The organization of sixty-five juan
Compiled in the late third century, the work reaches back into the struggles of the late Han and forward toward Jin reunification. Thirty juan concern Wei, fifteen Shu and twenty Wu. Ruler narratives and biographies connect political decisions, military campaigns and local affairs.
The Wei rulers receive annals, whereas Liu Bei, Liu Shan and Sun Quan appear in biographies. The Qing imperial catalogue criticized this treatment of legitimacy while also considering Chen's position as an official of Jin, the dynasty that had succeeded Wei.
Original narrative and Pei's commentary
Chen drew on earlier official and private histories, including accounts of Wei and Wu. Pei Songzhi, commissioned by the Liu Song court, submitted his annotations in 429. His memorial praises Chen's arrangement but identifies omissions caused by its brevity.
Pei supplements missing material, preserves conflicting versions when judgment is uncertain, corrects errors and offers criticism. In Zhuge Liang's biography he quotes an alternative account of the first meeting with Liu Bei, then challenges it using Zhuge's own memorial about Liu's three visits. The disagreement remains visible in the text.
Transmission and reading the layers
The Qing catalogue valued Pei's preservation of otherwise lost writings but criticized some supernatural anecdotes as irrelevant to the events under discussion. An included passage may therefore supply evidence, record uncertainty or provide something for Pei to reject.
A National Library of China Press facsimile reproduces a surviving Song printed edition, illustrating the work's later history of copying, printing and collecting. Distinguishing Chen's narrative, the sources quoted by Pei and Pei's own comments helps identify who makes each claim and whether the annotator accepts it.