Good friends gather experience and divine methods

Author: Sun Wei (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Among the great physicians, those who excel are skilled in reviewing ancient and modern medical formulas, selecting and applying them, and then compiling the effective ones for publication to benefit people and help others. "Collection of Experiences and Miraculous Formulas by Good Friends," also known as "Collection of Experiences by Good Friends," belongs to such works. The author, Sun Wei, styled Wanglin, was a native of Yanshan in the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty and a generous and righteous man. From a young age, he aspired to practice medicine to serve humanity. In his early years, he was poor and earned a living by trading rice with his brother, dedicating his free time to studying medicine and formulating prescriptions. At the age of about twenty, he traveled the world and settled in Changshan, Hunan, practicing medicine as his profession. After several years, he returned to his hometown and practiced medicine inside Chongwen Gate for over twenty years, earning the respect of high-ranking officials and nobles, with numerous invitations to treat them. His reputation soared. Later, he served in the Strategy Hall of the Imperial Medical College. After fourteen years, he was appointed as the Mountain Ridge Postmaster in Guizhou. At the age of seventy, he resigned from his post and returned to his hometown. During his time in Guizhou, Sun Wei compiled and organized the formulas he had used over fifty years of practice into two volumes titled "Experience Collection" and had them printed and sent to the capital, with over three thousand copies published. After the book was published, Sun Wei continued to diligently search for effective formulas. One day, he said to his friend, "I have recently acquired many miraculous formulas, but unfortunately, there is no one to pass them on." Upon saying this, his old friend Wu Debie from Changbai and Huang Zi from Yanshan helped raise funds to publish the book, which was completed in October of the fiftieth year of the Kangxi era. Because it was supported by his friends, it was named "Collection of Experiences and Miraculous Formulas by Good Friends," or simply "Collection of Experiences by Good Friends." This book is not widely circulated today because many of its formulas are highly effective and hold certain reference value for clinical practice and research. It is now published based on the edition of Wenjin Hall from the third year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty. It can serve as a reference for modern physicians.