# Treatise on Superfluous Things

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/wen-zhenheng/treatise-on-superfluous-things/9781837312092

![Treatise on Superfluous Things](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin/wen-zhenheng/treatise-on-superfluous-things_978-18-3731-209-2-fd4c31e6.jpg?v=2026-09-24%2004%3A17%3A57)

- Book: [Treatise on Superfluous Things](https://www.bookquiver.com/wen-zhenheng/treatise-on-superfluous-things) ([Treatise on Superfluous Things.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/wen-zhenheng/treatise-on-superfluous-things.md))
- Authors: [Wen Zhenheng](https://www.bookquiver.com/wen-zhenheng)
- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-18-3731-209-2
- Published: 2026-08-27
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

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 objects all around us every day.