戲曲史上"吳江派"與"臨川派"的命名得以確立,是由民國時期的戲曲史家完成的。由于這些戲曲史家既沒有對"流派"概念加以界定,又缺乏流派劃分應遵循的共識與準則,各家史著在兩派成員的統系歸屬、成員人數的多寡上各有不同;在闡釋兩派理論主張時,也存在夸大彼此之間觀點對立的現象。民國以來一些戲曲史家之所以不承認臨川派的存在,很大程度上在于他們是在用現代流派理論來衡量古代文學流派,因而在流派認知上出現了偏誤。因此,構建切合古代戲曲發展實際的流派理論,就顯得尤為必要了。

The naming of Wujiang Group and Linchuan School in the history of drama was established by drama historians of the Republic of China. Because these drama historians had neither defined the concept of School,nor had they reached a consensus and guidelines that should be followed in the division of the School. These drama history research books differed in the classification and number of dramatists. In interpreting the theory of the two factions,there is also a tendency to exaggerate the opposition between the two groups. Since the Republic of China,some drama historians had denied the existence of Linchuan School,largely because they used modern school theory to measure the ancient literary groups. Therefore,it is necessary to construct a theory which is in line with the actual development of ancient drama.