Library

I have wandered the world for thirty years, relying on medical skills (Daoist alchemy/medicine) to make a living, yet I feel unworthy to face those who carry book boxes in pursuit of learning; how much more so can I not feel ashamed within myself. It is lamentable that世俗 doctors (vulgar physicians), claiming to be "ferries" (metaphor for guides leading others across difficulties), first promote the *Nanjing* (Classic of Difficult Issues) and the *Mai Jue* (Pulse Rhymes). The *Nanjing* originated from Qin Yue-ren (Bian Que); its purity and impurity are indeed difficult to judge. What is even more strange is that pulse diagnosis is meant to determine auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, and decide life and death, reaching profound subtlety. If the basic paths do not exist, how can there be sources and branches? Gao Yang-sheng of the Song Dynasty was merely a presumptuous and mediocre person who falsely assumed the name of Wang Shu-he, Imperial Physician during the Jin Dynasty, to compose the *Mai Jue*. Its vulgarity and errors are laughable, yet it secretly wielded weapons against one's own house (undermining orthodox medicine). Thus, the intent of the ancient sages became obscured overnight. Those in the world who blindly transmit their profession inherit errors and distortions without any standard for selection. It is like a thirsty person drinking from the muddy stream of the Jing River. They clamor to the crowd saying, "The taste of all water in the world is here," but is this really true?

Though I am unwise, I thought to save this situation. Therefore, I compiled the discussions on pulse diagnosis by several figures from ancient and modern times, incorporating my family's scholarly tradition. Any fragment or word that aligned with the ancient sages' intent and silenced the tongues of the presumptuous and mediocre was recorded on paper. Ten years passed, accumulating into a manuscript an inch thick. My disciples requested that I refine and organize it into a book. Thus, it was divided into ten volumes, named *Mai Jue Hui Bian* (Comprehensive Analysis of Pulse Rhymes), and I intended to store it in a worn-out basket. A guest said: "You are indeed too stubborn. Whenever a book is produced, it is either hidden in famous mountains or transmitted through major cities, aiming to save the world and instruct future generations. Your compilation, why not support the classics and spread throughout the seas, yet merely pass down the mantle to your immediate disciples? It seems you are reluctant to let it see the light of day. Why?"

I rose and apologized, saying: "Your attachment to me is unexpected; I did not anticipate people would criticize! I once took refuge under an ancient master and privately heard his teaching: 'If one makes a wrong turn in speech, one falls into the body of a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes.' If what I compiled were truly the essence (like butter oil), why did I not previously seek someone like Xuan-yan (Huangfu Mi) to hang it at the city gate? Who would say it was inappropriate? Perhaps it is still insufficient. The erudite will mock my gathering of scraps, the insightful will mock my fragmentation, and those clinging to outdated views will mock my pedantry and irrelevance. One will see that those who study Gao Yang-sheng's words need not raise banners; they are already encroaching. Even if I seal myself with a pellet of mud, what can I do to them? Nevertheless, I respectfully accept your advice. For now, I will entrust it to the printers to seek correction from elders, and wait patiently for the summons from great powers, hoping to help clear away false doctrines, and wish to use this volume as a vanguard."