Ankeney Weitz, Ph.D. (1994) in History of Art, University of Kansas, is Assistant Professor of Art and East Asian Studies at Colby College, Waterville, Maine. She has published several works on the art market and art collecting during the early Yuan dynasty, including: Notes on the Early Yuan Antique Art Market in Hangzhou, Ars Orientalis 27 (1997).

Subject of this book is the social and cultural history of Chinese art collecting during the early years of Mongol rule in China (the Yuan dynasty, 1276-1368).

At the core of Weitz’s book is a complete translation of the Record of Clouds and Mist Passing Before One’s Eyes (Yunyan guoyan lu), an art catalog written by the Song dynasty loyalist Zhou Mi (1232-1298). This text contains detailed records of more than forty private art collections that the author saw in Hangzhou between 1275 and 1296.

The careful annotations, scholarly introduction, and well-researched appendices help to broaden our understanding of the early care and transmission of artworks, the social dimensions of art collecting, and the development of a multi-ethnic society in Yuan China.