The work was first printed in 1253. The words zhoulian in the title are an allusion to the biography of Gu Kaizhi 顧凱之 in Songshu 宋書, 81/2079. Gu was appointed magistrate of Shanyin 山陰, whose 30,000 households had made his predecessors so busy that they had to work day and night; Gu succeeded so well in simplifying the administration that he could pull down the curtains during day-time and rest. Clearly, Hu Taichu (who did not write the work but gave it its title, see below) chose the allusion to recommend simplified administration. The 15 sections (篇) that compose the work deal with officials’ moral behavior and practical tasks. They include: (1) “Fulfilling one’s duties” (盡己); (2) “Ruling the people” (臨民); (3) “Serving superiors” (事上); (4) “Getting along with colleagues” (寮 [or 僚] 寀); (5) “Controlling underlings” (御吏); (6) “Hearing lawsuits” (聽訟); (7) “Monitoring the jail” (治獄); (8) “Urging tax collection” (催科); (9) “Financial administration” (理財); (10) “Corvée service” (差役); (11) “Famine relief” (賑恤); (12) “Enforcing punishments” (行 [or 用] 刑); (13) “Setting deadlines” (期限); (14) “Dealing with the influential and rich” (勢利); and (15) “Avoiding suspicion” (遠嫌). The text is based on first-hand experience and is extremely rich in practical details and technical terms. According to the Siku compilers it may be compared with Zhouxian tigang (q.v.), and though it refers to Song institutions it remains of great value to present-day officials.