Han Bang-ch’ing 韓邦慶, the author of The Biographies of the Flowers of Shanghai 海上花列傳 (a famous novel about prostitutes in the late Ch’ing Dynasty), claimed that the literary consanguinity of his novel was with the Unofficial History of the Literati 儒林外史. Lu Hsun 魯迅, an expert in the history of Chinese novels, said the same thing. Hu Shih 胡適, a famous textual scholar, however, held a contrary opinion. Hu was the first to point out that these two novels had only loose connections. Chang Ai-ling 張愛玲 (Eileen Chang) accepted his argumentation, and compared Han' s novel with Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢. This paper will prove the literary affinity between Dream of the Red Chamber and The Biographies of the Flowers of Shanghai in three ways: the theme, the characters (esp. female characters), and the style. The best way to salute the literary classics is not merely to ape somebody at every step. What counts is sharp eyes and keen insight.