It is a selection of what were judged to be the best poetic and prose pieces from the late Warring States period (c. 300 BC) to the early Liang dynasty (c. AD 500), excluding the Chinese Classics and philosophical texts.

[1] The Wen Xuan preserves most of the greatest fu rhapsody and shi poetry pieces from the Qin and Han dynasties, and for much of pre-modern history was one of the primary sources of literary knowledge for educated Chinese.

The Liang dynasty, though short-lived, was a period of intense literary activity, and the ruling Xiao family ensured that eminent writers and scholars were frequently invited to the imperial and provincial courts.

The Wen Xuan was compiled during the 520s by Xiao Tong—the son and heir apparent of Emperor Wu of Liang—at the Liang capital Jiankang (modern Nanjing) with the assistance of his closest friends and associates.

[4] As Xiao matured, he developed a love of scholarship and books, and by his early teenage years the library of the Eastern Palace – the Crown Prince's official residence – contained over 30,000 volumes.

[11] The Wen Xuan contains 761 works organized into 37 separate categories: Rhapsodies (fu 賦), Lyric Poetry (shī 詩), Chu-style Elegies (sāo 騷), Sevens (qī 七), Edicts (zhào 詔), Patents of Enfeoffment (cè 册), Commands (lìng 令), Instructions (jiào 教), Examination Prompts (cèwén 策文), Memorials (biǎo 表), Letters of Submission (shàngshū 上書), Communications (qǐ 啓), Memorials of Impeachment (tánshì 彈事), Memoranda (jiān 牋), Notes of Presentation (zòujì 奏記), Letters (shū 書), Proclamations of War (xí 檄), Responses to Questions (duìwèn 對問), Hypothetical Discourses (shè lùn 設論), Mixed song/rhapsody (cí 辭), Prefaces (xù 序), Praise Poems (sòng 頌), Encomia for Famous Men (zàn 贊), Prophetic Signs (fú mìng 符命), Historical Treatises (shǐ lùn 史論), Historical Evaluations and Judgments (shǐ shù zàn 史述贊), Treatises (lùn 論), "Linked Pearls" (liánzhū 連珠), Admonitions (zhēn 箴), Inscriptions (míng 銘), Dirges (lěi 誄), Laments (aī 哀), Epitaphs (béi 碑), Grave Memoirs (mùzhì 墓誌), Conduct Descriptions (xíngzhuàng 行狀), Condolences (diàowén 弔文), and Offerings (jì 祭).

Cao Xian, Xu Yan, Li Shan [zh], Gongsun Luo, and other scholars of the late Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty helped promote the Wen Xuan until it became the focus of an entire branch of literature study: an early 7th century scholar from Yangzhou named Cao Xian (曹憲) produced a work entitled Pronunciation and Meaning in the Wen Xuan (Chinese: 文選音義; pinyin: Wénxuǎn Yīnyì) and the others – who were his students – each produced their own annotations to the collection.

A number of fragments of the Wen Xuan or commentaries to it were rediscovered in Japan in the 1950s, including one from Dunhuang discovered in the Eisei Bunko Museum and a complete manuscript of a shorter Kujō (九條, Mandarin: Jiǔtiáo) edition printed as early as 1099.

In the early 19th century, Qing dynasty scholar Hu Kejia produced a collated and textually critical edition entitled Kao Yi (Chinese: 考異; lit.

[17] In the mid-16th century, during the Ming dynasty, an abridged version of the Wen Xuan was created to help aspiring officials study composition for the eight-legged essays on Ming-era imperial exams.