民間信仰與明清時人日常生活關係緊密，晚明流傳頗盛的三言二拍皆明顯可見民間信仰的反映，《紅樓夢》亦可以得見延續自明代，至清而不衰的民間信仰痕跡。曹雪芹（1715-1763，一說1724-1764）生活在清初，從明初已受帝王崇祀，在明代相當盛行，至明亡之際而別具意義的小姑女神信仰，必然會對《紅樓夢》的創作發生影響，研究者雖已關注了杜麗娘形象對林黛玉的可能影響，但是卻未見以明代頗為盛行的小姑女神信仰探討《紅樓夢》的研究著作。本文擬藉助《牡丹亭》與《紅樓夢》所具有的互文性（intertextuality），將曹雪芹視為《牡丹亭》的接受者，再以康來新已提出《紅樓夢》具有的記憶文學特質，和記憶書寫於曹雪芹自身的意義為基礎，探討曹雪芹如何藉由《紅樓夢》承繼《牡丹亭》所書寫的小姑女神，延伸故明想像（image），以進行一場跨越歷史時空的士群體對話，從中尋找物質世界以外的昇華之所。

A close relationship existed between folk beliefs and daily life in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Sanyan Erpai 三言二拍, which circulated widely in the late Ming, clearly shows the influence of folk beliefs. A Dream of Red Mansions 紅樓夢 also attests to the popularity of folk beliefs during the Ming-Qing period. Belief in the Xiaogu Fairy had started to spread in the early Ming dynasty, and it became even more popular during the very late Ming. Thus, it is not surprising that the early Qing author Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹 was influenced by it when writing A Dream of Red Mansions. Although the possible influence of Du Liniang over Lin Daiyu has been recognized, discussions of the Xiaogu Fairy’s influence on A Dream of Red Mansions has been lacking in contemporary scholarship. The intertextuality between The Peony Pavilion 牡丹亭 and A Dream of Red Mansions indicates that Cao was the recipient of the former work. Moreover, on the basis of Kang Laixin’s 康來新 assertion that A Dream of Red Mansions possesses the characteristics of memory literature (which means it referred to Cao Xueqin himself and his personal life experiences), this article examines how Cao Xueqin
developed the image of the Xiaogu Fairy from The Peony Pavilion, how
he transcended time and space to communicate with past authors, and
how, in the process, he found a spiritual place beyond the material world.