浙江杭州、嘉興、湖州與江蘇崑山比鄰，同屬太湖流域。南戲首先從這裏傳入崑山並衍化出崑山腔，崑山腔也最早傳入這裏，可見杭、嘉、湖對於崑曲的產生與發展具有特殊意義。明、清兩代，這裏班社迭增，名伶輩出，作家群起，名著如林，至近代仍有餘勢。遺憾的是研究者少有人及之，更未見有專著面世。有感於此，筆者近年作了較長時間的田野調查，所得資料頗豐，擬分三章以補之前人之不足。近代及現代章史料大多從田野調查所獲，并初次披露，限于篇幅，只得另行發表。

Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou in Zhejiang Province bordering on Kunshan City in Jiangsu Province, are all located in Taihu Lake Basin. It was from this area that Nanxi (southern play) was first introduced into Kunshan, and there the Kun Tune emerged. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, this area saw a lot of theatrical companies, actors, dramatists, and famous plays, certainly of special significance for Kunqu. However, this distinct phenomenon has not drawn researchers' attention. Thus the author of this paper conducted investigations and found abundant information which can fill up this specific deficiency.