〈侯元傳〉出於唐皇甫枚《三水小牘》，其延續著六朝以來遊歷仙境小說的傳統，透過侯元遇仙的特殊際遇，交代學法經過，且宣說道教洞天福地思想。當侯元習得道術、返回人世，雖亦意識仙、凡時間的算計不同，卻因為差距不大，削弱侯元因此啟悟而入道門的動機，甚至還利用道術起兵造反，突破了唐傳奇遇仙故事的基本類型。職此，本文乃先探討〈侯元傳〉裡仙境歷程對空間景象、時間母題和回歸情節的構思技巧，再歸結侯元以未待天應和性格缺失致使造反失敗，以見對遊歷仙境小說的承繼與創構，和作者意欲言說的思想，進而明白〈侯元傳〉對後代文學之影響及重要性所在。

“Hou Yuan Legend” originated from Huangfu Mei's “San Shui Xiao Du” in Tang Dynasty. It continued the tradition of novels about touring fairyland that initiated from Six Dynasties. Through Hou Yuan’s unusual circumstance of encountering the fairies, the book explained the process how Hou Yuan acquired spells and proclaimed the thought of blessed land in Taoism. After acquiring spells and returning to the earth, Hou Yuan realized the differences in time calculation between the fairyland and the earth, but the gap was not wide enough for him to activate the motivation to devote himself to Taoism. Instead, he used spells to rebel, which broke through the stereotype of meeting fairies in the legends of Tang Dynasty. In light of this, the present paper first explored the conceptual skills on spatial scenery, time motif and returning plots during the fairyland experience in “Hou Yuan Legend”, and then concluded that Hou Yuan’s failure in rebellion was attributed to his neglect of mandate from destiny and his character flaw. The inheritance and creation of novels about touring fairyland and the implications that the author intended to convey were presented. Furthermore, the influence and importance of “Hou Yuan Legend” to literature of later generation were also carried out.