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There is no medicine without bias, therefore there is no single prescription that can govern all diseases. For instance, medical texts often claim: "This prescription governs the pathogenic factors of abnormal qi in all four seasons," or even that it treats both internal injury and postpartum conditions. These are all untenable arguments. Among the medical books popular in recent times, none surpasses Wang Ang's *Yi Fang Ji Jie* (Collection of Medical Prescriptions). It contains many such statements. Because its literary style is quite fluent, people read it widely without realizing its errors. Is there any single prescription in the world that can govern diseases across all four seasons? What is suitable for spring is not suitable for summer; what is suitable for spring and summer is even less suitable for autumn and winter. Throughout my life, observing the nature of things, I have found only that grain cooked into rice can govern the disease of hunger in all four seasons; I have never heard of anything else doing so. Even within grains, there are biases. The most balanced entity is diet itself, which still distinguishes between drinking hot soup in winter and cold water in summer. How much more so with medicines! Among all things, humans possess the complete influence of the Five Movements and Six Qi (Wuyun Liuqi) from Heaven and Earth. Although human origin is one, human temperament and constitution vary greatly in their biases. Among humans, the sages are the most balanced, yet even among sages, there are differences: some lean towards bearing responsibility (Ren), some towards clarity/purity (Qing), and some towards harmony (He). Since ancient times, those without bias have been few and far between. Ordinary people each have their own biases, as indicated by the classification of Yin and Yang into five grades recorded in the *Ling Shu* (Spiritual Pivot). Descending one level, we have birds and beasts; descending one level from birds and beasts, we have trees; descending one level from trees, we have herbs/grasses; descending one level from herbs, we have metals and stones. In treating diseases with medicine, one uses the bias of the medicine to correct the bias of the body. Because the bias of medicines is excessive, some are suitable for use while others should be avoided. One uses what matches the condition and avoids what does not. There should be no personal preference or fear/taboo; one follows only the disease. A physician must have a balanced and peaceful temperament before using medicine. Only then can one avoid the rigidity of sticking exclusively to cold, heat, warm, or cool therapies, and also avoid the drawback of treating diseases in a generalized manner.

Throughout history, authors of Materia Medica have discussed the flavor, nature, and temperament of substances individually, but have rarely summarized the general outline of their physical forms or the dynamics of growth, transformation, accumulation, and storage. Here, I specifically supplement this. Generally, the rhizome stem (Lu) governs birth/growth, the trunk and branches/leaves govern elongation/growth, flowers govern transformation/maturation, seeds/fruits govern gathering/storage, and roots govern hiding/storage; this applies to trees. For herbs, gathering and storage are contained within the seed. Generally, trunks ascend; the rhizome stem ascends more than the trunk. Generally, leaves disperse; flowers disperse more than leaves. Generally, branches move through collaterals; root hairs move more than branches. Generally, roots descend; seeds descend more than roots. From the ascending of the rhizome stem to growth, transformation, and gathering, the seed then again descends, ascends, transforms, and gathers. This is the principle that each plant and herb possesses its own Taiji (Supreme Ultimate).

My learning is truly insufficient for writing books. The purpose of this compilation is merely to patch up omissions and gaps. At the end, I append two volumes explaining difficulties in pediatrics and obstetrics. They are simplified to the utmost, extracting only the most critical major points and briefly discussing contemporary malpractices. I ask readers to understand this.