《金瓶梅》以其對於「家常日用，應酬世務」的精細描寫，自晚明以來即取得「奇書」的尊榮地位；相較之下，紫陽道人（丁耀亢）《續金瓶梅》的藝術成就只能說是平平。讀書欲藉釋儒道三教宗旨評古鑒今，並反省明王朝政權亡的原因，基於這樣的「使命感」，可耀亢只得背棄笑笑生所開創的那對市井生活純粹描寫的風格，轉而以市井生活為背景，反射出晚明政治破敗、社會混亂、道德淪喪的因由。於是《金瓶梅》裡的家庭，在《續金瓶梅》被更廣大的人生場景給取代；《金瓶梅》裡的市井，到續書那兒也失去隱喻的功效。 然而《金瓶梅》在文學史上的地位，尤其包括它拋棄傳統「大敘事」寫作模式、改採「世俗化」細節描寫所形成的美學風格，以及因而開啟之新的、甚至是具備現代意義的文風。不過這樣一股專注於日常人倫及生活細節的文風，固然在《金瓶梅》之後促成了世情小說的繁榮景象，但是建立在晚明浮華靡爛物質基礎上的這股寫作傳統，卻隨著明帝國的沉亡而滲入了其他的質素。那些蘊藏著「文以載道」之集體無意識的儒生，一面從天理、法統、道德的角度詮解《金瓶梅》之旨意，一面又將國家興亡的存在處境譜成新的詠嘆調，使得在它之後的明、清世情小說，在「世俗化」的傾向上遠不及」《金瓶梅》。 本文即試圖籍《續金瓶梅》證明這種差異。

　　　　　As one of "the Four Master Works" (四大奇書), Jin Ping Mei has earned a great position by its secularized character. It has abandoned the traditional mode of grand narrative and has established a secularized, detailed style of writing. There, it started a new, modern manner, which however was not completely absorded. Following the collapse of the Ming Empire, more and more Confucian intellectuals returned to the Confucian literary tradition- "The mission of literary works is to propagate the doctrines of Confucianism. (文以載道) Consequently, other secular novels gradually deviated from the secularized, detailed style of writing. Comparatively, Ding Yao-Kang's Hsu Jin Ping Mei, the sequel of Jin Ping Mei, is just an inferior copy. However, it is an important witness to the above process, therefore this essay focuses on the difference between the two texts.