Library

When my hair first began to turn white, I heard elders recount how Fan Zhongyan (Fan Wenzheng), before achieving success, prayed to the gods: if he could not become a good chancellor, he wished to be a good physician.
Thus, I sighed at how urgent and profound the benevolent intention of ancient gentlemen was in saving people and benefiting all things. At that time, being ignorant and unenlightened, whenever I read the medical writings of Qi Bo and Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor), my mind would suddenly open and my understanding would clarify, as if there were a predestined connection. In the Bingyin year of the Jiajing reign, my mother fell critically ill. Famous physicians from Changzhou and Runzhou were almost all summoned, yet their opinions varied greatly, rarely grasping the essential principles. I felt disdain for such superficiality and thus resolved to study medicine. Soon after, I saved my dying sister from the brink of death, and gradually became known. Patients seeking diagnosis and prescriptions filled my doorstep with worn-out shoes. My father believed this interfered with my preparation for the imperial examinations and often warned me strictly, so I ceased further deep inquiry. Not long after, I passed the provincial examination, and ten years later, I became a Jinshi (degree holder). I was selected to read manuscripts in the Secret Library and served nominally in the History Bureau for four years. After requesting leave to return home, I was soon subjected to slander and gossip, and my official career never recovered. Reflecting privately, I received the profound grace of the Holy Sovereign’s nurturing and was regarded as potential talent for the chancellorship. Although I dared not hope to equal Fan Wenzheng, I dared not fail to establish my aspiration nor neglect to cultivate my abilities, hoping to live up to the teachings of my father and teachers. However, it is now too late. During the spare time available after paying morning and evening respects to my parents, I resumed my efforts on the medical texts of Qi and Huang. My parents were advanced in age and prone to illness; even if medicine were not my lifelong pursuit, I would still have had to learn it, let alone having already mastered the basics. Consequently, my knowledge and experience broadened daily, and my skills became increasingly refined. When villagers suffered from chronic illnesses where other doctors’ skills had failed, they would knock on my door seeking prescriptions, and I never failed to respond immediately. I never harbored any resentment, and the number of lives I preserved and revived gradually increased. Yet, I pondered that the scope of my aid was limited to one locality; why not compile a book to transmit these methods to the world for all generations? Gao, a scholar from Jiashan, happened to study under me. Thus, I collected ancient and modern formulas and theories, incorporated my own insights, and instructed Gao to transcribe them in order. This resulted in the completion of *Treatise on Miscellaneous Diseases* and *Formulas*, each in eight large volumes. Gao asked for a title, and I named it *Zhengzhi Zhunsheng* (Standard Weights for Diagnosis and Treatment). Gao asked, “What does this mean?” I replied, “Medicine is divided into five categories and seven aspects: Pulse, Etiology, Disease, Syndrome, and Treatment constitute the five categories. Etiology is further subdivided into three: Internal, External, and Both Internal and External. Together with the other four categories, these form seven aspects. For example, a pulse that is both Yin-Yang tight and floating indicates the etiology of Cold Damage (Shanghan); Taiyang Disease (Taiyang syndrome) is the disease name; headache, fever, body pain, aversion to cold, and absence of sweating are the syndrome manifestations; and Mahuang Tang (Ephedra Decoction) is the treatment method. The classification is precise and distinct, allowing no ambiguity. Yet, contemporary physicians often miss these distinctions, and patients survive only by luck. Chen Wuzhe was the first to elucidate this theory, but his work *Sanjiu Ji Yi Bing Zheng Fang Lun* (Precise One Formula Book for Three Causes of All Diseases) lacks detail. Li Zhongnan’s *Yonglei Qianfang* (Permanent Type Precious Formulas) analyzes branches and categories in detail, but its theoretical depth is insufficient, and its analogies are inaccurate. This is why this book was written.” Gao asked, “Since all five categories are included, why is it named specifically ‘Diagnosis and Treatment’?” I answered, “Because the sections on Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment are particularly detailed. With this book published, those who do not understand medicine or cannot take pulses can consult the book based on symptoms to find treatment methods.” Nevertheless, the standard used by a master craftsman is the plumb line and straightedge. But the ability to use these standards depends on clear vision and sharp judgment. If one rigidly adheres to fixed rules while trying to treat living patients, treating the standard itself as the eye and mind, then the publication of this book will mislead the world for generations, and my guilt would be immense. Due to poverty, I borrowed money to fund the printing, but funds were insufficient to complete half. Fortunately, Censor Zhou Heyang, inspecting salt administration in Jintan, heard of this and provided financial support, allowing the book to be published.
Recorded by Nianxi Jushi (Lay Buddhist Nianxi), Wang Kentang, courtesy name Yu Tai, on the first day of the fifth month of the summer of Renyin, the 30th year of the Wanli reign.