A mystery to be solved

Jin Ping Mei is a wonderful work in the treasure house of China's classical novels. It is the first novel written by literati in the history of China literature, and it is also the first novel describing family life. With its unique selection of materials, exquisite description of secular human feelings and vigorous language use, it fully paved the way for the emergence of A Dream of Red Mansions in the future. No wonder Zhang Zhupo marveled that it was "the first wonderful book in the world".

But the author of such a large-scale and far-reaching work is still unknown. The author of the novel did not leave his name because he despised the literary prejudice of the novel at that time, and also because a large number of sexual descriptions in the book did not conform to feudal moral norms. The book Jin Ping Mei Hua Ci, which was discovered in 1930s, was preceded by Xinzi Xin's Preface, Wu Dong's Preface to Picking Pearls and twenty public postscript. I learned from Xinzi Xin's preface that the author of this book is Lanling Xiaoxiao. However, this is obviously a pseudonym, but it does not provide any exact materials. Therefore, the mystery of the author of Jin Ping Mei is covered with a mysterious veil.

It has been more than 360 years since the publication of Jin Ping Mei, and its writing process and author have always been the most concerned issues for scholars studying Jin Ping Mei at home and abroad. People have put forward various speculations about its author, such as Wang Shizhen's theory, Li Yu's theory and Feodor Lynen's theory in Ming and Qing Dynasties, but most of them lack conclusive proof. In recent years, four influential theories are Wang Shizhen's theory, Li Kaixian's theory, Jia Sanjin's theory and Tu Long's theory. They have made a big step forward in the study of the author of Jin Ping Mei, and each has put forward many well-founded materials to prove it. But each has its own unexplained loopholes and shortcomings, and they can't form a conclusion.

Exploring the author of Jin Ping Mei is not only to solve the copyright problem, but also to understand the author's family life, literary accomplishment, artistic interest and spiritual temperament, which is also a necessary part of deepening the study and further understanding of Jin Ping Mei. Although these explorations have not yet found a satisfactory answer, the author's mystery has become a great regret in literature. But after all, every step of exploration is close to the truth. We are looking forward to this day. With the full cooperation of literary researchers, poetics and language stylists, we will unveil the mystery of this significant author after carefully and scientifically studying the book Jin Ping Mei.