格致鏡原 (Gezhi Jingyuan: Mirror of Scientific Origins) 100 Volumes

Investigations, yet they follow a definite pattern that can be traced.

General encyclopedic works cite books by extracting one or two phrases and placing them on top before recording the original text. This book strives to be broad in content but concise in volume. Therefore, I have connected various books and highlighted the important parts with circles The traditional Chinese method of annotating important text. This saves redundant text and makes it more eye-catching. This book consists of 100 volumes and 30 categories. Those that are categorized separately but do not form a full volume are attached to the end of each relevant category. For example, medicine is attached to food and drink; punishment tools are attached to military preparations; fishing, hunting, and craftsman tools are attached to farming and weaving; bamboo is attached to wood; and rattan is attached to herbs. These are categories within categories, yet all the things under heaven are almost entirely covered here.

If an object appears twice, such as the silkworm in both weaving and insects, or peach and plum in both flowers and fruits, or rhinoceros and elephant in both treasures and animals, each entry is detailed in its respective place; there is no need to repeat them.

Between the Yi-you and Bing-xu years 1705–1706, I petitioned to return home to care for my parents. During my leisure, I occasionally compiled this book. Fan Wugong original: "鑽" (Zuan) of Louyi saw it and admired it, contributing some of his own compiled materials. Those who assisted me in editing and arrangement include Huang Shimou original: "之雋" (Zhijun) of Huating, Yao Dazhang original: "炎" (Yan) of Cishui, and my grandnephew Zeng Yi original: "孝纘" (Xiao'zuan), all of whom took part in the collation work.

At the time, many books were left in the capital. I relied on the collection at home to browse and compile this book. Later, I borrowed several hundred types of books from my son-in-law, Xu Xujiude original: "秩" (Zhi) of Kunshan, who had a family library. The content became somewhat detailed and complete, though leaks and omissions are inevitable. I planned to continue to add to it as I learned more, but I was quickly summoned back to the capital and then went out to govern in Guangdong. My life was busy, and I had no time to focus on editing or immediately give it to the printers. I am quite ashamed of its roughness.