The work was composed in the 1740s based on the author’s personal experience as a private secretary (muyou) in Zhili; it is unclear whether it was first engraved at that time: all the known editions are of a much later date, and at the time of writing his colophon the author was already seventy-one. There are 12 sections covering much of the financial, judicial, and administrative responsibilities typically devolved to muyou in the mid-Qing dynasty: “General considerations” (總論), “Banditry” (盜案), “Homicides” (命案), “Sexual crimes” (姦情), “Fugitives” (逃人), “Taxation” (錢榖), “Post transfer” (交盤), “Community granaries” (社倉), “Famine relief” (災賑), “Catching locusts” (捕蝗), “Water management” (水利), and “Officials” (官方). The tone is generally discursive, but the entries are short, consisting of comments rather than essays, and providing a combination of practical advice, anecdotes, legal commentary, and sample documentary formats. The section on “fugitives,” for example, features entries on the laws governing escaped criminals and military deserters as well as advice on how to apprehend them, e.g., methods for publicizing information about their flight, tricks for interrogating possible witnesses, and ideas for where to search. The difference between handbooks aimed at officials and handbooks written (like this one) from the point of view of a private secretary is especially in evidence in the final section on “officials,” a collection of concrete suggestions for muyou on how to deal with their employers.