The Dream
The source records that, after falling asleep in a haze following a gathering, the narrator dreamed that a warrior in military dress handed him a pill and forced him to swallow it.
Second Dream
The source records a second dream during the illness: the same warrior rushed in carrying a blade and struck the narrator’s chest.
Traditional Interpretation
The preface connects both dreams with what followed to show that an image’s surface appearance may not be its final meaning. Its fuller ending also criticizes rigid, formulaic readings and calls for attention to the particular dream, its sequence, and its changes. This is a traditional narrative frame, not a claim about illness or treatment.
Recorded Outcome
The source records chest pain after the pill dream and says the narrator’s condition became grave over the following weeks.
Second Recorded Outcome
The source records that the narrator woke sweating and that the illness then receded. This is the text’s recorded outcome, not a medical claim or treatment recommendation.
Cultural Context
This account appears in the Preface to Yuanmeng Mice. Its reversal structure contrasts a pill that appears healing but is followed by illness with a blade that appears harmful but is followed, in the narrative, by recovery. The surviving preface is attributed to “Xiuxiu Laoren Sun Shi,” but the source notes that this attribution may be a later pseudonymous construction. Its authorship and date are therefore treated as uncertain.
This page includes illness and bodily themes recorded in a historical source. It is presented for cultural and historical context only and does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment advice.
Traditional Source
《圆梦秘策叙》（古文整理与现代中文译文）
《圆梦秘策叙》。混沌，大梦也。此梦一破，乾开坤奠，而人生其间。盖自天地生人，而混沌之梦始大觉也。矣恒惟精气，絪缊男女化成。人在胎孕之中，何分昼夜，何辨嗤灵？何知寝寐？犹混沌焉。十月堕地，如梦斯觉，而晓者以谓人生大梦，正从兹起。何则？赤婴之未孩，而在怀保也，浃旬弥月，适匕自眠，口顾肩，宇间若有所喜而欲咲，若有所苦而欲啼。无苦无喜，而啼咲之景形于面颜，谓非梦触而然哉？为父母者，诚慈爱护，睹其欲咲，知必有所自喜；睹其欲啼，知必有所自苦。非咲非啼而已，悬解其有所忻喜、有所困苦，得以与之安而去其不便者，谓非占梦之概而何哉？古先圣人忧之，于是乎著为占经，立为占官。长榔有经，作于轩辕；掌䀹有官，设自周室。历代以来，六籍百家，史纪稗说，梦不胜载，占不一家。岁甲戌仲秋之望，于山居中召二三老友，促席论心，停杯问月。夜分酩酊，入醉披…