"Mo Shang Sang" 陌上桑 is a popular poem but it has been subjected to a wide range of interpretations by readers of the past and present. Contemporary readers regard the main character of the poem Luo Fu 羅敷, as an anti-oppression working woman. However, critics of the past saw her as woman faithful to socioethic conventions. This essay attempts to look at the literary image of the "mulberry picking woman" 採桑女 from the historical perspective, from the pre-Qin to the Han dynasty. In this process, it was revealed that the Han people used a specific structured mode of expressions to convey their moral demands on women. These demands coincide with the ethic-politic thinking of the Han dynasty. "Mo Shang Sang" is merely a reflection of these thoughts.