文震亨

Wen Zhenheng was a Ming dynasty man of letters; reliable public sources offer only limited information about his exact dates and the details of his life. Six of his works are held in this collection, most of them editions or compilations centered on The Treatise on Superfluous Things (Zhangwuzhi), along with titles such as The Zhangwuzhi in the Chinese Ancient Material Culture series, One Pot of Heaven and Earth (four volumes), and a related volume in a set of Chinese classical literature. These works are commonly classified under culture, architecture, history, and social and cultural studies. The Treatise on Superfluous Things describes in elegant prose domestic interiors, gardens, objects, and the refined tastes of daily life. It reflects late Ming literati aesthetics and offers vivid material for understanding ancient material culture, architectural furnishing, and ways of living, and it continues to attract readers today.