The novel Gold Vase Plum, or The Golden Lotus or The Plum In The Golden Vase in English translation, is a long 100 chapter classical Chinese novel written by an unknown Chinese person around the 1400s in the Ming Dynasty. The novel is the first erotica novel of China and probably of the world.  The story takes place between the years 1123 and 1127 AD during the Song Dynasty about a young Chinese man named Ximen Qing, who inherited wealth from his father and was a sex maniac with a wife and 13 concubines in his own mansion! The novel is a story of Ximen Qing from when he was 23 years old until his early death at 27 years old due to overdose with a medicine similar to Viagra. Yes, Ximen Qing did have more intense and pleasurable sex with many young women (between 17 and 23 years old!) after using the aphrodesiac. The more pills Ximen took, the better the sex! But all medicines have side effects that can kill.

The main women in the story are Pan Jin Liang (Gold) , Li Ping Er (Vase), and Pang Chun Mei (Plum). These three women form the core of the novel, and the four way romantic escapades with Ximen Qing, along with jeolous, lust, and betrayal. All three women are Ximen’s top 3 concubines from the 13 concubines he proudly owns in his mansion! He is the legendary womanizer and pimp of China!

Ximen Qing is a successful business owner of a pharmacy shop in town. No one dares to go against him, because Ximen has political and business connections with the top officials, even the police! So basically, Ximen can steal away a man’s wife or girlfriend without incident! Ximen Qing would have been the perfect man for the TV show Cheaters!

Ximen therefore is both good and bad. Good, because he gave the young woman the best intense sex she ever experienced! Bad, because Ximen was an adulterer. In this novel, the bad outweighed the good in the long run for Ximen Qing.

The English translation is long, around 2,100 pages. But if you like erotica novels, this one is a classic! The English translation is graphic with numerous sex scenes rich with pornographic details! A daring novel to write back in ancient China. That is probably why the author remained ananymous. He or she would have been executed by the Emperor at the time! Even today, Chinese people of the old generation know the story, but they choose to recognize it as dirty and filthy and a moral lesson to avoid such amoral behavior.

Of course in the 21 century, the novel is safe to read. And highly recommended!