本文針對曹禺的《雷雨》一劇，利用比較文學中影響理論的方法，論證曹禺在創作時曾經參考十九世紀俄羅斯名劇作家奧斯特羅夫斯基的《大雷雨》一劇的可能性。這一部份裡更進一步地說明，在現有研究裡指涉可能影響《雷雨》的外國作品中，《大雷雨》在例證與內容的數量與質量兩方面上佔有絕對高的比例可以說是《雷雨》的原型作品。儘管如此，本文的重點不在影響研究，而是使用影響理論來判別中外文本的關係，聚焦的是創作過程。研究的焦點在於勘探作品（借鑑者與被借鑑者）的角色原型、形象和原型模式，論述劇作經中外文本交流匯通後產生的文藝現象與特徵。 基於上述這種借鑑者與被借鑑者的關係，本文具體地提出中俄兩劇雷同的手段設置、目的、意涵、形式、主旨與題材；並置兩文本以平行比較的研究方式接續影響理論的探討，但在這一部份裡著墨更多的則是成品。研究的重心首在批評作品（也就是成品）的質量問題，貼近文本比較分析。這一部份除了審視中俄兩國文藝評論，更重要的是，找出在兩文本與兩國文藝評論的相互借鑑下，能產生單一文本或一國文壇裡所看不到的詮釋、新義與現象。上述的研究方法論雖徵引比較文學中法國與美國兩學派的研究理論，但是關注更多的是，對於這些方法在應用上的批評與修正。本文藉由上述研究方法與資料的相互支撐佐證，從追究《雷雨》的原型開始，進而論述《大雷雨》在中國的翻譯現象與演出情形，並指證兩文本異同之處，與闡明兩作品的原創性、獨特性、共通性與藝術性。藉由兩文本與兩國文藝現象的對照，企圖提供別於過往研究的新觀點。

This article investigates the relation between nineteenth-century Russian playwright Aleksandr Ostrovsky and early twentieth-century Chinese playwright Cao Yu, using the approach of influence studies in the field of comparative literature and showing the considerable possibility that Cao Yu’s Thunderstorm imitates and internalises Ostrovsky’s The Thunderstorm. In this part, the investigation further provides plentiful examples from and comparative analyses of the two plays, tracing their origins, demonstrating their connection and explaining the probable reasons The Thunderstorm is the archetypal work of Thunderstorm. The focus of this study lies in the scrutiny of similar archetypes of characters, images and patterns in the texts of the two writers (the creator and the imitator), produced in Chinese literary currents and phenomena after absorbing nineteenth-century Russian literature. Based on the relation between the creator and the imitator, the second part of this article illustrates concrete and specific similarities and differences of devices, purposes, meanings, forms, motifs and themes in the Russian The Thunderstorm and Chinese Thunderstorm, offering comparative analyses. This section emphasizes the quality of products, in accordance with the manifestation and representation of the two texts. Apart from examining and referring to the contemporary Russian and Chinese literary criticisms of the two plays, this part juxtaposes the two works in order to show new considerations, denotations, connotations and interpretations, which have not been clearly noted in either text. While the article employs French influence studies and American parallel analysis as the main methodology, a critical and modified approach integrating the two schools is under consideration. From tracing Ostrovsky’s The Thunderstorm to scrutinizing Cao Yu’s Thunderstorm, the results of this study proffer an excellent example of absorbing Russia in early twentieth-century China, revealing the powerful impact of learning from Russia, the evident process of imitating the Russian artistic paradigms and the significant result of internalizing Russian literary legacy.