「戲文」和「傳奇」都屬體製劇種。戲文在元代也稱南戲，「南戲」即「南曲戲文」，是與「北曲雜劇」相對稱的體製劇種，簡稱「南戲」以與「北劇」並舉；簡稱「戲文」以與「雜劇」同列。它起於宋入於元至於明，明初已有明顯的「北曲化」和「文士化」，為過渡到「傳奇」作準備。而「傳奇」原是「事奇可傳」「傳播奇事」之義，因此可以之稱人小說、宋金諸宮調、宋元戲文和金元雜劇。明人在呂天成《曲品》之後才用作明人長篇戲曲的指稱，但因其以崑山水磨調作新舊傳奇的分野，「新傳奇」則與戲文在體製格律上有諸多差異，而且作家輩出，作品如林，因此就戲曲發展史的觀點，戲曲體製種的所謂「傳奇」，至此方才真正成立。也就是說，南戲是經過北曲化、文士化和崑腔化才蛻變為傳奇的。也因為「崑腔化」是「傳奇」的必備條件之一，所以若就「腔調劇種」而言，「傳奇」自然係屬「崑劇」之一。 「傳奇」之所以不能作為「弋陽戲」或「海鹽戲」、「餘姚戲」，緣故是：一方面是海鹽腔在萬歷後即已消失，二方面是弋陽腔和餘姚腔傳世之本很少，其可歌者但為體製劇種之戲文，而戲文之體製規律非但沒有因之演進而且逐漸被破壞，終至破解曲牌體為板腔體，既違物理進化之道，自只能冒稱傳奇之名，何況明清學者，從未有視弋陽腔、餘姚腔為可以歌唱萬曆以後極具謹嚴體製之劇種之所謂新「傳奇」者。 由戲文到傳奇之演變，許子漢由排場三要素關目、腳色、套式三方面分析縷述，實在已詳，據此足以觀察戲文逐漸質變到傳奇之過程。而若考傳奇成立的時期，筆者在<從崑腔說到崑劇>一文謂：若據呂天成《曲品》「新舊傳奇」的分野，則是以「舊傳奇」屬明初以來「崑山腔」所歌者，以「新傳奇」屬魏良輔「崑山水磨調」所歌者，因其所錄「舊傳奇」據考證當是嘉靖三十八年（西元一五五九年）之前的作品，而嘉靖三十八年前後正是魏良輔「立崑之宗」的時候，呂氏所錄「新傳奇」之作品，自然應當在此之後，那麼「新傳奇」的初成立，也應當在嘉靖四十年（西元一五六一年）前後這幾年，而一旦《浣紗記》出現，則風靡遐邇，步趨者漸多，終於蔚成大國，呂氏「新傳奇」所錄作品集有一百六十五種之多，則此「新傳奇」於嘉隆間實已為劇壇之盟主矣。而呂氏所謂的「新傳奇」也正是我們今日學術上於戲曲史所要說的繼戲文之後的新體製劇種「傳奇」，但也因為它必用崑山水磨調來演唱，所以就腔調劇種而言，它自然也是崑劇之一。

　　　　　the definitions of and the division between xiwen and chuanqi, one may conclude that they belong to the same tizhi juzhong (dramatic genre defined in terms of textual form). In the Yuan period, xiwen was also called nanxi southern drama) or nanqu xiwen; as a tizhi juzhong, it was the countrpart of beiju (northern drama), which was also known as beiqu zaju. Hence the well-known opposites of xiwen/zaju and nanxi/beiju. Xiwen was first developed in the Song period; by the early Ming it had been greatly influenced by beiju and the literati's culture, thus paving the way for its transformation into chuanqi. The term chuanqi means "extraordinary matters that are worthy of transmitting" or "transmitting the extraordinary matters". It had been used as a general generic category covering the Tang short stories, the Song-Jin zhugongdiao, the Song-Yuan xiwen , and the Jin-Yuan zaju. In the Ming critic Lu Tiancheng's Qupin (The Evaluation of Qu), for the first time the term was adopted to denote the longer xiqu by the Ming playwrights. Lu used the Kundshan tune as the criteria to differentiate the new and the old chuanqi. The so-call "new chuanqi" differed from xiwen in its musical modes and meters. Viewed from the development of traditional Chinese drama, chuanqi did not emerge as a distinctive tizhi juzhong until the Ming times. To put it in another way, nanxi was gradually transformed into chuanqi by way of the converging influences of beiju, the literati's culture, and the Kundshan tune. From the perspective of qiangdiao juzhong (dramatic genre defined in terms of musical mode), since chuanqi was influenced by the Kundshan tune, it should also be regarded as a type of Kun opera. For two reasons, the category of chuanqi does not cover the Yiyang opera, the Haiyan opera, and the Yuyao opera. First, by the Wanli period of the Ming dynasty, the Haiyan tune had vanished. Second, very few of the works which used the Yiyang or the Yuyao tunes were passed down to the later generations. Among these works, the tizhi juzhong of those which could be sung was xiwen; but the generic norms of xiwen had not only stopped to evolve but also were gradually destroyed, leading to the demise of the qupaiti and its replacement by the banqiangti. Accordingly, they cannot be viewed as a form of chuanqi. In fact, Ming-Qing shcolars never regarded the Yiyang and the Yuyao as the proper tunes for the "new chuanqi" that had developed rigorous generic rules after the Wanli period. As to the exact time of the formation of chuanqi, I have discussed it in a previous article, "Cong kunqiang shuodao kunju" (From the Kun tune to the Kun opera). My views may be briefly summarized as follows. If we follow the new/old division of chuanqi made by Lu Tiancheng in his Qupin, then the old chuanqi refers to those texts which were sung with the Kunshan tune since the early Ming , while the new chuanqi refers to those which were sung with the Kunshan shuimo tune invented by Wei Liangfu. Since those "old chuanqi" texts included in Lu's Qupin were all dated before 1559, and the year also saw Wei Liangfu establishing himself as the master of the Kunqu school, we may conclude that the "new chuanqi" texts included in the Qupin were produced after 1559. In other words, the years around 1561 could be the time when the new chuanqi made its first appearance. When the Huanshaji (The Story of Washing Yarn) finally came out and was widely circulated, more and more people came to adopt the Kunshan tune and thus made it the most popular music of the time. The one hundred and sixty-five "new chuanqi" plays included in the Qupin testify to the supreme position that the new chuanqi had attained in the Jiajing and Longqing periods. To sum up, in the history of traditional Chinese drama, what Lu called "new chuanqi" was the new tizhi juzhong that came after xiwen. Furthermore, from the perpective of qiangdiao juzhong, since chuaniqi was sung with the Kunshan shuimo tune, it should also be included in the great family of the Kun opera.