Abstract：The Golden Lotus is one of the most important works in Chinese novel history, thus has appealed to a great many critics to interpret it from various angles. In those reviews, The Golden Lotus is compared with other works in most cases, which ranges from poem, historical biography, traditional Chinese opera and novel. Critics express their reading experience and value judgment in their reviews, pertinent though many are, biased opinions do exist. This paper studies previous critics' aesthetic appreciation of The Golden Lotus from the perspective of comparative study, which will shed some light on its rich implication and literary status.

Keyword：The Golden Lotus;review;comparison;status;