禁戲是政治對藝術的監控，反映了當政者對戲曲力量的畏懼，而這個議題不僅是政治的，戲曲藝術本身值得思考的層面也很多，藝人在藉以謀生的戲碼劇目被禁後採取何種應變之道？如何瞞天過海曚混過關？「因禁而改」之後對劇場規範甚至戲曲文化有何牽動？觀眾面對「因禁而改」的修編新本時反應如何？觀眾的反應透露出怎樣的戲曲審美文化？這些問題關乎政治社會、民情風俗、劇本修編、劇場規律，更與傳統戲曲的審美習慣息息相關，本文將時間範圍限定在當代 (1949迄今) 京劇，地域則涵蓋海峽兩岸。 臺灣戒嚴時期禁戲的理由共有四點：(1) 政治禁忌 (2) 妨礙風教 (3) 宗教信仰 (4)「匪戲」(大陸在1949以後的新編戲)。大陸 1949推動「戲曲改革」以來，首先禁演「污辱勞動人民、歧視無產階級、迷信、淫蕩」的戲，大量的「鬼戲」即因迷信之故一律被禁，大部分傳統劇目也都全面遭禁或局部刪改。而禁戲的著眼點還不限於劇本內容部分，凡是「不夠淨化的舞臺形象」也一律被禁，例如屬於表演藝術部分的「踩蹻（或寫作蹺）」和屬於劇場規律的「檢場、飲場、把場」都不能在出現在戲曲舞臺上。而「不鼓勵男演女、女演男」，導致京劇重要傳統「乾旦、坤生」一時近乎斷絕。到1960年代初期，《李慧娘》、《海瑞罷官》兩齣戲的被禁，看似個別案例，實則牽動整個政局，緊接著的文革十年期間，被禁的不僅是單一劇目或個別劇種，而是整個「傳統戲曲」了。

“Prohibited Drama” in traditional Chinese theater reflects the monitoring of art by politics. It shows the government’s fear of the power of drama. However, the issue is not only about politics but also about traditional Chinese theater itself. How did the actors and actresses deal with the situation when the plays they rely on to make a living were prohibited? How did the adaptation of drama coping with the political prohibition influence the theater conventions or even the culture of performing art? How did the audience treat those adapted versions of plays, and what kind of messages were revealed from their attitude? These questions are interwoven with the politics, the society, the customs, the drama-adaptation and the theater conventions, which are also closely related to the aesthetic taste of traditional Chinese theater. In this article, I try to resolve the above questions. The time scope is the present age (from 1 949 to now), the discussion is mainly focused on Peking Opera, and the region covers Taiwan and Mainland China.