[M]undane Knowledge (Shih-chih) … belongs to the mundane world and does not concern the attainment of the Path. Chih-i explains that the mundane knowledge is filled with deviant ideas and false attachments. People mistake the provisional existence to be real, with which their minds do not act in accordance with the principle or truth, and do not have faith to enter the correct path. Chih-i defines the characteristics of the mundane knowledge in China as different from those in India. While the Indians tend to allow their fancy to run wild, the Chinese aim at practical things, such as social behaviors, living skills, knowledge of nature, cultivation of supra-mundane powers, and so forth, for the purpose of gaining fame and fortune, and satisfying desires. These things generally belong to mundane knowledge and are conceived by the minds of ignorant beings. (Vol. 2, Page 134)