An anthology of texts on the administration of justice, premised on the notion that “the dynastic regulations [the Penal Code] and the holy scriptures and biographies of sage men are like coat and lining” 國家憲章與聖經賢傳相為表裏 (Zou Liang’s preface), in other words, that a knowledge of the classics and histories is indispensable for an enlightened administration of justice. J. 1 includes (1) “instructions from the classics” (jingdian daxun 經典大訓) and (2) “discussions by the ancient sages” (xianzhe lunyi 先哲論議), with quotes from the Treatises on Punishments of the Hanshu, Tangshu and Songshi, Song Lian’s宋濂 memorial of presentation of the Da Ming lü 大明律 in 1374, extracts from a host of Song and Yuan luminaries (including Cheng Yi, Su Shi, Zhu Xi, Zhen Dexiu, Zhang Yanghao, and others); j. 2 deals with thirteen good officials whose example should be followed and ten bad officials whose career should be used as a warning, from the Han to the Song. In the four-juan ed., j. 3 is Wu Ne’s edited version (刪正) of the Tangyin bishi (q.v.), with prefaces by Gui Wanrong 桂萬榮 (1211 and 1234), colophons by Wu Ne (1451) and Chen Cha (n.d.) appended; j. 4 (entitled xubian) presents a total 30 additional cases, both pre-Ming (22) and Ming (8). In the three-juan ed. supplemented by Zhang Qian [revérifier], j. 1 features the contents of j. 1-2 in the other editions (with only twelve “good officials” in the second part) [sûr?]; j. 2 and 3 are devoted to cases (numbering 90 [87?] and 66 [53?], respectively); many additional cases (noted as fulu 附錄) are from the Zhengde and Jiajing eras of the Ming; when a source is indicated it is most often the Yiyu ji (q.v.). Wu Ne’s 1442 preface shows that the edited Tangyin bishi was part of the original text: he appended it to the notes he had taken from the classics and histories while serving as a censor. Qi Gong’s preface indicates that his edition was based on a tracing (影鈔) of the Ming ed. published by Chen [Cha]; he had it printed for distribution to all the magistrates, presumably of Guangdong province of which he was then the governor. [phtc. préf. et table éd. 1831]
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