The work is entirely devoted to the theme of moderate torture and leniency in administering justice. J. 1 contains imperial edicts, headed by a 1730 edict of the Yongzheng emperor recommending expert interrogation in the provinces and the use of torture only as a last resort, as has been done in the central judicial offices since the beginning of his reign on the recommendation of his brother Prince Yixian 怡賢親王 (1686-1730), whose memory the edict is celebrating. It is followed by three main parts: (1) A series of very clear explanations of the laws regarding the application and suspension of punishments and torture, and the instruments used, based on the Penal Code and Mingfa zhizhang (q.v.) (j. 2-3). (2) Texts concerning punishments extracted from various works in the four categories of literature: materials concerning punishments and their reduction in the classics (經); edicts, memorials, historical facts, and biographies of model officials in the histories (史); texts from the philosophers (子); and maxims by ancient authors in the collectanea (集), to which are added literary works from the reigning dynasty (j. 4-7). (3) Biographies of harsh officials (j. 8). The fanli specifies that the author did not use the many specialized treatises on justice (明刑之書) available. The rules quoted from the statutes and substatutes are meant to help scholars entering government without much knowledge of the Penal Code and likely to be misled by underlings. The book was not yet printed when the author died in office; his parents and disciples edited the text, requested prefaces, and paid for the engraving. Liu Qixian claims in his pref. that “the way [the author] conceals exhortations and warnings in his outward expression of principles is both profound and subtle” (其寓勸戒于意言之表者尤深且微), and expresses the hope that once the work is published future officials will know how to use it as a mirror.