Jin Ping Mei
In spite of the popularity of his edition, Zhang's interpretation did not carry the day in the following centuries. The ban in the reign of the Kangxi Emperor assumed that book was simply pornographic. Critics in the New Culture Movement in the early twentieth century saw the novels as expressions of popular culture, not sophisticated allegories, and rejected the "dufa" interpretations. They agreed with the Kangxi Emperor that "Jin Ping Mei" was pornographic. But late twentieth century scholars took a new view founded on the older one. Andrew H. Plaks extolled Zhang's insights and interpretations, and the translator of "Jin Ping Mei", David T. Roy endorsed Zhang's view that "the number one marvelous book is not an obscene book." Roy, while preferring the more complete text of the earlier edition for his translation, says that he "stands on the shoulders" of Zhang, especially his view of the moral basis of the seemingly immoral tale.