The proposed review analyzes the recently released four volumes of the Russian translation of the mysterious medie-val Chinese novel “Chin Ping Mei” (in Russian, “The Plum in the Golden Vase”). The lengthy story written as a semi-erotic romance, can be compared with the best editions of “Arabian Nights” (in Russian, “A Book of A Thousand and One Nights”). The impressive edition depicts the life story of a lustful Chinese merchant who has devoted himself to spending his days among his wives, concubines and other “divas of amusement”. The profound publication includes a great amount of comments, remarks, scientific articles and original engravings. The new, impressively expanded (compared with the first 1977 edition in 2 volumes) scientific publication was prepared by several generations of Rus-sian scholars in the field of Chinese studies. The editor-in-chief and supervisor of the project Artyom Kobzev (Mos-cow Institute for Oriental Studies) has provided a brilliant edition, having created an opportunity for