For its material, the History of Jin drew heavily on the historical records of the Jin dynasty itself, while the events of its final years drew heavily on the private works and records of scholars such as Yuan Haowen, Liu Qi, Yang Huan and others.
[1] Marshall Broomhall wrote that "So unscientific was this work that the K'ien-lung editions of the Liao, Kin, and Yüan histories are practically useless.
[3] The History of Jin contains a total of 135 scrolls, or chapters, divided as follows: Within the Annals, volume 1 contains a description of the ancestral records of the founding Wanyan clan, their origin in the Heishui Mohe peoples of Russian Manchuria, and ancestral figures, including Hanpu, Wugunai, Shilu, Helibo, and Wuyashu.
[4] Volume 19 includes some early figures of the Jin dynasty who were given posthumous titles, including Wanyuan Zongjun 完颜宗峻 (d. 1124), Wanyan Zongyao 完顏宗堯 (1096-1135), and Wanyan Yungong 完颜允恭 (1146-1185) Within the Treatises, volumes 25-26 describe the geographic divisions of the Jin, organized by the primary level administrative division of circuit (路).
One unusual feature of the text in comparison with other standard histories is the tabular descriptions of communication with neighboring states (交聘) in volumes 60–62.