The Compendium lists in detail various formulae and techniques for calculations involving everything from pepper, rice and grain, rents, percentage composition of gold and silver, and even the birth of male and female children. Each technique comes with a little tune to be sung while practicing one's abacus skills.
書內詳載珠算口訣、技巧，羅列的題目類型，更包括了胡椒、米麥、租稅、金銀成色，甚至生男生女的算法；再一一配上曲調，可以一邊唱歌，一邊學珠算，一時之間洛陽紙貴。