CMV: Dream of the Red Chamber was the world's first modern lit

Predating Jane Austen (who I consider the mother of English Modern Lit) by about 30 years, DotRC is the world's first novel with the sophisticated internal worlds and psychological depth that we have come to associate with modern literature.

It's not just a great novel, it's so innovative and groundbreaking.

And as famous as she is, even Jane Austen, I would say is underappreciated in the grand history of literature.