The book is known for predicting the future of China, and is written by Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang (袁天罡), and has been compared to the works of famous western prophet Nostradamus.

[1] Well known in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the book was previously banned in the People's Republic of China under the Communist party for superstition (one of the "Four Olds"), though it has since reappeared in street-side book stalls in the 1990s as a bestseller.

[1] The book is supposed to contain clues to China's future conveyed through a series of 60 surreal drawings, each accompanied by an equally obscure poem.

Each poem is a prophecy, which describes a Chinese historical event that will occur in order.

[3][4] During the end-of-dynasty turmoil, rebels used it to prophesize victory for their cause and thereby drum up public support.