秋胡事跡早在民間，就已口耳相傳，直至西漢劉向才載入《列女傳》。這個故事從此一直流傳下來，至今國劇亦有此戲碼，前後已逾二千年。秋胡故事歷經時空的演變，其內容已有所添枝增葉，隨著時代的推移而有不同的新風貌。這個故事的情節、人物、思想主題、敘述模式、作者的評價均發生過一些微妙的變化。而舊劇變新劇，必須與時推移，反映民心，才是有血有肉之作品，元代劇作家石君寶以自身的角度，用其絢爛之巧筆，描寫出他所看到的時代的一隅。石君寶所著《秋胡戲妻》，吾人亦可當成元代社會一面鏡子，透過這面鏡子，我們可以窺見人民共同的苦痛、希望與要求；它是現實生活的真實反映，是血淚交織的時代證言。本文企圖由《秋胡戲妻》中，縱向去觀察其傳承與新變；橫向去探討其所展現的文化意薀。

Though Chiu Hu stories were earlier circulated around in town, they were complied by Liu Hsiang of the Later Han Dynasty in his “Female Profiles.” Ever since then, the stories, one of Beijing opera works, have been passed on over two thousand years. Along with time and space, the stories experienced a certain degree of changes in plots, figures, themes, description and evaluation on the author, thus presenting new images. A successful touching play has to change with time, and reflect people’s mind. Shi Jun Bao, playwright of the Yuan Dynasty, brilliantly wrote “Chiu Hu Plays a Joke on His Wife” from his own perspective. Through this play, readers see shared pain, wishes and desire of Yuan people, indeed a true reflection of a real life and testimony mingled with blood and tears. This paper aims to observe the heritage and changes of “Chiu Hu Plays a Joke on His Wife” longitudinally, and discuss its cultural essence horizontally.