《牡丹亭記題詞》是解讀《牡丹亭》的關鍵，但幾乎沒有人完整地解讀過這篇題詞。本文通過整體解讀《題詞》、重釋其中的「情」、「理」關係，發現《題詞》的結構嚴密不可分，湯顯祖在《題詞》中展現了他對「情」與「理」關係的形而上思考。湯顯祖試圖以「情」作為超越性的東西，來替代「理」而通天下。《題詞》的結構也和《牡丹亭》的結構相對應。湯顯祖在《牡丹亭》中做了兩個轉變，將「有情人」的「有無」問題轉變為一個杜麗娘的「真假」問題，將「夢中之情，何必非真」之夢中的「情」真轉變成了現實中「杜麗娘」是真是假的問題。在這些轉變中，杜麗娘才成了「情」的象徵。

How to interpret Tang Xianzu's own Preface of Peony Pavilion, or Mudan ting Ji Tici (《牡丹亭記題詞》), is the key to read Peony Pavilion. Scholars usually took a part of Tici to illustrate their views, however, no one explained the whole text before. By analyzing the whole text and reinterpreting the relation of qing (情) and li (理), this paper discovers that the Tici has a well-organized system, through which Tang Xianzu presented his metaphysical thought about the relation of qing and li. With qing, Tang Xianzu tried to take the place of li, and he considered that qing could also be transcendent and universal. Du Liniang could die and then come to life because of her youqing (有情) and zhenqing (真情), and furthermore, qing must be acknowledged by people in the society before it could be universal. The structure of Tici is corresponding to that of the play. In it, there are two transformations. The topic of Du Liniang's youqing was transformed into a topic of true of false, or zhen jia (真假) and the topic of qing in dream (夢中之情) was transformed into a topic of real or fake Du Liniang in society. Finally, through these transformations, Du became a symbol of qing.