Yang was astounded when he got a look at the genealogy, because it traced the Nien family back to its origins and related changes in the family line, case histories, and clan rules. It touched on historical events from the Chin, Yuan, and Sung dynasties, events which could be checked against orthodox histories and for which the genealogy could supplement existing records.
楊緒賢見了之後，大吃一驚，因為此譜講到粘氏姓氏源流，又述及歷代修譜的經過，譜例、族規等，涉及金、元、宋三方的史事，與正史似可互相對照，彌補文獻之不足。