An extremely rich collection of administrative pieces written by the author as prefect of Huizhou 徽州 (Anhui), where he was appointed in early 1907. The title seems to be an allusion to a passage in the biography of Tao Kan 陶侃 in Jinshu 晉書 (66/1773), where Tao, bored in his new posting as prefect, moves bricks to and from his residence to show restlessness. (For another work alluding to the same anecdote, see Piyu zaji.) J. 1 consists of proclamations (示諭), including prohibitions against opium smoking and bound feet, as well as addresses concerning an exhibition of local products (物產會) held in Huizhou—on which there is further information in later chapters. J. 2-9 are composed of responses to requests and judicial decisions (批判), arranged by “sections” (科)—the six traditional domains of governance plus the xueke 學科 and the xianzheng ke 憲政科 (this last concerning elections to the new assemblies); they are rich in information on the socio-economic and political life of the region in the very last years of the Qing—a time of rapidly changing institutions. The same is true of the author’s communications (稟詳, j. 10) and letters (箋啟, j. 11), which deal with every kind of topic. A particularly original part of the work is j. 12, which consists of reports on local customs as ordered by the new Ministry of Justice (法部) and the Code Revision Bureau (修定法律館): the investigations, which were made by local notables in the different counties of Huizhou, their reports being then checked and confirmed (審核) by the prefect, dealt with both popular customs (風俗習慣) and “gentry management customs” (紳士辦事習慣). The author’s general outlook is that of an official politically conservative and at best moderately reformist in economic matters. In his interviews with the Guangxu emperor and empress dowager (who was doing all the talking, the emperor confining himself to a few empty words at the beginning and end), Liu advocated commercial fairs to stimulate China’s position in the economic competition, but regretted that studying the classics was neglected at the Zhili Academy (直隸學堂, one of the schools established by Yuan Shikai in Baoding), and warned the throne against relinquishing its power.