《戴案紀略》為彰化文人吳德功（1850-1924）所撰，屬於歷史散文作品。此書主要是記載同治年間戴潮春民變事件，此事件是清代臺灣三大民變之一，影響臺灣社會甚鉅，此書的重要性由是可知。不過目前學界對於此書的探討不多，多是在專書或單篇論文中的某個章節作一討論，尚缺乏專門性的論文研究，此殊為可惜。筆者擬從此書的編寫體例、資料的取材，以及作者史論的分析入手來進行探討。希望透過本文的研究，能夠了解此書的體製格式，還有書籍撰寫時的資料來源，以及作者處裡這些資料的方式與作法。此外，作者針對書中所記載的事件，常發抒其個人的評論，這些史論的內容，傳達了作者何種的思想訊息？還有這些史論，所具備的功能又是什麼？這都是本文所欲探討的議題。透過本文的研究，相信對於《戴案紀略》一書，當能有進一步的理解和掌握。

Summary of Dai's Case was written by the Changhua scholar Te-kung Wu (1850-1924). It is a historical prose work that mainly records the civil commotion of Chao-chuen Dai during the reign of Tong zhi. This event was one of the three major civil commotions in Taiwan in the Qing dynasty and had a great influence on Taiwan society, so the importance of this book is obvious. However, there is not much discussion on this book in the academic circle at present. Most discussions are made in a specific book or a chapter in a single paper. It is a pity that there is no specific research on this book. The author intended to discuss this important ancient book starting from the compilation style of this book, the selection of data, and the analysis of the author's historical theory. It is hoped that through the study of this article, we can understand the system and format of this book, the data sources when the book was written, as well as the methods and practices of the author in handling these data. In addition, the author often expresses his personal comments on the events recorded in the book. What kind of ideological message did the author convey in the content of these historical theories? What are the functions of these historical theories? The above discusses are expected to provide a better understanding of the book of Summary of Dai's Case.