〈杜子春〉的原典有中國的〈杜子春傳〉、《今昔物語集》的〈内記慶滋保胤出家物語第三〉、谷崎潤一郎的〈哈薩坎的妖術〉。 和〈杜子春傳〉相比較，可以發現芥川將杜子春因老人得救三次及製作仙藥的情節合併、濃縮，改寫成杜子春因老人得救三次、強調對母愛的感動、杜子春自律性的自我成長的情節 從以母愛為槓桿促使杜子春變成自律的情節、以及和其它原典中母親扮演角色的相異點來看，可以發現杜子春對母愛的渴望、杜子春因母子的互救而領悟了活在人世應有的處世態度、杜子春的母親也因此得救的情感淨化(catharsis)描寫是芥川的創作。 援用心理學者對母子關係的觀點，剖析〈杜子春〉中所呈現的母愛和作者的人生關係，可以發現芥川因為從小沒有像小孩子因為有母愛而產生對他人的信賴感及活在人世的安心感的母子關係。因此，筆者認為芥川他情不自禁描寫追求回歸母胎、母子一體化以及守護者的母愛；並且芥川從小沒有正常的母子生活，而加幅了芥川對別人的他者意識，所以芥川在〈杜子春〉中也情不自禁地流露了（釋放壓抑的情感）的描寫。

The book Toshishun originates from the Chinese classic Toshishunden, "Naikiyoshishige no yasutane skukke suru koto daisan" in the Japanese classic Konjaku monogatari shu, and "Hasakan no Youjyutu" by Tanizakijyunichirou. Compared with the Chinese Classic Toshishunden, the researcher finds that Akutagawa merged the plot of "the three salvations of Toshishun on account of the old man" and the plot of "making elixir" so as to emphasize the plot of maternal love and Toshishun's self-discipline. Besides, the plots of "Toshishun's self-discipline derived from the craving for maternal love", "the attitude of getting along with the world by the emotional catharsis of Toshishun" and his mother's mutual salvation, are Akutagawa's originality. From the viewpoint of psychology, we analyze the connection between maternal love and the author. The researcher finds that Akutagawa, who lost normal maternal love in his childhood and thus lost the mutual trust and security sense between people, expressed his craving for maternal love by presenting the image of "back to the embryo", "mother-child integration", and "maternal love as a guardian". Besides, the researcher also thinks that Akutagawa reinforced his consciousness of others because of his lack of normal maternal love; therefore, Akutagawa also described the "the relief of depressed emotions" in Toshishun in a very natural way.