Jin Ping Mei

"The Plum in the Golden Vase" is a long vernacular novel about world affairs in China during the Ming Dynasty. It is generally considered to be China's first chapter-style novel independently created by a literati. It was written around the time of the Longqing to Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty, and the author signed it Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng. The title of the book "Jin Ping Mei" is a combination of one character from the names of the three heroines Pan Jinlian, Li Ping'er and Pang Chunmei. The theme of the novel evolved from the scene in "Water Margin" in which Wu Song kills his sister-in-law. Through the description of Ximen Qing, a representative figure of the Philistine forces who is a bureaucrat, a bully, and a wealthy businessman, and his family's sinful life, it reproduces the social life of the people at that time. The book depicts a ghostly world consisting of the imperial masters who wielded power and dictatorship, down to local bureaucrats and bullies, and even local ruffians, hooligans, and gangsters. It reveals the darkness and corruption of society in the mid-Ming Dynasty, and has profound cognitive value. This work is presented by Liang Jun.