The first work to attempt an overview on such a broad and nuanced topic, A General History of Chinese Aesthetics comprises eight volumes in total: Qin Dynasty; Han Dynasty; Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties; Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties; Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties; Ming Dynasty; Qing Dynasty; and the modern and contemporary era. 　

Over the course of nearly three million words, A General History unveils a full landscape of Chinese aesthetics. Chinese thought on beauty traces origins to the pre-Qin period (before 221 BCE). The Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi wrote, “Heaven and Earth’s beauty is beyond words”, and the Classic of Music notes that “The grandest music achieves the same harmony that prevails between heaven and earth.” In the more than 2,000 years since these reflections were recorded, the Chinese have accumulated a rich tradition of aesthetic thought on par with the depth and scope of its Western counterpart. Many ancient Chinese aesthetic theories continue to be relevant even today.

However, there are also long-term trends in academic pedagogy in China that A General History has been able to overcome. The academic study of aesthetics has long been dominated by Western aesthetics and relegated Chinese aesthetics to an auxiliary role, using it as a reference to expound on the former. The Western aesthetic categories of beauty, the sublime, humor and tragedy have also been copied mechanically and superimposed over Chinese aesthetics. Both of these clumsy exchanges have led to a somewhat distorted presentation of Chinese aesthetics, as well as just a general tendency to afford it less value. A General History rectifies this by approaching the unique problems and fundamental features of Chinese aesthetics within the framework of world aesthetics.

Reflecting the theoretical charm of Chinese aesthetics, A General History highlights valuable concepts within the tradition and outlines key developments within Chinese aesthetic thought. It is more than simply an encyclopedic chronicle however, which also reflexively addresses some of the key issues within the discipline. A General History offers the contributors’ ideas on some of the grand problems in Chinese aesthetics, integrating the achievements made in the field so far and attempting to correct academic misconduct.

A necessity for the book shelf of any scholar in the field, A General History promises to fill a long unoccupied void in the literature on Chinese Aesthetics. A repository summarizing the achievements of Chinese aesthetics over the past century, it paves the way for future research and further constructing the discipline.