The topics include all genres and periods of poetry, prose, fiction, and drama but also areas not traditionally thought of as literature, such as wit and humour, proverbs and rhetoric, historical and philosophical writings, classical exegesis, literary theory and criticism, traditional fiction commentary, as well as popular culture, the impact of religion upon literature, the role of women, and the relationship with non-Chinese languages and ethnic minorities.
[6] There are seven main sections, within which chapters are in chronological order: Foundations; Poetry; Prose; Fiction; Drama; Commentary, Criticism, and Interpretation; and Popular and Peripheral Manifestations.
[4] Dean wrote that "All the discussions deal with the social, political, and philosophical backgrounds that either inhabit or inhibit the literature.
"[5] Kitty Chen Dean of Nassau Community College wrote that even though the book's main text has a lack of Chinese characters and that "everything is translated" it is "difficult reading" because of the "many transliterated titles, authors' names, and dates".
"[3] He argued that what he would have wanted to see was "more detailed pointers to reference and source material" and he also argued that the lack of "focused and detailed" endnotes and/or footnotes are not made up by the presence of the further reading suggestions, and that "the lack of source references makes it difficult to trace a particular author's views and to contextualise them in the wider framework of Sinological scholarship.