The Four Great Classical Novels of China are Journey to the West (西遊記, Xī Yóu Jì), Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義, Sānguó Yǎnyì), Water Margin (水滸傳, Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn), and Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢, Hóng Lóu Mèng).
The ancient legend said the 108 heros in "Outlaws of the Marsh", were the 36 gods of sky highland and 72 warriors of earth descent to the mortal world.
Examples (Wiktionary)
Mandarin
倘要“对证古本”,则《水浒传》里的一句“那雪正下得紧”,就是接近现代的大众语的说法,比“大雪纷飞”多两个字,但那“神韵”却好得远了。
倘要“對證古本”,則《水滸傳》裏的一句“那雪正下得緊”,就是接近現代的大眾語的説法,比“大雪紛飛”多兩個字,但那“神韻”卻好得遠了。
tǎng yào “ duì zhèng gǔ běn ” , zé “ shuǐ hǔ zhuàn ” lǐ de yī jù “ nà xuě zhèng xià de jǐn ” , jiù shì jiē jìn xiàn dài de dà zhòng yǔ de shuō fǎ , bǐ “ dà xuě fēn fēi ” duō liǎng ge zì , dàn nà “ shén yùn ” què hǎo dé yuǎn le .
In the novel Shui Hu Chuan, Sung Chiang thrice attacked Chu Village. Twice he was defeated because he was ignorant of the local conditions and used the wrong method. Later he changed his method; first he investigated the situation, … using a stratagem similar to that of the Trojan Horse in the foreign story. And on the third occasion he won.