A Difficult Choice Between Ideal and Reality ——Viewing Love Affairs Described in the Tang Tales from an Angle of the Marriage System of the Tang Dynasty

In the social estate system of the Tang Dynasty, the parents of males exercised control over marriage. So females were in an unequal and suppressed social posit ion. Females appeared bolder than males in seeking their freedom of marriage. Th is phenomenen found full expressions in the tales of the Tang Dynasty.