“Investigation of things” (格物, géwù) in the Great Learning designates the opening movement of a larger path of moral and spiritual cultivation. It points to a disciplined, careful examination of the principles or patterns (理, lǐ) that underlie all phenomena—natural events, human relationships, and the workings of one’s own mind. Rather than remaining on the surface of appearances, this practice seeks to clarify what is truly at work in any situation so that understanding becomes genuine and reliable. In this sense, it is an ethical and contemplative attentiveness to the world that steadily reveals what is appropriate, humane, and right.

This investigation is not a merely abstract or academic exercise; it is ordered toward transformation of character. By repeatedly and systematically examining “things”—which can include concrete affairs, rituals, texts, and moral situations—one extends knowledge and dispels confusion. As the Great Learning presents it, such clarified knowledge becomes the basis for making intention sincere and rectifying the mind, which in turn supports the cultivation of the person, the regulation of the family, the ordering of the state, and the bringing of peace to the world. The sequence suggests that clear insight into the principles present in ordinary experience is the root from which both personal virtue and just social order grow.

Within the broader Confucian tradition, this phrase has been interpreted with some nuance, yet a shared core remains. Some readings emphasize close attention to external affairs and exemplary models in order to discern moral patterns; others stress that the same principles are to be sought within the operations of one’s own heart–mind. In all of these, “investigation of things” signifies a systematic, thoughtful engagement with the world and oneself, through which the inherent patterns of reality and morality are gradually illuminated. As those patterns are understood more deeply, the mind becomes steady, intentions become trustworthy, and the capacity to act in harmony with others and with the larger order of things naturally matures.