The story of Ts'ui Ying-ying takes place during the T'ang dynasty, which is one of the most well known dynasties. This story is one that is good example to see what it was like to live during that time, especially in the context of romantic love and marriage. The story of Ying-ying seems to be filled with double standards and examples of how people react and deal with love outside of the framework of marriage during this time period. In this time period of classic China, romantic love and passion are things that are not a prerequisite for marriage as they are assumed to be in the modern world.
             Chang, the protagonist in this story is portrayed as a "person of great beauty" referring to his qualities as a gentleman. This introduction to his character is important as we can see his actions as acceptable and normal in the context of that society and time. He is also introduced as a man who has "not yet enjoyed a woman's beauty", which can hold several meanings. This could mean that he has not been in love, or perhaps that he has not yet even been with a prostitute, a thing that is culturally a norm for men to do.
             After paying careful attention to the text, I can see that what it means to say is that he has not yet been in love when Chang says that "sometimes I have idled with wearers of silk and gauze, but my fancy was never once detained". To me this means to say that although he has slept with women, he has never had a relationship because as he said earlier he does not want to "be devoid of feeling".
             This alone gives great insight towards understanding the culture of the time. Further understanding of social norms are seen within the relationship between Ying-ying and Chang and their interactions. At first although Chang claims to have fallen in love with Ying-ying, he does not want to marry to her. We therefore see from the beginning that even though he is in love with her, he has no interest in marrying her. It se...