Lin Yutang's essays on Chinese society and culture were written in both Chinese and English and spanned the immensely influential decades of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

In this collection of his seminal work, Yutang confronts the rapid cultural developments of the era and the role that a Chinese intellectual must assume as he shares and translates his native country to the West. Known best for introducing "humour" into Chinese literature and culture, Yutang was a writer of great scholarly and popular interest, reflected in these engaging, substantial, and inspiring works.