On the Transmission of Love-Orientation Ideas of Men of Letters of Late Ming Dynasty

There is a clear logical trace in the development of Ideas of Love of men of letters in late Ming Dynasty:firstly,the function of love is promoted conceptually and the concept oflove-orientationis proposed;later,this concept is reinforced by literary vehicles such as drama,novel and essay.When they realize that the disorder and overflowing oflovebring negative influence to society,they spare no efforts in advocating the return toreason.They try to insist on the combination of love and reason and reach an ideal balance so as to tackle the problem.But in fact,theirloveis completely immersed in the loveless and desirelessreasonrepresented by the School of Neo-Confucianism of Song and Ming dynasties.