Guwen Guanzhi has a total of 221 texts. The texts are arranged by period, and originally the book consisted of 12 fascicles. The composition is as follows:
Song dynasty, fascicles 9–11, 51 texts by 12 writers
Ming dynasty, fascicle 12, 18 texts by 12 writers
Most of the texts are prose written in the "ancient style" which guwen refers to. The selection includes also three pieces written in ”parallel prose”, as well as three ci and four fu prose poems. Guwen Guanzhi was first and foremost produced as a practical study aid. The compilers avoided overly difficult texts and made their explanations as clear and concise as possible. In its own time, Guwen Guanzhi's main assets were its ideal size, the relative comprehensiveness of its selection, lack of an overly moralistic or tendentious approach, and good notes and comments. The same features have helped the anthology survive through centuries.
Origin
Guwen Guanzhi was compiled and edited by Wu Chucai and Wu Diaohou, who at the time of the publication were working as teachers in a private village school in Shaoxing. Very little is known of Wu Chucai, except that he was originally from Shaoxing and never became part of the established literati. Wu Diaohou was his younger nephew. Wu Chucai started working on the anthology in 1678 in Fujian where he had travelled to take on duties as a private secretary for his uncle, high imperial official Wu Xingzuo. His nephew joined him in the work later. The anthology was originally published in two editions. The first edition of the 34th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign has the preface by Wu Xingzuo, which in the second edition of 1697 has been replaced by the preface of Wu Chucai and Wu Diaohou. The 1697 edition also contained some corrections and changes on the notes and commentaries, but was otherwise of lower quality than the first edition. Only the first edition has been the basis for all following editions. Analysis shows that the composition of Guwen Guanzhi is heavily based on a former anthology produced by an altogether different compiler. Though the "blueprint" has often been presumed to be the "imperial" anthology Guwen yuanjian, edited during early Qing dynasty under the personal supervision of the Kangxi Emperor, and including the standard commentaries required for the imperial examinations, this has proven not to be the case. Instead, altogether almost 90% of the texts in Guwen Guanzhi originate from another Qing era anthology, Guwen xiyi, often copied character by character. However, the notes and commentaries are all different. Guwen xiyi was compiled and edited by Lin Yunming. Lin Yunming was a mid-ranking official who had passed the metropolitan examination in 1658. An earlier version of Lin's manuscript "is said to have been lost in the course of the 'Fujian troubles'...", referring to the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. In 1674, Lin was imprisoned by the pro-Ming rebels, who in turn were defeated by the troops under the command of Wu Xingzuo and others in 1675. Guwen xiyi was published in 1682.
