In some cases, it was in the form of a single article, but it normally consisted of several articles or several tens of articles (the most numerous articles were forty-two in Kangi shinsei, which was a new law issued in the Kangi period).
単行形式のものもあるが、通常は数ヶ条から数十ヶ条（最大は寛喜新制の42ヶ条）によって構成される。