noun
vernacular Chinese novel
Refers to novels written in baihua (白話), the vernacular Chinese style, as opposed to classical literary Chinese. Used in discussions of Chinese literature.
『水滸伝』は代表的な白話小説の一つです。
"Water Margin" is one of the representative vernacular Chinese novels.
From 白話 (はくわ, 'vernacular Chinese') + 小説 (しょうせつ, 'novel').