元曲雜劇入明以來頗得皇室宗親及縉紳階層之青睞，明中葉後隨著南曲（主要是魏、梁改革後的「崑山腔」地位的上升，元曲雜劇的傳唱不似以前那樣通行，但從現有文獻看，元劇的傳唱一直未曾中斷，近現代崑曲舞臺及曲社清唱活動中仍保存了一些元劇折子（套曲）。自蒙古人退出中原以來，元曲雜劇在傳唱過程中也逐漸發生了一些變化。明清時期舞臺上演出的元人雜劇其與元時相比最根本的不同乃在其「戲劇性」的增強。這具體表現在：戲劇表演的漸趨類型化和規範化，「曲」（唱）的地位日益下降和賓白的意義日益提升。藝人們為避免套曲演唱的單調，嘗試各種招數增加元劇作為戲劇的觀賞性。從不變的一面看，現存元劇折子仍大多保存了一人主唱套曲的慣例，現存於《九宮大成南北詞宮譜》、《納書楹曲譜》及《集成曲譜》等曲譜中有傳承譜系可查的二十餘折元劇套曲音樂，雖不應視為元代原封不動地遺存，但總體上應為元代北曲音樂風貌之反映。

The performance of Yuanqu Zaju (元曲雜劇) was not so popular after the rise of Kunqu Opera (崑曲) reformed by Weiliangfu and Liangchenyu in the middle Ming Dynasty.But favored by the the royal household of Ming Dynasty and the literati and officialdom it had been handed down even to now days.There were some differences when the performance of Yuanqu Zaju in the middle Ming and Qing Dynasty compared with the performance in the Yuan Dynasty.The most obvious difference was that the performance of Yuanqu Zaju in the Ming and Qing Dynasty seems more dramatic. And the difference is incarnated in the typical performance Yuanqu Zaju in the Ming and Qing Dynasty and the decrease in the Singing and increase in the spoken parts in the opera. And at the same time，the performance of Yuanqu Zaju in the Ming and Qing Dynasty mainly maintains the form of singing by one person and the music style of singing in the Yuan Dynasty which we could still see in the more than twenties zhezixi (折子戲) handed down in some documents such as Jiugongdachengnanbeicigongpu (宮大成南北詞宮譜), Nashuyingqupu (納書楹曲譜) and so on.