Maugham spent the winter months of 1919-20 travelling 1500 miles up the Yangtze River. Always more interested in people than places, he gave full rein to a sensitive and philosophical nature. On a Chinese Screen is the refined accumulation of the countless scraps of paper on which he had taken notes. Within the narrow confines of their colonial milieu, missionaries, consuls, army officers and company managers are all gently ridiculed as they persist obliviously with the life they know.
威廉·萨姆塞特·毛姆（1874—1965），英国著名作家，被誉为“最会讲故事的作家”，整个英语世界最畅销的作家之一。毛姆是一位成功的多产作家，在长篇小说、短篇小说和戏剧领域里都有建树。不过毛姆本人对自己的评价却很谦虚：“我只不过是二流作家中排在前面的一个。” 毛姆最知名、最畅销的小说《人性的枷锁》（1915）在其去世前的销量就已超过了一千万册。除长篇外，毛姆还是一个出色的短篇小说家，他的短篇小说有一百多部。1946年，毛姆设立了萨姆塞特·毛姆奖，奖励优秀的年轻作家，鼓励 并资助他们到各处旅游。1952年，牛津大学授予毛姆名誉博士学位。1954年，英王室授予他“荣誉侍从”称号。1965年12月16日毛姆在法国尼斯去逝。