The author began to conceive of this book in 1931, and it took twelve years until the book was published in 1943. What is significant is that the creation of "The Glass Bead Game" was almost synchronized with Hitler's atrocities. In the end, Hesse won, and the Third Reich collapsed in 1945 after twelve years of existence. "The Glass Bead Game" won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.

At the beginning of the First World War, Hesse expressed his latest thoughts in a series of articles, especially on Dostoevsky: to establish a world beyond the usual A new moral consciousness based on the concepts of good and bad must observe all extreme opposites with a unified eye. In fact, as early as when the artillery fire of the First World War was in full swing, Hesse saw that the concept of "patriotism" was a breeding ground for chauvinism, and he was framed as treason for opposing the war. He had already written an article to express this important thought: " I would very much like to be a patriot, but first of all I am a 'human being'. If I cannot have both, then I will always choose 'human being'." After the 1930s, as Hitler's perverse actions intensified, Hesse's ideas gradually matured and were eventually condensed into the symbolic book "The Glass Bead Game". The author said through the mouth of the protagonist Knecht: "After all the blood was shed, people longed for reason, and Castari came into being." The glass bead game with the purpose of synthesizing all knowledge in the world is this Castari. The supreme fruit of the spiritual kingdom.

Before the publication of "The Glass Bead Game", Hesse published "Journey to the East" in 1927, which is known as his "spiritual autobiography". After a long period of meditation, this Westerner who tried to learn from the East realized that the root cause of modern society lies in human life, not in material civilization. Therefore, the creed of the Eastern travelers in the book is a cosmopolitan or cosmic nature that transcends traditional concepts. Thought: "Our goal is not limited to one country, nor is there any geographical limit, but to seek the hometown and youth of the soul. They are everywhere, but nowhere, they are the unity of all times." In order to explore the true meaning of life, the protagonist of "Journey to the East" joins a secret alliance with the purpose of "seeking truth from the East". After participating in many "trips to explore the truth" organized by the alliance, he realizes the meaning of life. The meaning is "He will prosper and I will decline." The dedication on the title page of "The Glass Bead Game" is unusual: "Dedicated to Eastern Travellers". The kinship between the two works "Journey to the East" and "The Glass Bead Game" is self-evident.

In 1932, Hesse wrote a draft of the preface to the book; in 1933, he wrote a draft of the introduction; in 1934, he published "The Master of Wind and Rain", which later became an appendix; In 1935, he published most of the poems written by the protagonist of the novel during his student days; in 1936, he published "The Confessing Elder", which later became the second appendix; in 1937, he published what later became the third appendix. "Indian Biography"; began writing the biography of the master of the Glass Bead Game in 1938, and completed "The Inspiration" and "Walzel" in that year; in 1939, he completed "Research Years" and "Two Religious Groups" ; Completed "Mission" and "Master of the Glass Bead Game" in 1940; wrote the most important poem "Phase" in the book in 1941, and completed the remaining chapters; completed the concluding chapter in 1942 "Legend", in 1943, the first edition of the two-volume "Glass Bead Game" was published in Switzerland. In 1945, Peter Sulkup, the publisher of Hesse's works, luckily survived the Nazi concentration camp. After receiving Germany's first post-war publishing license from the Allies, he immediately started publishing "The Glass Bead Game". In 1946, "The Glass Bead Game" finally came out in Germany.