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The character images of women in the late Ming dynasty work <Huanxiyuanjia> are different from other erotic novels from the same age, taking the shape of a number of character images, and the method in which the conclusion is drawn shows consistency. The female character images in the work can be categorized as lustful type, loyal type, and practical type. In the work, the women all commit adultery and have extramarital affairs, and given the fact that late Ming society was a feudal Confucian society, it can be understood how immoral and socially censured their acts are. In other erotic novels of the late Ming Dynasty, female character images take on the form of lustful women or temptresses with a serious sexual thirst, and, for the satisfaction of the sexual desires of male readers,the writer creates women who are debauched and self indulging to no end. Next, in the conclusion of the work, most of these women are punished by death as the price for their debauchery and self-indulgence. Therefore, most works give the impression that the writer is stressing caution against carnalism and recommending that readers avoid it. However, in <Huanxiyuanjia>, the writer does not morally reprimand the women in the work, instead assuming a sympathetic, even supporting,attitude toward them. The several types of female character image that stand out in the work, and the consistent method of drawing conclusions, are directly associated with the social issues of the time, and, instead of being mere representations of personal desires or daydreams of the writer himself, reflect the collective cultural psychology of common male folk of the time.

『Huanxiyuanjia』, late Ming, adultery, extramarital affair, social issue, female character, cultural psychology, daydream