Preface to the Mirror of Scientific Origins

All things that exist within heaven and earth are objects; all knowledge that fills my mind is perception. To not know even a single thing is a source of shame for the superior person. Therefore, the study of investigating things and extending knowledge original: "格致" (gezhi), referring to the Confucian principle of investigating the nature of things to attain understanding is held in high esteem. Defining things is called "affairs"; naming things is called "nomenclature"; grouping things is called "classification." Thus, objects are rooted in the Three Realms original: "三才" (sancai), heaven, earth, and humanity and transformed by the Five Elements original: "五行" (wuxing). Nothing is without clarity and manifestation, vital and dynamic; they carry the Way and emerge to be observed between human hands, eyes, mouths, and ears, lasting through ten thousand generations without exhaustion. Yet, the world has become accustomed to them and forgotten them. Those who trace their origins and remain in ignorance are numerous.

Our Shengzu Ren Emperor The Kangxi Emperor, with his heaven-endowed intelligence and innate knowledge, exhausted the nature of things to assist in the processes of transformation and cultivation. No detail, whether vast or minute, was omitted. Our present Emperor, like the brilliant sun rising again, understands all matters clearly. Within the entire universe, there is nothing he does not penetrate and illuminate. Those who live in such times, even if they were like Zichan A famous statesman of the Spring and Autumn period or Maoxian Zhang Hua, a scholar-official known for his encyclopedic knowledge, would still feel ashamed of their own superficiality. If one wishes to use a meager and uninformed heart to examine and list the origins and endings of all things, observing the threads and patterns, it is absolutely impossible. However, if one uses this as an excuse to remain crude and simplistic, following errors and repeating mistakes, saying, "This is not what I am supposed to know" or "What harm is there in not knowing this?", then how can one pursue extensive learning? Since the sages still engaged in this, and Zichan and Maoxian are still praised to this day, why is that? I have examined various works such as Luo Yuan's Origins of Things original: "物原" (Wuyuan), Liu Feng's Origins of Affairs original: "事始" (Shishi), and Xu Ju's Primordial Origins of Things original: "事物原始" (Shiwu Yuanshi), as well as various books on origins and records. All of these can assist in examination and verification, though some are brief and incomplete.