晚明思想家李贄作為明代戲曲評點開風氣之先者，其特殊之處，在於他是以一個思想家的身分，將其帶有「異端」色彩的思想觀點，引進戲曲評點之中，從而提高了戲曲、小說等「俗文學」的地位，並使戲曲的批評自此具有快速進入「理論化」的勢能。我們可以說，李贄在戲曲史或文學批評史上的重要，不僅在於他所詮釋的內涵，更重要的是，他透過一種特有的「文學本質論」，與相應而有的「文體流變觀」，使當時的讀者與論者對於戲曲的本質，產生了積極的認識。事實上，李贄這種將戲劇美學與戲劇藝術論合一共論的作法，對於當時主張直接抒發人之真性真情的文學藝術創作者，提供了重要的理論依據，進而對晚明及後來的文學思潮、價值觀念發揮了激化與革新的作用。有鑑於此，本文分別從李贄戲曲評點之文學本質論、「化工」說之藝術造境論、李贄對於《琵琶記》主題呈現之批評、對《琵琶記》人物形塑之批評，以及其劇論中「真」與「戲」之辯證等層面，探討李贄《琵琶記》評點之哲學視野與批評意識。作者指出，李贄藉著批語與序跋、題辭等「批評語境」之建立，另外構築一種「專業的場域」，此一場域，即是所謂「批評者與批評者對話」的空間。它存在的目的，在於提供了融合多元詮釋視界的可能，並將之展演成為「批評話語的陳述與閱讀」。而亦正是在此意義上，李贄對於傳奇劇作的評點，更可以引領讀者從具體作品中，探求小說與戲劇之特殊的構造方式，進而開拓建設理論視野與批評策略之可能，有其在文學批評史上不容忽視之積極意義。

As a pioneer commentator on Ming drama, the late-Ming thinker Li Zhi is unique in introducing unorthodox viewpoints into drama commentary. In so doing, he elevated the status of popular literature such as drama and fiction and improved the possibilities for making Chinese drama criticism more theoretical and systematic. The importance of Li Zhi in the histories of Chinese drama and literary criticism lies not only in his original interpretation, but also in his hypothesis of literary essence and its corresponding perspective on stylistic transformation. His theory helped readers and critics acquire a keener understanding of the nature of Chinese drama. Li Zhi’s evocation of both drama aesthetics and dramatic art not only provided a theoretical basis for contemporary and later writers and artists to advocate the expression of true feelings in art and literature, but also enriched late-Ming literary thought and heightened the aesthetic consciousness in the writer as well as in the reader. This paper explores Li Zhi’s hypothesis of literary essence, his idea of “transformation work” (huagong) as the ideal artistic state of drama, his commentary on the thematic presentation and characterization of the Pipa ji (The Lute), and finally his argument for the dialectic relation between reality and drama in the play. The author suggests that Li Zhi, as a reader and a commentator, constructed in the drama text a “professional field of criticism,” an embedded critical space in which various critics conducted their conversations. Criticism as interpretation could achieve its full potential in constituting a “professional field” if guided and directed. According to Li Zhi, this “professional field of criticism” aspired to a fusion of horizons: the display and appreciation of various critical views and voices. It is here that Li Zhi’s commentaries on chuanqi drama led readers to ruminate on the essence of fiction and drama, and opened up the possibilities of constructing a theoretical horizon and critical strategies. Li Zhi’s theory had great significance in the development of late-imperial Chinese literary criticism.