The work is composed of proclamations (示諭) (j. 1) and judicial sentences (判牘) (j. 2-6) by an author with the reputation of an outstanding judge; they date to magistracies at Taihe 泰和, Xingguo 興國, and Poyang 鄱陽 (all in Jiangxi). The preface claims that Shen was an exemplar of how “loyalty and trust” (忠信) translate into “lucid decisions” (明決). The 23 proclamations concern yamen security and the magistrate’s integrity, literati behavior, tax payments, lawsuits, flood control in the polder area around Poyang Lake, and famine relief; they are dated by the year and month and cover the period 1843-50. The contents of the 135 judicial “affairs” (事), largely civil cases, are indicated by the captions listed in the mulu. The pieces are chronologically arranged. They had been assembled by Shen, but the work was edited and published by his two sons, Shen Zhixiu 芝修 and Shen Tangxiu 棠修, after his death. In some copies j. 6 is followed by two texts by a certain Xia Xie 夏燮, dated 1853, concerning the death of Li Renyuan 李仁元 (h. Zizhai 資齋), the magistrate of Leping 樂平, who was killed by the Taipings with his family, together with the author, earlier that year (see below). In other copies these texts are placed at the end of Huaiqing yigao, a collection of poems, letters, and miscellaneous texts whose contents are in part related to administrative matters.