Jin Ping Mei (Chinese: ?璇? pinyin: J蘋n P穩ng M矇i), translated as The Plum in the Golden Vase or The Golden Lotus, is a Chinese naturalistic novel composed in vernacular Chinese during the late Ming Dynasty. The anonymous author took the pseudonym Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng (?剝??蝚???, 'The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling', and his identity is otherwise unknown. The earliest known versions of the novel exist only in handwritten scripts