時至晚明，由於思想上長期受到心學末流之影響，文人士子間逐漸凝聚出許多亟待解決之問題，其中之一，便是虛偽的社會風氣，使得人心缺乏「情」之滋養。晚明「尚情」的風潮，便是為對抗此歷史背景應運而生，其中將「情」融入文藝理論、劇本創作與生命實踐三方面者，當推湯顯祖（1550－1616）為首。一直以來，學術界多認為，湯氏係明代中後期「主情說」的重要推手，其理論以主張「情」之重要為核心，甚至強調「情理二分」、「以情抑理」之思路。而「情」作為湯氏畢生之信仰依歸，乃至於藝術創作之依據、文藝理論之核心等等，確是不證自明之事。然而，就本文核心觀點而言，筆者認為湯氏論情並不僅在強調情之重要性，他更加重視辨析情之內涵。由此，本文將分為三小節梳理問題、剖析文本，爬梳當代認識「情」之概況，進而辨析湯氏論「情」時所採取之立場

Time to the late Ming Dynasty, because thoughts have been influenced by decadence of the neo-Confucianism over a long period of time, the society was full of hypocrisy, and people's minds were long-term lack of the nourishment in ＂emotion＂. The ＂advocating emotion＂ thought in the late Ming was born to fight against it. And Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) is considered as a header of integrating ＂emotion＂ into literary theory, playwriting and life practice. The academia always think that Tang is the representative of ＂advocating emotion thought＂ in the late Ming. His theory is not only based on ＂emotion＂, but also emphasizes the claim of ＂struggle against reason with emotion＂. It is indeed self-evident that ＂emotion＂ is lifelong belief of Tang, and even the basis of creation, the core of theory, etc. However, from the core point of view in this article, the author thinks that Tang's concept of emotion not only emphasizes its significance, but pay more attention to the analysis of emotion's meaning. Therefore, this essay will discuss the general situation in contemporary understanding of ＂emotion＂, and further clarify the standpoint of Tang's concept of ＂emotion＂