Abstract: The original sense of Gewu(investigation of things)got lost as a result of disarrangement of the tablets of The Great Learning.It was an intricate case in the academic history.To inquire into the original sense of Gewu, the present paper started from the original text of the Han and the Tang dynasties to probe into the changes of The Great Learning text.And at last it was discovered that in sorting out the text in his commentary,Philosopher after Zeng made the first disarrangement of the tablets,and in re-sorting,the Song dynasty Confucians made the second.The two changes mixed the words into other sections which the Song dynasty Confucians looked upon as “missing tablets” and made up the deficinency in their own way.Such became the main cause of the complete darkness of the saying abut Gewu.After the restoration of the orignal state of The Great Learning,words of “knowledge lies in Gewu” naturally appeared,and that was virtually the words Confucius used on litigation,wherein the original sense of Gewu was implied,i.e.the exhaustive study of the nature of things.Looking at the full text of The Great Learning,one can see that the gist of “knowledge lies in Gewu” rests in keeping composed.

Key words: The Great Learning, Gewu(investigation of things), disarrangement of tablets, exhaustive study of the nature of things, keep composed