A rather rich compendium of practical information for the legal specialist, focusing on difficult or ambiguous situations with respect to the Penal Code. According to modern authors like Yang Yifan or He Qinhua, basing themselves on Su You’s pref. (which they quote with some differences in wording compared with the 1551 ed.), the final compiler (輯定) was a subaltern official (從吏) named Chen Yong 陳永, whom they therefore cite as “compiler” (輯); yet the pref. clearly indicates that Chen did no more than fix a text “recorded by hand by Pan Zhi, a librarian at the Metropolitan Censorate” (內臺司籍潘智手錄)—possibly the real author—that he showed to Su. (Pan is cited as author in the relevant entry in Fazhui [q.v.]; Su You is cited as author in Qianqing tang shumu 千頃堂書目.) The 60 folios (in the 1551 ed.) include the following sections: (1) nine mnemonic rhymes on notions such as degrees of mourning, six spoils, redemption of punishments, exile, and others; (2) explanations on the “sixteen characters” (例分之外十六字) with special use in law; (3) an 11-folio section titled lü nan yinyong 律難引用, discussing 46 types of situation (mostly introduced by “If...” 如) where the relevant statute does not apply straightforwardly and requiring qualification or the use of analogy; (4) an 11-folio section titled Zhaoni zhinan 招擬指南, giving practical advice on how to compose sentence proposals, with explanations of the terms used in legal language; (5) a 25-folio section in the form of questions and answers, titled Lüyi duanfa 律頤斷法, discussing in very concrete terms a number of judicial quandaries revolving around problems of marriage, property, and inheritance, among others (the first question is about sharing one’s property between four sons: one born by the wife, one by a concubine, one by a servant, and one by a mistress); it is commended by the Siku editors for its “clarity and prudence” (頗得明慎之意); and finally (6) a 7-folio section titled Fajia mijue 法家密訣, providing further advice on questions where the Code is either insufficient or ambiguous. The work is partly or totally quoted in several late-Ming editions of the Penal Code with additional materials in the upper register of the page. The lower register in j. 8 of Shitu xuanjing (q.v.) reproduces sections (1)-(5) above (the last is incomplete) under the title Fajia yaolan 要覽.