金瓶梅
The term "classic novels", writes Andrew H. Plaks, is a "neologism of twentieth-century scholarship" which seems to have come into common use under the influence of C. T. Hsia's "Classic Chinese Novel". Paul Ropp, following Hsia's selection, notes that "an almost universal consensus affirms six works as truly great", including, in addition to those above, "Jin Ping Mei" by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng and "The Unofficial History of the Scholars" by Wu Jingzi.