《女才子書》編者徐震，號煙水散人，清浙江秀水人，該書約完成於清順治十五年(1658)。全書共敘十二才女故事，乃出於作者聽聞於友人講述之近代事跡。每巷敘事模式大致包含：敘出身、論才貌、講婚戀、言歸宿四個環節。作者特別標舉「才」、「德」、「色」、「情」為女才子的特質，以「才」、「德」並舉，顛覆舊有「無才便是德」的女訓；又以「色」、「情」渲染，扣合通俗化的時代思潮。作者一方面效尤兼具史才、史識的唐人說部型式，另一方面卻又無法擺脫情癡自戀的文人心理，遂使該書成為清初一個邊緣文人自我投射的書寫典例。在明清才女論說方興未艾之際，徐震如何「書寫」「才女」？這部小說如何呼應時代風潮？筆者將擬設「女才子」的典型塑造、慾望與歷史的兩重筆調、繡像為文本視像的展演、造訪的讀者聲音等四條線索，對《女才子書》的寫作動機、全書內容、敘述筆調、時代回應等諸面向，展開進一步的探研。

Xu Zhen 徐震, born in the beginning of the Qing dynasty and also named Yanshui Sanren 煙水散人, was the author of the The Book of Talented Ladies (Nucaizi Shu 女才子書), written in 1658, which recorded twelve stories of talented ladies. Their emotions were particularly described in the book. Beyond describing their feelings, the book also portrayed their talents and integrity; sex and affection were also defined to embellish their characteristics. Xu had imitated the novel writing style of the Tang dynasty, but at the same time he could not free himself from a certain narcissism expressed by literati. As a result, the book has become a writing pattern of the frustrated scholar at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. How has the book responded to the passage of the time? This study aims to determine the main characteristics of the talented ladies by knowing their desires, historical backgrounds and illustrations, as well as how contemporary readers reacted to the novel.