The author of the pref., who introduces himself as a lay scholar from Wuxing (吳興布衣), i.e., Huzhou 湖州 (Zhejiang), is obviously the collator, Qian Fengwen. He explains that, although the original ed. of Wang [Kentang]’s commentary (see under Da Ming lü fuli jianshi) was lost, it survived through handwritten copies and was published separately, or as an appendix to the [Qing] Code, i.e., in forms that were not convenient to consult. His colleague Lu Fenglai collated it and asked him to copy it together with the Code, also adding Wang Kentang’s Shenxing shuo (q.v.) and a collection of emergency medical prescriptions called Yijiu 醫救; then the text was engraved and published to answer their colleagues’ demand. The pages are split into two equal registers. The lower one reproduces the 459 articles of the Qing Code, each followed by the relevant substatutes (條例) (i.e., Da Qing lü jijie fuli); Wang’s commentary (箋釋) is printed in smaller characters in the upper register. In general, the material above neatly complements the text below. In the 1705 ed. the front matter includes the mulu (giving the list of the 459 statutes), a memorial of the Ministry of Justice requesting a revision of the Code (1670), the memorial of presentation of the new Da Qing lü jijie fuli by grand secretary Ganglin et al. (1647), tables of six spoils, redemption rates (several tables, including redemption for people unjustly accused (誣輕為重贖圖), general table of contents of the Code (parts and sections, providing the number of statutes each time), and additional regulations on punishments promulgated in 1645 by the Qing (順治二年奏定大清律附, running title: 刑名). The latter include: a) a list of the statutes and substatutes in the Code rearranged by punishments (刑名) in decreasing order of gravity (each time indicating the part of the Code to which they belong), beginning with “capital crimes not susceptible to amnesty, immediate execution” (真犯死罪決不待時) and followed by the same crimes with possibility of delaying execution with imprisonment, military exile, etc. (附真犯死罪充軍為民例) (“capital crimes susceptible to amnesty” [雜犯死罪] are not mentioned); the corresponding sections in the upper register include Shenxing shuo and Jianyan shishang zhinan (qq.v.); b) articles on analogy (比附律條). Then come tables and explanations on the five punishments, instruments for punishment, degrees of mourning (general), six spoils, detailed tables of mourning, explanation of the above tables in the jianshi commentary, explanation of the mourning system (服制) entitled “Da Qing lü jijie mingli 名例,” and eight characters; much of these materials also have Wang’s jianshi commentary on the top of the page.