The novel is based on the story of young non-state employed teachers in poor village in China during the 1990s, who played an important role in children’s education in the rural areas where the supply of formal state-employed teachers was far from sufficient. Their sad struggle for equal treatment with their state-employed peers reveal the hard times these devote and selfless teachers went through, whose existence and contribution, however, have been little known to the public. With affectionate strokes and in a realistic style, the author draws a picture full of the details of a forgotten corner in China society.

Taking the education in the impoverished rural villages in the 1990s’ China as the background, The Sky Dwellers has narrated the bitter stories of the local teachers who have contributed selflessly to the rural education cause while living a poor life. It also has reflected the harsh experiences of the local rural teachers who have long been forgotten by people. This book has evolved around the stories of three generations of local teachers turning formal teachers in Jieling Elementary School in Xihe Township, and the love stories among Zhang Yingcai, Headmaster Yu, Sun Sihai, Station Head Wan, Lan Fei and Xia Xue. Small stories have intertwined in the big stories, and each small story can be the beginning of the next, intersecting and converging, making the story-telling brilliant, tense yet powerful.