张君兆嘉着本草便读共两卷。既自序其书。邑侯安仁吴公。同邑恽竹坡大令。皆邃于医
者。
亦序之。而从子宇怀。又为张君问序于余。夫干莫之宝。非张华不能审其气。篪钟之操。非
钟期不能识其曲。余不知医。余乌乎序其书。虽然。固有不能已于言者。余自束发受读。壮
岁挟策都下。历官皖鄂浙三省。晚憩吴门。尝见通人学士。著作如林。往往裒古今兴衰治乱
是非得失之要。与夫律历方舆行陈战守之略。中国四裔强弱向背之几。纬以诸子。旁及稗野
。汇为一编。系之论说。见者欢为经世才。一旦受事丛脞。立见贻笑后世。其于医也亦然。
盖医之为道。橐龠于农轩。发挥于岐跗。自是厥后。代有其贤。书亦大备。然而学人怵然于
堂奥之深。津涯之广。则相与掇拾糟粕以欺世。不复寻途索径。由易入难。以几于神化。是
犹经济家之矜奇好古而不适于用。良可慨也。余夙耳张君名。今岁之初。宇怀年七十。得痛
痹疾甚剧。乃延张君治之。两月而复。余方以为神。及读是书。而知张君之为医。固循循然
示人以易者。于 。其易也。其神也。庖丁一日解十二牛不顿芒刃。若张君者。微特善医。
亦可谓善着书矣。若夫是书之用。则前序已言之。余又奚言。
光绪二十有一年。岁次乙未季春之月。武进盛康拜撰。时年八十有二。
张兆嘉先生撰写了《本草便读》，共两卷。他先为自己的书写了自序。本县县令安仁人吴公，以及同乡的恽竹坡大令，都是精通医学的人，也分别为这本书作了序。而张先生的侄子宇怀，又替张先生向我求写序言。
宝剑干将、莫邪的珍贵，不是张华就不能辨识其气韵；琴曲《篪钟》的高妙，不是钟子期就不能识别其旋律。我不懂医学，怎么能给这本书作序呢？虽然如此，但我还是有不能沉默的话要说。
我从少年时开始读书，壮年时在京城带着书籍游学，历任安徽、湖北、浙江三省的官职，晚年居住在苏州（吴门）。曾见过许多博学通达的学者，著作像树林一样多，他们往往汇集古今兴衰治乱的是非得失要点，以及律历、地理、行军布阵、攻守策略的精要，再加上中国边疆与四夷强弱向背的变化趋势，用诸子百家的学说加以贯穿，旁及野史笔记，汇集成一部书，并附上论说。读者都称赞他们是经世致用的才俊，但一旦接手繁杂的事务，立刻就会遭到后世的嘲笑。对于医学来说，也是同样的情况。
医学这门道术，起源于神农、轩辕，在岐伯、跗（指古代名医）那里得到发挥。从此以后，代代都有贤能之人，医书也非常完备。然而，求学的人被其中深奥的门径和广阔的边界所震慑，于是互相拾取糟粕来欺骗世人，不再寻找途径和路径，由浅入深，从而接近神妙的境界。这就像那些崇尚奇特、喜好古旧却不切实际的经世之才一样，实在令人感慨。
我早就听闻张先生的名声。今年年初，侄子宇怀七十岁，得了非常严重的痛痹疾。于是延请张先生治疗，两个月后就痊愈了。我正认为他医术神奇，等到读了这本书，才知道张先生行医，确实是循序渐进地展示给人容易掌握的方法。那看似容易的地方，正是神妙的所在。庖丁一天解剖十二头牛，刀刃却不会钝损，像张先生这样的人，不仅善于行医，也可以说是善于著书了。至于这本书的用途，前面的序言已经说过了，我又何必多言呢？
光绪二十一年，岁次乙未季春之月。武进盛康拜撰。当时年龄八十二岁。
Mr. Zhang Zhaojia authored *Bencao Bian Du* (Convenient Reading of Materia Medica), consisting of two volumes. He first wrote a preface for his own book. Mr. Wu, the magistrate of Anren County, and Mr. Yun Zhupo, a county magistrate from the same locality, both being profound in medicine, also wrote prefaces for it. Furthermore, Mr. Zhang's nephew, Yu Huai, requested me to write a preface on behalf of Mr. Zhang.
The preciousness of the swords Gan Jiang and Mo Ye cannot be discerned by anyone other than Zhang Hua; the melody of the tune *Chizhong* cannot be recognized by anyone other than Zhong Ziqi. I do not understand medicine, how could I write a preface for this book? Nevertheless, there are words I cannot refrain from saying. Since my youth, when I began my studies, through my prime years when I carried books in the capital, serving as an official in the provinces of Anhui, Hubei, and Zhejiang, and resting in my late years in Wumen (Suzhou), I have seen scholars and men of learning whose works were numerous as trees. They often compiled the essentials of rise and fall, governance and chaos, right and wrong, gain and loss from ancient and modern times, along with strategies regarding calendar calculations, geography, military formations, and defense and attack. They incorporated the trends of strength and allegiance among the central regions and the four frontiers, woven with the teachings of the Hundred Schools of Thought and extending to unofficial histories, compiling them into a single volume accompanied by essays. Readers rejoiced in seeing them as talents capable of governing the world. Yet, once they took on complex administrative duties, they immediately exposed themselves to ridicule by later generations. The same applies to medicine.
Medicine, as a Dao (Way/Path), originated with Nongxuan (Shennong and the Yellow Emperor) and was elaborated upon by Qifu (Qibo and Fu). Since then, virtuous individuals have appeared in every generation, and medical texts have become abundant. However, students are daunted by the depth of its inner chambers and the breadth of its boundaries. Consequently, they pick up dregs to deceive the world, no longer seeking the proper paths and methods, entering from the easy to the difficult, thereby approaching divine transformation. This is akin to those who govern the world boasting of novelty and antiquity without practical utility, which is truly lamentable.
I had long heard of Mr. Zhang's reputation. At the beginning of this year, my nephew Yu Huai, aged seventy, suffered from severe Tongbi (Painful Bi Syndrome). He invited Mr. Zhang to treat him, and after two months, he recovered. I initially considered his skills miraculous. Upon reading this book, I realized that Mr. Zhang’s practice of medicine indeed proceeds step-by-step, showing people the accessible aspects. In what appears easy lies the miraculous. Just as Cook Ding could dissect twelve oxen a day without dulling his blade, Mr. Zhang can be said not only to be skilled in medicine but also in writing. As for the utility of this book, it has already been stated in the previous prefaces; what more need I say?
In the twenty-first year of Guangxu, during the third month of Yiwei year. Bowing to compose, Sheng Kang of Wujin. At the age of eighty-two.