Shen Fu wrote Six Records of a Floating Life at the beginning of the 19th century. At this time, China was under the rule of the Imperial Qing dynasty (1644-1912), which came to power by overthrowing the previous Ming dynasty (1368-1644). In order to legitimize its rule and pacify a hostile populace, the Qing dynasty—of Manchu origin—put significant effort into Sinicizing themselves and promoting traditional, conservative values and policies. Despite the rapid industrialization and modernization that other nations pursued throughout the period of Qing rule, life in China remained largely unchanged right through to the middle of the 19th century. The society was primarily agrarian, with the majority of the population working in agriculture and only a comparatively small elite working in more prestigious and prosperous forms of employment, as merchants, craftsmen, scholars, and government officials.

It was only decades after Shen Fu wrote his Six Records of a Floating Life that the large-scale changes that shaped modern China began to transform the nation. A succession of weak and short-sighted rulers through the second half of the 19th century proved incapable of adapting or modernizing the country sufficiently to meet challenges imposed by a growing populace and increasing pressure from foreign influences.