據載仁宗慶曆、皇祐年間，隨著商業活動與市民階層的發展，把四方優人樂伎都集中在首都。當時汴京與杭州分別是南北商業活動的地方，大多數的民俗技藝都興盛起來，瓦舍勾欄每天匯聚各式各樣的表演。據《東京夢華錄》卷八載： 自早呈拽為戲，如上竿、趯弄、跳索、鼓板、小唱、斗鳩、說諢話、雜扮、商謎、合笙、喬筋骨。喬相撲、裝鬼，砑鼓、牌棒、道術之類。色色有之。 「瓦舍勾欄」既為雜劇提供了安身之地，也提供了各門藝術的交流點，所謂「崇觀以來在京瓦肆技藝」足見除民間之外，宮廷樂舞也經常出現在廟會慶典樓台，成為都市重要的人文景觀。又據《南詞敘錄》載： 南戲最初是村坊小曲而為之，本無宮調，亦罕節奏，徒取其畸農市女順口可歌而已。諺所謂隨心令者。 足見，雜劇最初只是順口的「隨心令」罷了，是否與說唱藝術有關？又為何南戲中有許多的敘述成份？而雜劇的演出往往融合各式各樣的表演藝術，其中最重要的莫過於說唱藝術。本文欲藉由各種文獻的整理及文物觀察，從邏輯角度說明說唱藝術原貌與表演形式，且對於中國戲曲的發展做深入的探討。

Based on the historical records, because of the business and social class development, all the performers, actors and musicians were gathered at the capital. At Bianjing and Hungzhong, the two main commercial cities of the north and south, there were prosperous folk arts activities—all the theaters and show places were filled with various shows. According to Dong Jing Meng Hua Lu (The Lives and Life in Hungzhong), Volume 8: 　　“In the beginning of that day, there were different shows in turns. We had pole climbing, ball stoke, skipping, story telling, singing, turtledove fighting, joking, clown playing, riddles, cross talk, and soft bon skills. More over, there were also funny fighting, drum play, magic show, and everything you can imagine.” 　　And, here is another recording in the Nan Ci Xu Lu. 　　At first, Nan Xi (The South Drama) was performed within folk songs that had neither music theory nor accurate tempo, and it just followed the songs of framers and female peddlers. It was like a kind of impromptu performance. 　　In my opinion, Nan Xi originally was just a kind of impromptu performance. Does it have something to do with the story-telling arts? However, why does it have many elements of description? Besides, the performance of Nan Xi combines other kinds of stage performance. Among these various influences, the most one is the story-telling arts. In this paper, I present my study on historical reference of the story-telling arts, as well as my observation on those relics and antique, and then to illustrate the development of its performing style and play form in a logical aspect. This paper presents a further discussion about the relationship between the story-telling arts and Chinese drama.