Contributors included fellow missionaries Robert Morrison and his son John amongst others, with the publication covering religion, politics, science, commerce and miscellaneous topics.
[4] In March 1834 the magazine carried an article entitled "A Discussion of Newspaper Strategy" 《新闻纸略论》 (Xīnwénzhǐ Luè Lùn), which was the first treatise on the Western press to appear in China.
Although edited by a missionary, the magazine played down this aspect, focusing instead on promoting the superiority of Western culture and criticising the Chinese people's arrogant xenophobic attitude in three sections covering religion, morals and ethics and scientific thought.
Gützlaff wrote in the prospectus: "The monthly periodical, which is now offered for the patronage of the foreign community of Canton and Macao, is published with a view to counteract these high and exclusive notions [the Chinese profess to be first among the nations on earth, and regard all others as 'Barbarians'.
[8] Despite its importance for research into historical Sino-western exchanges, few copies of the Eastern Western Magazine still exist in China although 39 issues are held in the Harvard University Yenching Institute (燕京学社) Library.