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This book is a chapter novel written by Wu Jingzi, a novelist in the Qing Dynasty. The book has a total of fifty-six chapters (note: some people think that the last chapter was not written by Wu Jingzi), about 400,000 words, and describes nearly two hundred characters. The novel is set in the Ming Dynasty, and actually reflects the fame and life of scholars under the imperial examination system during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods. The author's successful portrayal of the feudal literati living in the last days of feudalism and the imperial examination system, as well as his vivid depiction of cannibalistic imperial examinations, ethics and corruption, made the novel a model of ancient Chinese satirical literature, and also made the author Wu Jingzi one of the outstanding critical realist writers in the history of Chinese literature.