Wonderful Machines of the Far West, Vol. 1

Detailed? Description

My late father, the Duke of Haicheng, Seng'e, once intended to carve the biography of the Master at the beginning of each volume, so that viewers might understand his life at a single glance and know that his scholarship was all applied to practical governance, not merely for the sake of writing. However, the woodblocks remained in our home. Because my late father was overwhelmed with official duties and ledgers, he could not reach his hometown before he passed away, and it has now been more than ten years. Only at the beginning of late spring was I able to carve the biography of the Master. I have inscribed it at the beginning of each volume to facilitate reading, fulfilling the wish of my late father. As for his written works on the Zuo You a technical or philosophical discourse, they already exist in their respective volumes, and I, a mere youth, cannot add a single word. All respectfully written by the seventh-generation descendant, Wang Jieyichen, in the last month of spring in the Bingzi year of the Jiaqing reign 1816, with washed hands.

Collated and printed by the seventh-generation descendant, Wang Qimengxian.