先生余之姻娅也。少好读书。及长得足疾。渡江求诸名医治疗。不得瘳。而家道中落。
因锐
志学医。早夕研究。自以己疾不治。欲思操技以治天下之疾。先生之心亦良苦矣。同治甲子
。家君宦闽乞归。家君亦素邃于医。日与先生相过从。寻绎经论参酌古今。往往心为之折。
岁戊子。余以薄宦从事郑州工次。暑雨祈寒。晨昏无间。几成怯证。爰请假归就先生治之。
竟愈。先生出手钞本草便读两册示余。嘱为订误。余辗转奉读。见其每味编作长短偶言。将
所属之性味。所入之脏腑。前后互辞。发明精当。考本草一书。向无善本可读。即明季李士
材着本草征要一卷。习医者皆奉为圭臬。然其间性味脏腑亦列之于前。且语句多不纯。主治
或不切。学人憾之。斯编简而要。详而明。不特便学人之读。且足补医林之缺。窃欲授梓以
公同好。因匆促北上。即当领凭赴滇。事遂不果。然未尝一日忘也。丁酉冬。余奉讳里居。
知此书已为同里盛君我彭刊行鄂渚。足见有目共赏。十年宦海。素愿遂偿。因于读礼之余。
谨序先生所以着此书之始末。与余所以景仰向慕之意。质诸我彭以广流传云。
光绪岁次戊戌春月姻愚侄程福海顿首拜序
粤自神农尝草木。着本草经。创始医道。厥后神其技者。太古有岐伯少俞。中世有扁鹊
秦和
。汉兴有太仓公张仲景。考方域之异宜。辨药品之真伪。按阴阳五行君臣佐使之理。着书立
说。以羽翼本经。魏晋以来。校修补注者。魏有李当之。梁有陶宏景。北齐有徐之才。唐有
苏恭。孙思邈。陈藏器。宋有刘翰。掌禹锡。唐慎微。寇宗 。金元之间。有张刘李朱。皆
其最着者也。但名作虽多。惜无善本。逮有明李时珍出。采辑药品千九百种。综核群籍。八
百余家。集诸家之大成。着本草纲目一书。诚为广大精微。尽善尽美。但初学人读之。一如
望洋观海。即穷经皓首。亦无所折衷。其余之简便者。如备要。如从新。固能由博返约。但
皆以所属之性味。所入之脏腑。有毒无毒列之于前。记诵之难。无有甚于此者。（成）学医
二
十余年。力购本草数十家。朝夕研究。以为业医者。若不先明药之性味。气之浓薄。质之寒
温。虽博览群书。知方知病。而不知药之性。其不致运用乖方。而草菅人命者几希矣。故遇
有一物之性味功用。确切不移。能与病相当而取效者。则每味拟一二联或五六联。置之案头
。数年来积成五百余品。删繁去复。编为排偶俚言。将各物性味所入所治。参差前后。不使
学人混淆难诵。书成。仿李东垣指掌。陈嘉谟蒙筌之意。颜之曰本草便读。亦非敢以管窥
蠡测之见。与先哲争衡也。不过欲引进后学。譬如行远必自迩。登高必自卑耳。至其中词句
之不雅。对仗之不工。一则缘（成）之学业未深。短于文墨。一则限于药品之性味主治。恐
失
本真。谫陋之由。实有所自。定知当世高明君子。必有起而正之者。故特序其原始如此。
光绪丁亥孟夏武进张秉成兆嘉氏自序于存诚堂
先生是我的姻亲。他年少时喜好读书。等到成年后得了足疾，渡江寻求名医治疗，未能痊愈，而家境也日渐衰落。因此他立志学医，早晚研究，因为自己的病治不好，便想掌握医术来治疗天下的疾病。先生的用心确实良苦啊。同治甲子年，家父在福建做官请求辞官回家。家父也向来精通医学，每天与先生交往，推究经典论述，参考古今医案，常常令人心折佩服。戊子年，我凭借微薄的官职在郑州工次从事工作，暑雨严寒，早晚无休，几乎成了怯弱之证。于是请假回家请先生治疗，竟然痊愈了。先生拿出抄写的《本草便读》两册给我看，嘱咐我为其订正错误。我辗转捧读，见其中每味药都编成长短对偶的诗句，将所属的性味、所入的脏腑，前后互文，发明精当。考察《本草》一书，向来没有好的版本可读，即使是明代李士材所著的《本草征要》一卷，习医者都奉为圭臬。然而其中性味脏腑也列在前面，且语句多不纯粹，主治或不贴切，学人对此感到遗憾。这部书简明扼要，详细明晰，不仅便于学人阅读，而且足以弥补医林的缺失。我私下想刻印它以公之于同好，但因匆忙北上，随即领凭赴滇，事情最终没有做成。然而未曾有一天忘记。丁酉年冬天，我守丧在家，得知此书已被同乡盛我彭君在鄂渚刊行，足见有目共赏。十年宦海生涯，素愿得以实现。因此在读礼之余，谨序先生撰写此书的始末，以及我所景仰倾慕之意，请教于我彭君以广流传。光绪岁次戊戌春月，姻愚侄程福海顿首拜序。
自从神农尝草木，著《本草经》，创始医道。其后技艺神妙者，太古时有岐伯、少俞；中世时有扁鹊、秦和；汉兴时有太仓公、张仲景。他们考方域之异宜，辨药品之真伪，按阴阳五行君臣佐使之理，著书立说，以羽翼本经。魏晋以来，校修补注者，魏有李当之，梁有陶宏景，北齐有徐之才，唐有苏恭、孙思邈、陈藏器，宋有刘翰、掌禹锡、唐慎微、寇宗奭，金元之间有张元素、刘完素、李东垣、朱丹溪，都是其中最著名的。但名作虽多，可惜没有善本。到了明代李时珍出现，采集药品一千九百种，综核群籍八百余家，集诸家之大成，著《本草纲目》一书，诚然广大精微，尽善尽美。但初学人读它，如同望洋观海，即使穷经皓首，也无从折衷。其余简便的，如《备要》、《从新》，固能由博返约，但都以所属的性味、所入的脏腑、有毒无毒列在前面，记诵之难，没有比这更严重的了。（我）学医二十余年，尽力购买数十家本草，早晚研究，认为业医者，若不先明药之性味、气之浓薄、质之寒温，虽然博览群书，知方知病，而不知药之性，那不导致运用乖方、草菅人命的就很少了。所以遇到有一物之性味功用，确切不移，能与病相当而取效的，则每味拟一二联或五六联，置于案头。数年来积成五百余品，删繁去复，编为排偶俚言，将各物性味所入所治，参差前后，不使学人混淆难诵。书成，仿李东垣《指掌》、陈嘉谟《蒙筌》之意，题名为《本草便读》，也不敢以管窥蠡测之见，与先哲争衡。不过想引进后学，譬如行远必自迩，登高必自卑耳。至于其中词句之不雅，对仗之不工，一则因（我）学业未深，短于文墨，二则限于药品之性味主治，恐失本真，谫陋之由，实有所自。定知当世高明君子，必有起而正之者。故特序其原始如此。光绪丁亥孟夏，武进张秉成兆嘉氏自序于存诚堂。
Mr. Cheng was my relative by marriage. In his youth, he loved reading. When he grew up, he suffered from a foot disease. He crossed the river to seek treatment from famous physicians but did not recover, and his family's fortune declined. Therefore, he resolved to study medicine, researching day and night. Because his own illness could not be cured, he wished to master medical skills to treat the illnesses of the world. His intentions were indeed arduous and sincere. In the Jiazi year of the Tongzhi reign, my father, who was serving as an official in Fujian, requested to return home. My father had also long been profound in medicine. He interacted with Mr. Cheng daily, exploring classical theories and consulting ancient and modern practices, often leaving me deeply impressed. In the Wuzi year, I was engaged in work at the Zhengzhou site due to a minor official post. The summer rains and winter colds were relentless, day and night, nearly causing me to develop a deficiency syndrome (Qie Zheng). I took leave to return home and sought treatment from Mr. Cheng, and I was completely cured. Mr. Cheng then showed me two volumes of hand-copied *Bencao Bian Du* (Convenient Reading of Materia Medica), asking me to correct errors. I read it with great care and found that each herb was composed into couplets of varying lengths. The associated properties and flavors, and the meridians and organs entered, were interwoven before and after, elucidating the principles with precision and appropriateness. Examining books on Materia Medica, there has traditionally been no excellent edition available for reading. Even Li Shicai's one-volume *Bencao Zhengyao* (Essentials of Materia Medica) from the late Ming Dynasty was revered by practitioners as a standard. However, its properties, flavors, and organ associations were listed at the beginning, and the language was often impure, with indications sometimes imprecise, causing regret among students. This compilation is concise yet essential, detailed yet clear. It not only facilitates learning but also supplements deficiencies in the medical field. I privately wished to have it printed to share with enthusiasts, but due to a hasty departure northward and subsequent appointment to Yunnan, the matter was not realized. Yet, I never forgot it for a day. In the winter of the Dingyou year, while mourning at home, I learned that this book had already been published in E'zhou by my fellow townsman, Mr. Sheng Wopeng. This shows that true value is appreciated by all. After ten years in the bureaucratic sea, my long-held wish was fulfilled. Thus, during my time studying ritual texts, I respectfully recorded the origins and process of Mr. Cheng writing this book, along with my admiration and reverence, hoping Mr. Wopeng would help disseminate it widely. Respectfully inscribed by my junior relative by marriage, Cheng Fuhai, in the spring month of the Wu Xu year of the Guangxu reign.
Since Shennong tasted herbs and grasses and authored the *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), the medical way was founded. Later, those with divine skills included Qibo and Shaoyu in ancient times, Bian Que and Qin He in the middle ages, and Taicanggong and Zhang Zhongjing in the early Han dynasty. They examined regional suitability, distinguished authentic from fake drugs, and based their writings on the principles of Yin-Yang, Five Elements, and Jun-Chen-Zuo-Shi (Sovereign, Minister, Assistant, Courier), establishing theories to support the classic texts. Since the Wei and Jin dynasties, those who collated, supplemented, and annotated include Li Dangzhi of Wei, Tao Hongjing of Liang, Xu Zhicai of Northern Qi, Su Gong, Sun Simiao, and Chen Cangqi of Tang, Liu Han, Zhang Yuxi, Tang Shenwei, and Kou Zongshi of Song, and Zhang Yuansu, Liu Wansu, Li Dongyuan, and Zhu Danxi of the Jin-Yuan period, all of whom are most renowned. Although many famous works exist, unfortunately, there were no excellent editions. It was not until Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty who collected 1,900 substances, synthesized over 800 sources, and gathered the achievements of various schools, authoring the *Bencao Gangmu* (Compendium of Materia Medica), which was truly vast, subtle, perfect, and beautiful. However, for beginners, reading it is like gazing at the ocean; even if one studies classics until hair turns white, they may find no definitive guidance. Other simpler works, such as *Beiyao* and *Congxin*, though able to simplify complexity, still list properties, flavors, meridian/organ affinities, and toxicity at the front, making memorization extremely difficult. Having studied medicine for over twenty years, I diligently purchased dozens of Materia Medica editions, researching day and night. I believe that if a practitioner does not first understand the properties and flavors, the density of qi, and the cold/warm nature of substances, even if they read extensively and know formulas and diseases, without knowing the nature of drugs, they will rarely avoid misapplication and reckless harm to life. Therefore, whenever I encountered a substance with fixed properties and efficacy that matched diseases effectively, I drafted one or two couplets, or five or six couplets for each herb, keeping them at my desk. Over several years, I accumulated over 500 items, removing redundancy and compiling them into rhythmic vernacular verses. The properties, flavors, meridian/organ entries, and treatments of each item are arranged irregularly before and after to prevent confusion and difficulty in memorization for learners. Upon completion, following the intent of Li Dongyuan's *Zhizhang* and Chen Jiamo's *Mengquan*, I titled it *Bencao Bian Du* (Convenient Reading of Materia Medica). I dare not compete with sages using my limited perspective. I merely wish to guide newcomers, just as traveling far begins near, and climbing high starts low. As for the inelegance of words and lack of strict parallelism, partly due to my shallow learning and literary weakness, and partly constrained by the actual properties and indications of drugs to avoid losing authenticity, the simplicity and clumsiness are inherent. I am certain that eminent gentlemen of the present age will rise to correct them. Thus, I specially record the origins here. Self-preface by Zhang Bingcheng, styled Zhaojia, from Wujin, at the Hall of Sincerity, in the first month of the Dinghai year of the Guangxu reign.