宋元以來五大南戲經過不斷的改編，至明中葉已產生了許多不同版本和選本，之後持續在各種地方戲的舞臺演出上歷久不衰。南戲的文本往兩種不同方向發展：文人傳奇性質的通行本類，和地方戲演出記錄本類。其聲腔也在明代盛行一時的崑腔本和青陽腔等外，在固有聲腔基礎上互相交涉發展成各地方獨特的聲腔，其在各地方戲的演出上也別具獨特的解釋與傾向。本文通過對《白兔記》各種版本和地方戲記錄本──包括成化本、錦囊本、富春堂本、汲古閣本，選本中的崑腔本和青陽腔本、湘劇本、梨園戲本、川劇本等的比較，特別考察了在南戲往地方戲的發展過程當中較為突出的幾點特色:近代地方戲在唱詞方面多接受了明代各選本的折子演出段落，其情節上把不合理的地方往合情合理的方向進行改編；演出上明顯地強調淨丑表演，以本地語言和審美感覺增加表演魅力和接受效果：聲腔上原來屬於樂曲系統的南戲聲腔運用滾唱方式獲得表現自由，再融合板腔系統，以呈現出樂曲系和板腔系混合的情形。

Baituji, one of the five masterpieces of Nanxi (southern theatre), has continuously been revised and rewritten during its long history of reception, By the mid-Ming period, it had appeared in many different editions, either as complete editions or as selected scenes in dramatic anthologies, When it was adapted by local theatres later on, the play underwent further transformation. Its plot, dialogue and music were altered to meet the needs of different local theatre groups. This paper studies the various versions of Baituji. It examines the print­ed editions of the play, including complete editions such as the Chenghua edition, the Jinnang edition, the Fuchuntang edition and the Jiguge edition as well as editions of selected scenes in the Kun-style and Qingyang-style dramatic anthologies, It also explores the performance texts recorded usually by the actors themselves, including different versions of the play produced in Xiangju, Chuanju, Liyuanxi and other local theatres. Through comparison of the various versions of the play, this paper reveals several major characteristics acquired by the play when it was adapted by the local theatres, The verbal expressions of the performance texts were taken from the selected scenes in the dramatic anthologies rather than from the complete editions, The story in the performance texts was revised to make the plot more logical and tight. In terms of stage performance, the most outstanding characteristic of the transformation is the increase of the comic performance by the jing and chou roles, Saturated with local color and humor, their fluent dialogue not only makes the performance familiar and agreeable, but also makes the alienation effect possible, As for music, the qupai system of the early nanxi was made less homogeneous by incor­porating other musical forms. Greater freedom of expression was achieved either by inserting some gunchang passages or by using the other traditional Chinese operatic music system, the banqiang system. The paper demonstrates that even though the printed texts of the play influenced the local theatres greatly, the performance tradition proved to be the decisive influence in the final analysis. It lends support to the belief that in our research on Chinese theatre we cannot afford to neglect either the textual tradition or the performance tradition.