Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica, Volume One

The lay practitioner Yinyuan and the Venerable Master original: "Shangren" (上人); a respectful title for a Buddhist monk were both highly skilled in the Method of Refining Herbs original: "Dianmao fa" (點茆法); likely a specific alchemical or pharmaceutical technique for processing raw materials. They had long been on good terms with He Zhuli.

In the Gengchen year 1760, I was studying at the Huifeng Vihara a "vihara" is a secluded room or cell for study and meditation of the West Mountain Temple. It happened that Zhuli arrived there to escape the summer heat, and I joined him for a He-shuo drinking session 河朔飲 (Heshuo yin): a literary allusion to the tradition of drinking heavily during the hottest days of summer to stay cool, a practice dating back to the Three Kingdoms period. We stayed together for some time, and it was through him that I was able to hear various theories regarding the Control of Fire in the Tripod original: "Zhifu dinghuo" (制伏鼎火); this refers to the precise management of heat and temperature when refining medicinal elixirs or processing potent herbs.

I applied these methods to the various categories of medicines used for Ascending and Descending 升降 (Shengjiang): in Chinese medicine, this refers to the directional movement of medicinal effects—whether a drug moves energy upward to the head/lungs or downward to the lower organs. By using these techniques, I found that my physical constitution was not depleted by the treatments, and the results were twice as fast.

Consequently, I collected the various ancient formulas for "ascending and descending" and incorporated these specific preparation methods to create a book titled Essential Secrets original: "Miyao" (秘要). Furthermore, I used the most extraordinary medicinal properties and preparations as the basis for a work called The Primal Explanations original: "Yuanjie" (元解), intended to demonstrate that the applications of materia medica are exceptionally broad.

In the past, Gao Lian A Ming dynasty polymath and author of "Eight Discourses on the Art of Living" recorded many rare and exotic medicines, but his search for wonders was not exhaustive. Binhu The courtesy name of Li Shizhen (1518–1593), the most famous figure in Chinese medicine wrote the Compendium of Materia Medica Bencao Gangmu, but many things discovered since its publication have not been added to supplement it. I have attempted to continue all of these works. One is titled the Reference for Extraordinary Medicines original: "Qiyao Beikao" (奇藥備考) and the other is the Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica original: "Gangmu Shiyi" (綱目拾遺). Each follows its own organizational principles.

As for the formalization of materia medica books, from the Divine Farmer’s Classic Shennong Bencao Jing and Tong Jun’s Records of Medicines Tongjun Yaolu downwards, there have been no fewer than several dozen successors. Certainly, nothing is lacking in these records. However, that which is valued most highly is the Property of the Medicine 藥性 (Yaoxing): the specific character or "nature" of a drug, such as cold, hot, warm, or cool. While many authors discuss these properties, few investigate their...