This is an anthology tracing the development of Chinese art from the earliest literary reference in Confucius to the vital essays of Shih-t'ao and Shen Tsung-chi'en twenty centuries later. The selections cover every aspect of technique and subject matter, including the Six Canons of Chinese painting, while the scope of the book is widened further by the inclusion of important essays on collecting and connoisseurship, on the pricing and appraisal of paintings, and on calligraphy.