典藏书目

Ding Guang was an elderly Confucian scholar in Mingqing Li, of the same generation as the author's grandfather. He once served as a Professor in Baozhou. The Prefect (Junzhang) was a military man, while the Vice-Prefect (Tongpan) was a relative of powerful nobles and had many concubines serving him. The Vice-Prefect indulged heavily in wine and women. A Daoist priest happened to pass through the commandery, claiming to be hundreds of years old and capable of refining the "Great Elixir." Taking it could satisfy desires while keeping one healthy, strong, and disease-free, eventually leading to ascension. The Prefect and Vice-Prefect received him with the courtesy due to a "Master" and selected a day to build an alchemical furnace to refine the elixir according to his method. After forty-nine days, the elixir was completed, emitting divine light reaching the sky. They held a grand banquet with music to celebrate, and then allowed the Vice-Prefect to taste it. Upon hearing this, Ding Guang wrote a letter presenting his request for a small amount of powder to nourish his sick body. The Daoist considered his bone structure mediocre and refused to give it. Pitying him, the Prefect and Vice-Prefect pleaded on his behalf, and he obtained only half a pill. Ding Guang happily took it. Within a few days, both the Prefect and Vice-Prefect developed carbuncles on their backs, and the Daoist fled overnight. They died successively. Ding Guang also developed a boil on his waist; terrified, he urgently drank earth slurry to detoxify himself and recovered. The following year, after his term ended and he changed posts to live in his hometown, his illness recurred. Using the previous method again, he slightly improved. However, feeling hot and restless, water entered his wound during bathing, causing him to become unable to rise. The toxicity of mineral-based drugs is indeed so severe. This is recorded here as a warning to the world.

Song Daofang Yishu (courtesy name Yishu) was famous throughout the country for his medical skills, residing in Nanjing, but he refused official appointments. Patients had to support themselves to seek his pulse diagnosis. During the Zhenghe era, Tian Deng served as the Prefect. His mother was critically ill, and when she called for a doctor, Song did not come. Tian Deng became angry, saying, "If my mother dies, I will leave out of grief. Killing this man would only result in reprimand." He then sent men to arrest Song and bring him to the courtyard, ordering soldiers to carry him, stating, "If she does not recover within three days, I will execute you to appease the crowd." Song said, "Allow me to diagnose her." He then said, "She can still be saved," and prescribed a pill preparation. Tian Deng was overjoyed, saying, "Although I humiliated him in anger, how can I not wash away this shame?" He used the Prefect's carriage, accompanied by musicians and entertainers, rewarded him with one thousand strings of cash, and had soldiers carry him ahead, adding colorful decorations, escorting him home. Ten days later, Tian's mother's illness relapsed. When they called for him, his entire family had fled. Tian's mother eventually died. It seems her condition had already reached the vital organs (gaohuang), and Song merely used good medicine to delay her death. (All three stories are from Wang Mingqing's *Yu Hua*).

Sun Zhenren (Sun Simiao) stated: Women's illnesses are ten times harder to treat than men's because their desires are greater than those of husbands, thus making them twice as susceptible to disease. This is due to emotions such as affection, love/hate, jealousy, and sorrow/anger becoming deeply entrenched, where feelings cannot be self-controlled, leading to illness. These are truly not caused by external pathogenic factors or irregularities in diet and daily life. Rather, emotional entanglement internally creates pathology from nothingness. Thus, Buddhism states: Discussing sour plums causes saliva to flow; imagining stepping off a cliff causes acidity in the feet; recalling past figures, whether with pity or resentment, fills the eyes with tears; greed for wealth generates loving saliva, making the whole body lustrous. Generally, these arise from such mental constructs. If one does not relax and soothe the mind and emotions, even taking the Great Golden Elixir cannot cure the disease. The treatment method should involve guiding the patient to use visualization to focus the mind and suppress excessive emotions to nourish the nature. Ge Xiangong said: For all women's diseases, treating the sorrow and anger by helping them broaden their thoughts ensures that no illness remains uncured.