Library

The *Huangdi Suwen* (Yellow Emperor's Plain Questions) consists of nine volumes, and the *Ling Shu* (Spiritual Pivot) also consists of nine volumes; collectively they are named the *Neijing* (Inner Canon), serving as the ladder for medicine and the leader among medical texts. After the Han dynasty, commentators were numerous, yet none provided an adequate interpretation. Li Shicai extensively criticized its errors, and Wang Fu followed suit with his own mistakes, causing this classic to become even more obscure in the world. Chen Xiuyuan of Changle sought to guide those lost in confusion and specifically opened a path to enlightenment. Thus, in his *San Zi Jing* (Three Character Classic), he narrated the origins and development of medicine to instruct others, stating: Great works are attributed to Zhang Yinan and Gao Shizong of Qiantang. During the Kangxi reign, Zhang Yinan lectured on medical classics at the Lushan Hall together with his disciples, and Gao Shizong succeeded him. Consequently, the Lushan Hall produced works such as *Sulou Jizhu Zhijie* (Collected Annotations and Direct Explanation of the Suwen and Ling Shu), *Shanghan Yinzong* (Seal of Origin for Cold Damage Treatise), *Shanghan Jin Gui Jizhu Zhijie* (Collected Annotations and Direct Explanation of the Shanghan Lun and Jingui Yaolue), *Lushan Tang Leibian* (Classified Debates of Lushan Hall), *Zhenjiu Michuan* (Secret Transmission of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), *Yixue Zhenchuan* (True Transmission of Medicine), and *Bencao Chongyuan* (Original Source of Materia Medica). The *Suwen* and *Ling Shu* elucidate the substance and apply it practically; the *Shanghan Lun* and *Jingui Yaolue* take the classics as their substance and formulas as their application. Zhang Yinan composed the *Jizhu* (Collected Annotations) because the meanings of the classics and formulas were profound and difficult; Gao Shizong composed the *Zhijie* (Direct Explanation) because the meanings of the *Jizhu* were profound and difficult. The other books are like the eleven pitch pipes following the Huangzhong (Yellow Bell), merely used to express the hidden principles of the Huangzhong. When transmitted to Chen Xiuyuan, there was additionally the *Sulou Jizhu Jiyao* (Essentials of Collected Annotations of the Suwen and Ling Shu), accompanied by over ten other works. The language does not skip levels, allowing readers to gradually enter a better state, much like eating sugarcane, while the main purport remains rooted in the Lushan Hall. It is clearly understood that without this approach, one cannot inherit the past and open up the future, nor discard superficiality and advocate practicality. However, the lecture hall had just suffered from calamities, and surviving manuscripts were destroyed by war fires. In other provinces, apart from Zuo Junong re-editing the *Shanghan Jizhu*, the *Sulou* circulated in commercial editions contained significant errors. Later, I only managed to see the original blocks of *Sulou Jizhu* and *Suwen Zhijie* at the places of Ding Songsheng and Wang Gengmei. Subsequently, Yao Shouzhi and Chu Dunbo also showed me their family-collected annotations. These four gentlemen, whom I had sought for years, initially provided old materials. If students of medicine know that the brief outlines of Changsha (referring to Zhang Zhongjing) all originate from the *Neijing*, they will strive to advance upstream; without the *Jizhu*, where would they begin? Currently, two volumes of the *Jizhu* covering the *Suwen* and *Ling Shu* remain. Song Guancha, the director of the publishing bureau, entrusted Zhang Chunbo to collect and collate them, requesting Governor Wei Dazhongcheng to approve their publication by the bureau. Thereafter, the *Suwen* and *Ling Shu* will complement each other perfectly. All aspects regarding the origin, emergence, entry, and exit of Yin-Yang, Qi, and Blood, as well as the intersection and connection of Zang-Fu organs and meridians, will be clearly understood. Is Zhang Yinan’s merit inferior to that of Zhang Zhongjing? According to records, by the Qianlong era, the Lushan Hall collection lacked only the *Zhenjiu Michuan*. In just over a hundred years since then, more than half of the books have been lost. If Heaven intends to greatly prosper this Way, enabling us to search for, collate, and publish these works one by one to widely disseminate them, it would be a blessing for the medical profession and indeed for all living beings under heaven. Recorded respectfully by Zhong Xuelu, Instructor of Chun'an Prefecture, from Qiantang, in the seventh month of the 13th year of Guangxu.