Exploring Feng Menglong's Ideology Of Love From History Of Love

Feng Mentlong can be regarded as a colorful and complex symbol in the special soecial background in the 16th~17th century. The spirit in his works reflects many characteristics of that time: sensitive to the society but obey to the traditional rules, initiate true love and passion but emphasis on the etiquette. History of love which is compiled by him has been universally acknowledged to be the remarkable collection of novel about love story in Chinese ancient civilization. The sources of the collection comes from a wide range, dating from Zhou Dynasty to Ming Dynasty. The nine hundred love stories reflect the compiler's concern with the serious social problems and his dedire for social reconstruchion. This thesis try to explore Feng Mentlong's spirit of love from the following three aspects: the double character of the process of compiling original sources; his tendentiousness in the categories of love story; his selection of the love affairs. Feng's prefale, notes and commentary in History of love made up of his ideology of love. The basic characteristics of it lies in the concern with the social effectiveness of love, the emphasis of the enlightment purpose of love and the tendency to material gain. Feng's approvement and dialectical recognition of the sexual passion, the progressiue ideas about female reflects his revolt to the traditional ideology of "the inhibition and rational attitude towards sexual passion under traditional etiquette." As for an intellectual in the traditional culture, he tries to eliminate the conflicts between lust and traditional rules in the process of compiling. It is also undoutly connected with his changes on thinking and his own experiences in love. It is painful for him to have a choice between lust and rationality.