This short text can be considered a rarity, as help for those who want to cross the “sea of officialdom” is provided not by a “compass” (指南)—a set of methods, if not tricks—but by an “ark of compassion” wherein the Buddha saves living creatures. The text enumerates five principles that an official should follow in order to protect life, including what to serve at banquets and how to perform official sacrifices. The introduction recalls the good works of a certain prefect Yan Lu 顏魯. The final sentence is a sort of postscript: Zhang Shanlai 張山來 says that the worth and value of these principles is immeasurable.