儒林外史

By 吴敬梓 (1701–1754), written around 1750 and first printed in 1803. Its 56 chapters pass from one scholar to the next, mocking those who live for examination success and honouring the few who turn their backs on it. 儒林 'the forest of scholars' means the literati, and 外史 is an unofficial history.

Two scenes are known to every Chinese reader: 范进, who goes mad with joy when he passes the provincial examination in his fifties, and a dying miser who cannot let go until one of the two wicks burning in his lamp is put out.