A Millennium from the Perspective of Arts – China in Classical Paintings tells the stories of China from paintings of different ages. It consists of six volumes, covering the Northern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and the Republic of China. By introducing the details of the works and observing the artists' creative mentality, the book not only tells the big pictures of politics, military, economy, technology, and humanity in different historical periods, but also shows the daily life and aesthetics of ancient China.

As a Norwegian Chinese cultural scholar, the author Li Shubo adopts a special perspective in the book by combining the achievements of overseas Chinese studies with contemporary archaeology and art history, and uses simple language presenting a comprehensive, profound and thought-provoking picture of Chinese civilization.