學界總試圖尋找「臨川四夢」創作的合理機緣。其實，從知識考古學和譜系學的視角來看，傳奇「四夢」作為一個極富才情的文人跨界想像的文化書寫，並不具有我們一般所理解的與湯顯祖的內在生命邏輯相一致的關聯性，而更加凸顯的則是他的靈根意興的偶發性、斷裂性，即與他作為文人雅士的趣味性、遊戲性，甚至與文人之間各逞其才能的「相為賞度」審美愉悅相涵詠。湯顯祖作為有明一代的文化名士，他所心精力一的並不是我們現在所推崇的，而在他看來不過是「小技」的傳奇。湯顯祖一生真正的心靈矛盾和苦悶在於文章名世與大道踐履的抉擇兩難。而矛盾的根源在於湯公具有強烈的對家族、師友和社會所期許於他的慧命擔當意識，這也激勵了他「深心延不朽」的不朽之思。可當大道難以踐履時，文章名世也難以理成前緒，其根由一在「數不第，輾轉頓挫，氣力已減」，一在「薄氣不能免俗」，「遂拓落為詩歌酬接」，而「大雅久不作」。這種「道」與「藝」既間離又假合的詭吊，正是明清之際文人形象的虛擬塑造玄機。

Academicians always try to find reasons for the creation of four plays about dreams by Tang Xianzu. Actually, from the perspective of archaeology and genealogy, the legend of four dreams as a talented scholar’s imaginative writing does not have a logic association with Tang Xianzu’s real life as we usually understand, but rather is more associated with his taste, interest and game-play mood in writing, particularly the aesthetic pleasure of “mutual appreciation” with other refined scholars in their show of talents. As a prominent cultural celebrity in Ming dynasty, Tang Xianzu isn’t devoted to what we admire now, and considered legend as nothing more than small techniques. The true inner conflicts and anguish in his life lies in the difficult choice between whether to devote himself to writing great works which could influence generations to come or to applying his learning and moral values to political world. The root of the self-contradiction lies in his intense consciousness of commitment to live up to the expectations of his family, teachers and friends and the society, which evokes his consistent pursuit of his cause. However, when his political ambition fails, he finds himself unable to achieve his literary pursuit as well, which is partly caused by his loss of energy due to repeated setbacks in imperial examinations, and partly by his lack of practice in serious literary writings, when he follows the vogue of his period and spends much time composing gameful poetry in social activities. The detached yet overlapping relationship between the political “way” and literary “techniques” thus results in the virtual image of scholars during the Ming and Qing dynasties.