The Four Great Classical Novels, or Four Major Classical Novels (Chinese: 四大名著) of Chinese literature, are the four novels commonly counted by scholars to be the greatest and most influential in classical Chinese fiction. Extremely famous and well known to every Chinese reader in the 20th century, they are not to be confused with the Four Books of Confucianism. Chinese literature spans back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the matured fictional novel arising in the medieval period to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. ... The Four Books of Confucianism (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) (not to be confused with the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature), are Chinese classic texts that Zhu Xi selected, in the Song dynasty, as an introduction to Confucianism: the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects of Confucius... Wenmiao Temple, a Confucian Temple in Wuwei, Gansu, Peoples Republic of China. ...

In chronological order, they are:

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義) (14th century)
• Water Margin (水滸傳) (also known as Outlaws of the Marsh) (mid-13th/14th/15th century?),
• Journey to the West (西遊記) (16th century),
• Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢) (also known as The Story of the Stone) (first block print 1791)

Some consider Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅) (The Plum in the Golden Vase or Golden Lotus) (1610) to be a fifth classic. In the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, Jin Ping Mei was considered with the first three as "Four Major Novels of Wonder" (四大奇書). Its position has since been usurped by Dream of the Red Chamber. An illustration of the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based upon events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty, and the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... It has been suggested that Guo Shiguang be merged into this article or section. ... The four heroes of the story, left to right: SÅ«n Wùkōng, Xuánzàng, ZhÅ« Bājiè, and Shā Wùjìng. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... “The Story of the Stone” redirects here. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Jin Ping Mei (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally The Plum in the Golden Vase, also translated as The Golden Lotus) is a Chinese naturalistic novel composed in the vernacular (baihua) during the late Ming Dynasty. ... // Events January 7 - Galileo Galilei discovers the Galilean moons of Jupiter. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... Flag (1890-1912) Anthem Gong Jinou (1911) Territory of Qing China in 1892 Capital Shengjing (1636-1644) Beijing (1644-1912) Language(s) Chinese Manchu Mongolian Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1636-1643 Huang Taiji  - 1908-1912 Xuantong Emperor Prime Minister  - 1911 Yikuang  - 1911-1912 Yuan Shikai History  - Establishment of the Late...