予家自先伯父昌龄公肆力于医。而家君继之。迄于今盖四十年矣。犹忆十岁时。家君遘热
病
家弟济生病中暑。壮热谵语。面赤烦渴。时家君远出未归。延郡中某老医治之。手甫按脉。
即大声告曰。此儿之病。危在夜半。恐不治。翌日家君自外归。命剖西瓜汁与饮。一汗而解
。未尝不叹医药之关系如是其重。而专门名家之罕观为可憾也。十六岁后。先伯父以积劳病
逝。家君又屡患肺病咳嗽咯血。呻吟床蓐。家庭之忧患日多。而予习医之志。因是益坚。遂发
家中藏书。朝夕玩诵。家君又时为讲解。每治难病。必撮其大要。举以训示。凡诊察之奥
。用药之精微。与夫鉴别死生。暨寒热攻补先后之次序。皆了如指掌。老人谆谆如蒙师之训
学童。寒暑靡间。乐此不疲。数年以后。于医学始稍窥门径。于是益搜求旧籍。广购新书
。凡坊间罕见孤行之本。以及管赵诸氏所译之西医书。均罗而置诸几案间。参观互证。久之遂
别有会心。乃稍稍为人医治。丁未戊申两年。前清两淮盐运使司赵都转。与两江总督端制军
。先后考试医学。友人陈君瑞辰等相约观光。谬获最优等证书。嗣侨寓京口。遂以医问世。
四方人士。不以予为固陋。竞来延诊。由是益有所考镜。既自幸。复自愧也。尝观吾国医学
之历史。其学术精深之士。得力于社会个人之传习者为多。而政府提倡之力较少焉。非在
上者不知提倡也。人材之出。本于山川灵秀。况医属专门科学。非学问阅历兼到。未易得其神
髓。故吾国医书。皆以私家之著作为优。今虽世界交通。政治学术多效法欧西。医学一科亦
采用西法。顾吾以为中华乃衣冠文物旧邦。先圣先贤所遗传之医学。自有其真精神在。决非他人
之说所得而摇撼之。今而后欲求吾国医
学之发达。仍必赖私家之纂述以相为辅助。予不敏。窃尝有志于此。顾以兹事体大。尚须有待
。去年十月。家弟济生书来。嘱将平时治验方案。勒为一书。以供研究。人事倥偬。未遑议
及。今夏济生复以为言。而知交中亦有借钞者。爰择要编次。不分门类。题曰丛桂草堂医草
。盖仿卢氏之芷园臆草。与喻氏之寓意草云。虽区区一得。未足方此二家。而十年经验。或可为医林之借镜欤。
岁在甲寅六冬前一日江都袁焯桂生氏识于京口寓次
我家从伯父昌龄公开始致力于医学。父亲随后继承了他的事业。到现在大概四十年了。我还记得十岁那年，父亲患了热病（外感热邪所致的疾病），弟弟济生得了中暑（夏季感受暑湿之邪所致的病证）。他高热、说胡话，面色红赤，烦躁口渴。当时父亲远出未归，我们请郡中某位老医生来诊治。他的手刚搭上脉，就大声说道：“这个孩子的病，危险就在半夜，恐怕治不好。”第二天父亲从外面回来，命令切开西瓜取汁给他喝。出了一身汗后病就好了。我不曾不感叹医药的关系如此重大，而专门精通的名医难得一见，感到遗憾。十六岁以后，伯父因长期劳累病逝，父亲又多次患肺病咳嗽咯血，呻吟在床榻上。家庭的忧患日益增多，而我学医的志向，因此更加坚定。于是翻出家中的藏书，早晚研读诵读。父亲又时常为我讲解。每次治疗疑难病症，必定摘录其要点，拿来教导指示我。凡是诊察的奥妙，用药的精微之处，以及鉴别生死，还有寒热攻补治疗的先后次序，我都了如指掌。老人谆谆教诲，就像启蒙老师训导学童一样，无论寒暑都没有间断，乐此不疲。几年之后，我对医学才开始稍微窥见门径。于是更加搜求旧籍，广泛购买新书。凡是坊间罕见孤本，以及管、赵等人翻译的西医书籍，都搜集放置在手边案头。参观对照，互相验证。久而久之便有了独特的领悟，于是开始稍微为人治病。丁未、戊申这两年，前清两淮盐运使司赵都转与两江总督端制军，先后考试医学。友人陈瑞辰等相约去观摩。我侥幸获得了最优等的证书。后来侨居京口，于是以行医为生。四方人士，不认为我固执浅陋，竞相来请我诊治。由此我更加有所考察借鉴。既为自己庆幸，又为自己惭愧。曾经观察我国医学的历史，那些学术精深的人士，大多得力于社会和个人的传承学习，而政府提倡的力量较少。并非在上位者不知道提倡，人才的产生，本源于山川的灵秀之气。况且医学属于专门科学，不是学问和阅历兼备，不容易得到其精髓。所以我国的医书，都以私家著作为优。现在虽然世界交通发达，政治学术多效法欧西，医学这一科也采用西法。但我认为中华是衣冠文物悠久的古邦，先圣先贤遗留下来的医学，自有其真正的精神所在，决非他人的学说所能动摇的。今后想要谋求我国医学的发展，仍然必须依靠私家的编纂著述来相互辅助。我不才，私下曾有志于此。但考虑到这件事关系重大，还需要等待时机。去年十月，弟弟济生来信，嘱咐将平时治疗的验案方案，整理成书，以供研究。人事繁忙，无暇顾及。今年夏天济生再次提起此事，而知交中也有借抄的人。于是选取要点编排次序，不分门类，题名为《丛桂草堂医草》。大概是模仿卢氏的《芷园臆草》和喻氏的《寓意草》。虽然我的这点微薄见解，不足以比得上这两家，但十年的经验，或许可以作为医学界的借鉴吧。
甲寅年腊月三十日，江都袁焯，字桂生，识于京口的寓所。
My family began to devote ourselves to medicine with my late uncle, Mr. Changling. My father succeeded him. It has been about forty years until now. I still remember that when I was ten years old, my father contracted a *Re Bing* (Heat Disease), and my younger brother Jisheng suffered from *Zhong Shu* (Heatstroke). He presented with high fever, delirium, flushed face, irritability, and excessive thirst. At that time, my father was away on a journey. We invited an elderly physician from the county to treat him. As soon as he placed his hand on the pulse, he loudly declared, "This child's condition is critical; danger lies at midnight. I fear it cannot be cured." The next day, my father returned from his trip. He ordered watermelon juice to be given to the patient. After sweating profusely, the illness resolved. I could not help but sigh at how significant the relationship between medicine and healing is, and regretted the scarcity of renowned specialists in the field.
After the age of sixteen, my uncle passed away due to chronic overwork. My father subsequently suffered repeatedly from lung disease, characterized by coughing and hemoptysis, groaning in bed. The worries and hardships in our family increased daily, which further strengthened my resolve to study medicine. I thus brought out the books stored in our home, studying them day and night. My father often explained them to me. Whenever treating difficult cases, he would always extract the main points and use them to instruct me. I became thoroughly familiar with the subtleties of diagnosis, the nuances of prescription, the differentiation of life and death, and the sequence of cold/heat, purging/nourishing treatments. His earnest teaching was like that of an启蒙 teacher instructing a student, without interruption regardless of winter or summer, and he found joy in it without tiring. Years later, I began to glimpse the path of medical science. Thereafter, I sought out old texts and purchased new books widely. Rare editions found only in private collections, as well as Western medical books translated by Guan and Zhao, were all gathered and placed on my desk for comparative study and verification. Over time, I developed unique insights and gradually began to treat others. During the Dingwei and Wushen years, under the late Qing Dynasty, Zhao Dutuan (Commissioner of Salt Transport for Lianghuai) and Duan Zhijun (Viceroy of Liangjiang) successively conducted examinations in medicine. Friends such as Chen Ruichen invited me to observe. I fortunately obtained a certificate of the highest merit. Later, residing in Jingkou, I made a living as a physician. People from all directions did not consider me stubborn or ignorant, but competed to invite me for consultations. This allowed me to further examine and learn from various sources. I felt both fortunate and humble.
Having observed the history of Chinese medicine, I noted that scholars with profound academic achievements mostly benefited from social and individual transmission, while government promotion played a lesser role. This was not because those in power failed to recognize its importance. The emergence of talent originates from the spiritual essence of mountains and rivers. Moreover, medicine is a specialized science; without both scholarly learning and practical experience, one cannot easily grasp its essence. Therefore, Chinese medical books are superior when authored privately. Although the world is now interconnected and politics and academics largely emulate Europe and America, and even medicine adopts Western methods, I believe China is an ancient nation with rich cultural heritage. The medicine inherited from sages and worthies possesses its own true spirit, which cannot be shaken by foreign theories. In the future, the development of Chinese medicine must still rely on private compilations and writings for mutual assistance. Though unskilled, I have secretly harbored ambitions in this regard. However, considering the magnitude of this task, I felt it required waiting for the right time.
Last October, my brother Jisheng wrote to me, requesting that I compile my clinical records into a book for research purposes. Due to busy affairs, I had no time to attend to it. This summer, Jisheng raised the matter again, and some acquaintances also requested copies. Thus, I selected key points, arranged them chronologically without categorization, and titled the work *Conggui Caotang Yicao* (Medical Records from the Conggui Thatched Cottage). This was modeled after Lu's *Zhiyuan Yicao* and Yu's *Yiyi Cao*. Although my modest insights may not compare to these two masters, my ten years of experience might serve as a reference for the medical community.
On the last day of the twelfth lunar month in the Jiayin year, Yuan Zhuo, courtesy name Guisheng, from Jiangdu, recorded this at his residence in Jingkou.