医学之要，莫先于切脉，脉候不真，则虚实莫辨、攻补妄施，鲜不夭人寿命者。其次，
则当明药性，如病在某经当用某药，或有因此经而旁达他经者。是以补母泻子，扶弱抑强，
义有多端，指不一定。自非兼贯博通，析微洞奥，不但呼应不灵，或反致邪失正。先正云∶
用药如用兵，诚不可以不慎也。古今着本草者，无虑数百家，其中精且详者，莫如李氏《纲
目》，考究渊博，指示周明，所以嘉惠斯人之心，良方切至。第卷帙浩繁，卒难究殚，舟车
之上，携取为难，备则备矣，而未能要也。他如《主治》、《指掌》、《药性歌赋》，聊以
便初学之诵习，要则要矣，而未能备也。近如《蒙筌》、《经疏》，世称善本。《蒙筌》附
类，颇着精义，然文拘对偶，辞太繁缛，而阙略尚多；《经疏》发明主治之理，制方参互之
义，又着简误，以究其失，可谓尽善，然未暇详地道、明制治、辨真伪，解处偶有付会，常
品时多芟黜，均为千虑之一失。余非岐黄家，而喜读其书，三余之暇，特为诸家本草，由博
返约，取适用者凡四百品，汇为小帙。某药入某经、治某病，必为明其气味、形色所以主治
之由，间附古人畏恶兼施、制防互济、用药深远之意，而以土产、修治、畏恶附于后，以十
剂宣、通、补、泻冠于前，既着其功，亦明其过，使人开卷了然，庶几用之不致舛误。以去
备则已备矣，以去要则又要矣。通敏之士，由此而究图焉，医学之精微，可以思过半矣。题
曰本草备要，用以就正于宗工焉！
休宁 庵汪昂题于延禧堂
医学的关键，没有比切脉更重要的了。如果脉象诊断不真实准确，就无法辨别病证的虚实，从而错误地施用攻法或补法，很少有不因此折损人寿命的。其次，就应当明白药性，比如病在某一经络，应当使用某类药物；或者因为这一经而波及影响其他经络的情况。所以，通过“补母泻子”（根据五行相生关系，补益母脏以滋养子脏，或泻除子脏之邪以减轻母脏负担）、扶持虚弱、抑制强盛的道理有很多方面，具体指征并不固定。如果不是兼通博识，能剖析细微、洞察深奥之处，不仅治疗反应迟钝，反而可能导致邪气未去而正气受损。先贤曾说：“用药如同用兵”，确实不可以不谨慎啊。
古今撰写本草著作的，不少于几百家，其中精辟且详尽的，没有比李时珍的《本草纲目》更好的了。它考证渊博，指示周全明确，那造福世人的心意，真是恳切至极。只是卷帙浩繁，仓促之间难以穷尽阅读，在舟车之上，携带取用都很困难，虽然准备得很完备，但未能做到简明扼要。其他的如《主治》、《指掌》、《药性歌赋》，姑且用来方便初学者诵读学习，虽然简要，但内容不够完备。近来的如《本草蒙筌》、《本草经疏》，被世人称为善本。《本草蒙筌》按类别附注，颇有精义，但文字拘泥于对偶，辞藻过于繁复，且遗漏尚多；《本草经疏》阐发主治的原理，探讨制方相互参互的意义，又指出简误，以探究其失误，可以说是尽善尽美了，然而来不及详细论述地道药材（产地优劣）、明确炮制方法、辨别真伪，解释处偶尔有牵强附会，常用品时常多有删减，这都是一千次考虑中的一次失误。
我并非专业的医家，但喜欢研读这些书籍，利用空闲时间，特别针对各家本草著作，由博返约，选取适用的药物共四百种，汇编成小册子。某药入哪一经、治哪类病，必定阐明其气味、形色之所以能主治疾病的原理，间或附上古人关于畏恶相使、制约防范相互补救、用药深远用意的内容，并将土产来源、修治方法、畏恶禁忌附在后面，以“十剂”（宣、通、补、泻等分类法）中的宣、通、补、泻冠于篇首，既阐述其功效，也说明其弊端，使人翻开书卷就能一目了然，这样大概在使用时就不会导致差错。以去除冗余来体现完备，以去除繁杂来体现简要。通达敏锐的人，由此进而深入研究，医学的精微之处，就可以思过半数了。题名为《本草备要》，用来向精通此道的专家请教！
休宁 庵汪昂 题写于延禧堂
The essence of medicine lies first in pulse diagnosis. If the pulse signs are not authentic and accurate, one cannot distinguish between deficiency and excess, leading to the reckless application of purgative or tonifying methods, which rarely fails to shorten a person's lifespan. Secondly, it is essential to understand the properties of medicinal substances. For instance, if a disease resides in a specific meridian (a pathway for Qi and blood), specific herbs should be used; or there may be cases where pathology in one meridian extends to affect others. Therefore, principles such as "tonifying the mother and draining the child" (based on the Five Elements generating cycle, tonifying the source organ to nourish the affected organ, or draining the affected organ to relieve the source), supporting weakness, and suppressing excess, have various applications, and their indications are not fixed. Unless one possesses broad knowledge and can analyze subtleties and penetrate profound mysteries, treatment responses will be sluggish, or worse, fail to eliminate pathogens while damaging healthy Qi. As ancient sages said: "Using medicine is like using troops"; indeed, one must be extremely cautious.
Throughout history, hundreds of authors have written materia medica texts. Among them, none are more exquisite and detailed than Li Shizhen's *Bencao Gangmu* (Compendium of Materia Medica). Its research is extensive, its instructions comprehensive and clear, reflecting a sincere heart to benefit humanity. However, its volumes are vast and cumbersome, making it difficult to exhaustively study in a short time, and inconvenient to carry and consult during travel by boat or carriage. Although it is well-prepared, it lacks conciseness. Other works such as *Zhuzhi*, *Zhangzhi*, and *Yaoxing Gefu* are merely intended to facilitate recitation for beginners; while concise, they lack comprehensiveness. Recent works like *Bencao Mengquan* (Materia Medica Primer) and *Bencao Jingshu* (Elucidation of the Classic of Materia Medica) are regarded as good editions by the world. *Bencao Mengquan* categorizes herbs with annotations that contain profound insights, but its text is constrained by parallelism, its language overly ornate, and it still has many omissions. *Bencao Jingshu* elucidates the principles of therapeutic actions, discusses the interplay in prescription formulation, and points out errors to investigate faults, which can be considered perfect. However, it neglects detailed discussions on geographical origins (Dao-di herbs), preparation methods, and authentication of authenticity; some explanations are occasionally forced, and common herbs are often deleted, representing a lapse in even a thousand considerations.
I am not a professional physician, but I enjoy reading these books. In my spare time, I specifically reviewed various materia medica texts, distilling them from the complex to the simple, selecting four hundred applicable substances, and compiling them into a small volume. For each herb, specifying which meridian it enters and which diseases it treats, I clarify the reasons why its flavor, nature, shape, and color enable it to treat those conditions. Occasionally, I include ancient wisdom regarding mutual aversion and incompatibility, mutual restraint and supplementation, and the profound implications of medication. The geographical origin, processing methods, and aversions/incompatibilities are appended at the end. The "Ten Categories" (Xuan, Tong, Bu, Xie - Dispersing, Unblocking, Tonifying, Draining) are placed at the forefront to highlight efficacy while also clarifying potential drawbacks, allowing readers to understand clearly upon opening the book, thereby hopefully preventing misuse. By removing redundancy, it achieves completeness; by removing complexity, it achieves conciseness. Intelligent individuals, through this, can delve further into the subject, and the subtleties of medicine can be largely understood. Titled *Bencao Bei Yao* (Essential Requirements of Materia Medica), it is offered for correction by experts.
Wang Ang of Xiuning, An, inscribed at Yanxi Hall.