The late-Ming official Hsieh Chao-che traveled widely, spending most of his career in the provinces. His Wu-tsa-tsu (Five Miscellanies) is a priceless resource on Chinese thought and aesthetics in a period of profound political and social change. Oertling's complete translation of the sections on painting and calligraphy is exhaustively annotated and accompanied by a lengthy interpretive essay. Oertling examines the major critical trends of the age: the orthodox, with its emphasis on direct study of classic works, and the heterodox, which encouraged personal expression and...