Jin Ping Mei

"When a beautiful woman takes an idea firmly into her head, even if the walls are ten thousand feet high, she cannot be prevented from carrying it out. But if she rejects it, you may be sitting in the same room with her, yet it will be as though a thousand mountains kept you apart."

"In the seclusion of the nuptial chamber the pillow and mat are cool; The man of talent and woman of beauty approach the climax of their game. No sooner have they embarked on "dipping the red candle upside down"; Than they suddenly switch to "punting the boat by night." Rifling its fragrance, "the butterfly nibbles at the calyx of the flower"; Sporting with the water, "the dragonfly darts, now high, now low." When pleasure reaches its height passions are intense, and feelings know no bounds; As the mouth of the "divine turtle" disgorges its "silvery stream.""

"The passions evoked by clouds and rain, Joining their heads and twining their necks, within the bed curtains. Truly: When feelings converge, one is apt to forget what happens to a brocade girdle."

"The greatest novel of physical love which China has produced."

"An extraordinarily detailed description of a morally derelict and corrupt society."