Rules for the Mirror of Scientific Origins

General encyclopedic works are meant to provide reference for writing and verification. This book, however, specializes in verification to assist in the study of gezhi the investigation of things to extend knowledge. For every object recorded, one must investigate its origins, detail its names and designations, classify its types, and examine its production to provide practical use. Collecting incidents and arranging rhetoric are not the goals here. Therefore, ancient poems, essays, and stories are generally not recorded, to distinguish this from other encyclopedic works. Occasionally, there are different names for objects or strange phenomena, which I have gathered in one out of a hundred cases.

Tang and Song encyclopedic works cited ancient texts and were required to link them to their original sources so that people could verify them clearly. Ming dynasty encyclopedic works often did not record the names of the original sources, stealing from the ancients to benefit themselves. They claim "a certain person" without knowing who it was, "a certain superior" without knowing which ruler, or "the present dynasty" without knowing which generation. This is most frustrating, and how can one know if it is not a fabrication? In this book, whether it is a long passage or a short sentence, it must be linked to the book title. Even if the book title is occasionally forgotten, it must be linked to a specific person's name, so as to provide proof of reliability.

This book uses the Confucian Classics and official histories as its primary foundation. However, since the recording of objects is broad and the search for categories is detailed, if something was absent in antiquity but present now, or elegant but discarded while vulgar but accepted, this collection of miscellanies and丛书 congshu series of collected works must reach into popular sayings and unofficial records occasionally. However, the citations end with the Ming dynasty, seeking precision and conciseness, and avoiding excess.

For every object recorded in this book, the entry follows the level of detail of the object itself to determine the heading. If there is much to say, making it difficult to finish on a single page, there is a "General Discussion," "Classifications," "Designations," and "Record of Anomalies" to distinguish them. For items such as crowns, seals, carriages, and garments, the headings are categorized by dynasty. For items such as ancient figures, tea, and ink, the headings are categorized by harvesting, manufacturing, and storage. For items such as calligraphy and painting, the headings are categorized by mounting. Once the structure is clear, the reader understands it at a glance. For those with little to say, a few lines can finish it without further division. For those with even less, they are recorded together by category, such as "Various [Items of] Such-and-Such," as if not limited by strict categories.