This book is an annotated and illustrated translation from The Mirror of Writing, by Kang Youwei (1889). It contributes to the study of modern Chinese art and culture, and to an understanding of the history and aesthetics of Chinese calligraphy. It contains more than 150 reproductions of the original illustrations.

For a long time Chinese calligraphy was neglected by art historians in the West. In the United States, the cultural, scholarly, and artistic importance of the art of Chinese calligraphy has been featured in only three traveling exhibitions, which have focused on...