清代兩百多年戲曲批評的歷史中,存在著這樣一條清晰的脈絡,就是"崇古"與"尊今"兩個思想勢力的較量。崇古,是力求戲曲在形式表現、情感主旨等方面,向戲曲典范時代——元代尋求重振的根據與元素;尊今,是指以現今中的"我"作為戲曲藝術創作、表現與審美判斷的主體,要求戲曲走出傳統,順應當今。"崇古"和"尊今"這兩股對立的思想勢力,在清代不同時期、不同社會文化背景的作用下,顯現出不同的面貌,它們發生較量的實質,其實是清代藝術前現代與現代發生斷裂的一種表現。

uring the history of Chinese Xiqu criticism of the Qing Dynasty,over two hundred years,there was an evolution,that is,a contest between "worshipping the ancient" and "advocating the present". "Worshipping the ancient" referred to reviving Xiqu in a stylistic form and emotional motif by tracing back to theoretic bases and elements in the Yuan Dynasty,the classic epoch of Xiqu; "advocating the present" referred to take the current "I" as the subject of artistic creation,expression and aesthetic criticism in Xiqu,which required Xiqu to break away from the tradition and conform to the current times. "Worshipping the ancient" and "advocating the present" as two opposing ideological forces manifested different forms in different times and social contexts during the Qing Dynasty.The nature of their contest is a manifestation of the fracture between the pre-modern and modern arts of the Qing Dynasty.