本文旨在透過對吳宓和毛彥文的交往之探討，檢視民初新舊交替之際，受過高等教育的知識份子如何面對新型態的兩性關係、如何調整傳統心態、又如何因應社會壓力。第一章：吳、毛二人的身世和相識，簡介兩人的出身背景和相遇經過，藉以說明時代背景對兩人個性塑造和相知相惜之影響。第二章：社會壓力下的兩性關係，引證諸多史料描述兩人交往所承受的各界反對和議論，贊成者亦有，惟人微言輕，難敵滔天的反對聲浪和固執的誤解。第三章：自由戀愛的試煉，檢視吳、毛二人本身是否對新時代的兩性交往已做好準備，以及個人自由與社會責任之間難掌握的均衡。本文基本上是一史學的探討，希望以小見大，藉著吳、毛的個案，提供透視時代的一個觀點，並進而能對激進和保守互動這個中國現代史重要主題，做一個註腳。

This article mainly deals with the romance between Wu Mi and Mao Yen-wen through whose case we inquire further into the issues how the intellectual community in early Republican times played modem sexual roles, adapted the changing customs, and suffered the social pressure. Chapter one introduces the backgrounds of Wu Mi and Mao Yen-wen as well as the encounter between the two. Their early lives deeply influenced the ways they handled their relationship. Chapter two is based on many historical materials, contained both comments of approval and disapproval on Wu and Mao，s affair，to attest the powerful social pressure tormenting the two highly educated individuals. Chapter three tries to explore whether Wu and Mao were qualified already to extricate from all traditional bondages and pursuit the so-called free love. Not only Wu and Mao but also many other intellectuals at that time faced the same dilemma to play balance between the social responsibility and self-realization. In conclusion, this study, served as a case, provides a new viewpoint to reexamine the interaction between radical and conservative thoughts, an essential topic of contemporary Chinese history.