtesy name Youzifu, styled Yizi of Xiling, at the Bieye of Xiaoyou Hall, in the first month of winter during the Yisi year of the Kangxi reign.