神农本草经
1.邵序
《記》曰∶醫不三世，不服其藥。鄭康成曰∶慎物齊也。孔衝遠引舊說雲∶三世者，一曰《黃帝針灸》，二曰《神農本草》，三曰《素女脈訣》。康成《周禮注》亦曰∶五藥，草、木、蟲、石、谷也。其治合之齊，則存乎神農子儀之術，是《禮記》注所謂慎物齊者，猶言治合之齊，指本草諸書而言也。衝遠既引舊說，復疑其非鄭義過矣。《漢書》引本草方術而《藝文志》缺載，賈公彥引《中經簿》，有《子儀本草經》一卷，不言出於神農。至隋《經籍志》，始載《神農本草經》三卷，與今分上、中、下三品者相合，當屬漢以來舊本。《隋志》又載雷公《本草集註》四卷，《蔡邕本草》七卷，今俱不傳。自《別錄》以後，累有損益升降，隨時條記，或傳合本文，不相別白。據陸元朗《經典釋文》所引，則經文與名醫所附益者，合併為一，其來舊矣。孫君伯淵偕其從子因《大觀本草》黑白字書，釐正《神農本經》三卷，又據《太平御覽》引《經》雲∶生山谷生川澤者，定為本文，其有預章、朱崖、常山、奉高，郡縣名者，定為後人羼入。釋《本草》者，以吳普本為最古，散見於諸書徵引者，綴集之以補《大觀》本所未備，疏通古義，系以考證，非澹雅之才，沉鬱之思，未易為此也。古者協陰陽之和，宣羸縮之節，凡夫含聲負氣，以及倒生旁達，飛蠕動之倫，胥盡其性，遇物能名，以達於利用，生生之具，儒者宜致思焉。《淮南王書》曰∶地黃主屬骨，而甘草主生肉之藥也。又曰∶大戟去水，葶藶愈張，用之不節，乃反為病。《論衡》曰∶治風用風，治熱用熱，治邊用蜜丹；《潛夫論》曰∶治疾當真人參，反得支羅服；當得麥門冬，反蒸橫麥，已而不識真，合而服之，病以浸劇。斯皆神農之緒言，惟其贍涉者博，故引類比方，悉符藥論。後儒或忽為方技家言，漁獵所及，又是末師而非往古，甚至經典所載鳥獸草木，亦輾轉而昧其名，不已慎乎！《後漢書·華佗傳》∶吳普從佗學，依準佗療，多所全濟，佗以五禽之戲別傳。又載魏明帝使普為禽戲，普以其法語諸醫，疑其方術相傳，別有奇文異數。今觀普所釋本草，則神農、黃帝、岐伯、雷公、桐君、醫和、扁鵲，以及後代名醫之說，靡不賅載，則其多所全濟，由於稽考之勤，比驗之密，而非必別有其奇文異數。信乎！非讀三世書者，不可服其藥也。世俗所傳，黃帝、神農、扁鵲之書，多為後人竄易，餘願得夫閎覽博物者為之是正也。因孫君伯仲校定《本草》，而發其端。至其書考證精審\x餘姚邵晉涵序\x
The Ji says: If a physician has not studied the Three Ages, one should not take his medicine. Zheng Kangcheng says: This is to be cautious about the preparation of substances. Kong Chongyuan, citing an old explanation, says: The Three Ages are: first, the Huangdi Zhenjiu; second, the Shennong Bencao; third, the Sunü Maijue. Kangcheng's Zhouli Zhu also says: The five medicines are grass, wood, insect, stone, and grain. As for the prepared combinations, they depend on the arts of Shennong and Ziyi; this is what the Liji commentary means by being cautious about the preparation of substances, which is to say the prepared combinations, referring to the various books of materia medica. Chongyuan, having cited the old explanation, then doubted that it was Zheng's meaning—this is excessive. The Hanshu cites the recipes and arts of materia medica, yet the Yiwenzhi omits them; Jia Gongyan cites the Zhongjing Bu, which has the Ziyi Bencao Jing in one juan, without saying it came from Shennong. Only in the Sui Jingshi Zhi was the Shennong Bencao Jing in three juan first recorded, matching the present division into upper, middle, and lower three grades; it should be an old text from the Han onward. The Sui Zhi also records Lei Gong's Bencao Jizhu in four juan and Cai Yong's Bencao in seven juan, both now lost. After the Bielu, there were repeatedly additions and subtractions, elevations and demotions, recorded item by item according to the times, or sometimes merged with the original text without distinction. According to what Lu Yuanlang's Jingdian Shiwen cites, the canonical text and what the famous physicians appended were already combined into one—this is of long standing. Sun Boyuan, with his nephew, based on the black-and-white character text of the Daguan Bencao, corrected the Shennong Benjing into three juan; and further, according to the Jing as cited in the Taiping Yulan, 'grows in valleys, grows in rivers and marshes' was fixed as the original text, while entries with prefectural and county names such as Yuzhang, Zhuya, Changshan, and Fenggao were determined to be later interpolations. Among those who explained the Bencao, the Wu Pu text is the most ancient; gathering what is scattered in citations from various books to supplement what the Daguan edition lacks, clarifying the ancient meanings and appending textual research—without a talent for elegance and depth of thought, this would not be easy to accomplish. In antiquity, one harmonized the harmony of yin and yang and regulated the measures of deficiency and excess; all beings that contain sound and bear qi, as well as those that grow inverted or spread sideways, the flying and the crawling, all fulfilled their natures; encountering things one could name them, so as to reach their useful application—the means of sustaining life, which the Confucian should earnestly consider. The Huainan Wang Shu says: Dihuang governs the bones, while Gancao is the medicine that generates flesh. It also says: Daji removes water, Tingli relieves distention; used without regulation, they instead become disease. The Lunheng says: To treat wind use wind, to treat heat use heat, to treat the border use honey dan; the Qianfu Lun says: To treat illness one should use true Renshen, but instead obtains Zhiluofu; one should obtain Maimendong, but instead steams Hengmai; and afterward, not recognizing the true, one combines and takes them, and the illness daily worsens. These are all transmitted words of Shennong; only because his breadth of involvement was vast do his analogies and comparisons all accord with the discussions of drugs. Later Confucians sometimes neglect these as the words of technical specialists; what their hunting and fishing reaches is again the late teachers rather than antiquity; even the birds, beasts, grasses, and trees recorded in the classics they turn about and obscure their names—is this not excessive! The Hou Hanshu, in the biography of Hua Tuo, says: Wu Pu studied with Tuo, followed Tuo's treatments, and saved many; Tuo separately transmitted to him the five-animal exercise. It also records that Emperor Ming of Wei had Pu perform the animal exercises, and Pu spoke of them to the physicians; one suspects that the arts transmitted had separately wondrous texts and extraordinary methods. Now observing the materia medica explained by Pu, it comprehensively records the teachings of Shennong, Huangdi, Qibo, Lei Gong, Tongjun, Yihe, Bianque, and the famous physicians of later ages—so his saving of many was due to the diligence of his investigations and the closeness of his comparisons and verifications, and not necessarily to any separate wondrous texts and extraordinary methods. Truly, one who has not read the books of the Three Ages cannot be taken as a physician! What is transmitted in the world—the books of Huangdi, Shennong, and Bianque—has mostly been altered by later men; I wish to obtain a broadly learned and widely informed person to correct them. Because Master Sun and his brother collated the Bencao, I have set forth this beginning. As for the book's textual research being precise and thorough—preface by Shao Jinhan of Yuyao.