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*''Chinese/Japanese'': 金瓶梅 ''(Jīnpíngméi / Kinpeibai)''
''The Plum in the Golden Vase'', also known as ''The Golden Lotus'', is considered one of the Four Great Classic [[Ming Dynasty]] Novels, along with the ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', ''[[Journey to the West]]'', and ''The [[Water Margin]]''.
The text is highly erotic, even pornographic, and so while highly prized as a work of literature, it is also not nearly as widely celebrated as the other three. The story, in one hundred chapters, tells of the various activities of a wealthy lecher, who has lavish parties and an extremely active social and sex life, but never finds real love; he dies "an empty shell" of a man, and the last twenty chapters detail the unraveling of his household.
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==References==
*Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 254.
[[Category:Historical Documents]]
[[Category:Sengoku Period]]