只有在十六世紀文壇生態與當時人際關係的脈絡下，屠隆與王世貞的宗教修養論述才能得到更透徹的理解。在當時相對地獨立於官方權力的文學場域中，主盟文壇的領袖再沒有臺閣文學之臣的名分加冕。在屠隆這般野心較強的文人看來，盟主的權力似乎可以被挑戰，這份野心遂造成兩人之間的潛在張力。可是，由於世貞累積的文化資本已讓盟主之位十分穩固，屠隆無法在文壇中脫離世貞的權力。後來，世貞透過成為仙師曇陽子的代言人，將盟主的權力伸展到宗教修養的場域中，屠隆便嘗試在這方面突破世貞的宰制。隨著兩人的關係因宋世恩案而惡化，他們在修養議題上的攻防更為劇烈。本文將會展示他們的來往言論並不是以互相攻過或精進修養為目標，而是要壓過對手，標榜自身的優越，換言之，是一場互相角力的修辭競爭。

This article attempts to reconstruct the relationship between Tu Long 屠隆 (1543-1605) and Wang Shizhen 王世貞 (1526-1590) and their contributions to the discourse of religious self-cultivation. 16th century literary circles became relatively independent from political authority after the ascension of literary leaders without the endorsement of an official position in the Hanlin 翰林 Academy. As the established leader, Wang's accumulated cultural capital in the literary world made it too difficult to challenge him in that field, so the ambitious young upstart Tu decided to try to break Wang's hold in the field of religious self-cultivation, into which Wang had previously extended his dominance by becoming the representative of the immortal master Tanyangzi 曇陽子. After the Song Shi'en 宋世恩 incident led to a deterioration in their relationship, their debates became even more heated. I will demonstrate that their frequent exchanges were not for the sake of attacking each other or advancing their virtues in self-cultivation, but rather to surpass their opponent and boast their superiority in the rhetorical arena.