Abstract: Moral criticism is an important feature of Zhu Xi’s literary criticism, among which his evaluation of famous writers Qu Yuan versus Yang Xiong, Tao Yuanming versus Wang Wei are typical examples. With the notion of “loyalty and integrity” as the primary criterion to evaluate writers and their works by eulogizing or denouncing, Zhu has a great influence on the history of literary criticism, and helps establish the historical roles of the two sets of writers in Chinese literature to some certain extents. Zhu’s moral criticism was not only influenced by the society and politics, but also associated with his identity as a Taoist, with his idea of “Tao prior to literature” explicitly embodied in his literary criticism. Zhu’s moral criticism, being influential even today, deserves our full attention.

Key words: Zhu Xi, Qu Yuan, Yang Xiong, Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei, moral criticism