Treatise on Superfluous Things

A classic, seventeenth-century Chinese guide to the harmony of ordinary objects of everyday life

A Penguin Classic

Written in the seventeenth century by Chinese scholar Wen Zhenheng, Treatise on Superfluous Things offers a compelling glimpse into the tastes and cultural values of the educated elite in late Ming China. This guide to everyday items—from window frames and old master paintings to caged birds, fruits, and vegetables—is the most complete surviving account of the material and cultural tastes of the era in one of China’s largest and richest cities. It is also a guide to finding joy, pleasure, and harmony in the everyday objects that surround us.

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