 In contrast to Xu Xiake , who focused on technical aspects in his travel literature , the Chinese poet and official Yuan <unk> ( 1568 – 1610 ) used travel literature to express his desires for individualism as well as autonomy from and frustration with Confucian court politics . Yuan desired to free himself from the ethical compromises that were inseparable from the career of a scholar @-@ official . This anti @-@ official sentiment in Yuan 's travel literature and poetry was actually following in the tradition of the Song dynasty poet and official Su Shi ( 1037 – 1101 ) . Yuan <unk> and his two brothers , Yuan <unk> ( 1560 – 1600 ) and Yuan <unk> ( 1570 – 1623 ) , were the founders of the Gong 'an School of letters . This highly individualistic school of poetry and prose was criticized by the Confucian establishment for its association with intense sensual lyricism , which was also apparent in Ming vernacular novels such as the Jin Ping Mei . Yet even gentry and scholar @-@ officials were affected by the new popular romantic literature , seeking courtesans as soulmates to reenact the heroic love stories that arranged marriages often could not provide or accommodate . 
