在戲曲成為「國娛」之前，「話劇」這個西方人眼中的戲劇，早已在先秦悄悄展開。元代之前，中國戲劇史料，既少且殘，必須仔細引用其他文獻，才能還原中國話劇在古代的真相。本文依時代，起自先秦，中至唐朝，晚迄宋金，將包含於原型歌舞雜戲中，不容易分辨的話劇，挑出分析，得以下結果：一、中國話劇形成也有雛形，譬如「優孟衣冠」、「東海黃公」。二、唐代流行「參軍戲」，後來雖有歌舞參與，但本質上話劇架式十足。而當時流行的「滑稽戲」，則與「即興話劇」無異。三、宋朝雜劇中的「滑稽戲」，不重歌唱，重對白，且以表情打動觀眾。四、宋人莊綽記下成都一場「雜劇較藝」，依其描述，就是一次笑劇（獨幕話劇）競賽。中國話劇出於元曲之前，混雜於優人演出之中，直到歌舞劇旺盛時，遂隱沒成長，實際上，唐宋皆有西方定義下的話劇，且廣受官民之青睞與喝采。
Before becoming national amusement, ”Modern drama” in the view of westerner had already been expanded quietly before the Chin Dynasty. The historical data of Chinese drama is not only few but also shallow before the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to return to the original truth of Chinese modern drama through by quoting other literature in ancient times. In this article, the conclusion would be outlined by picking and analyzing modern dramas which comprise the prototype dance and operetta is not easy to distinguish from Pre-Chin, to the Tang Dynasty and the Sung Kin Dynasty. The details are as follows: 1. There was also an embryo when the Chinese modern drama was formed, for example ”Yu Meng Make-up” and ”Huang Gong in East Sea”. 2. The ”Tsan Jiun to play” was popular during the Tang Dynasty, though the song and dance had been added in it later, the posture of the modern drama was sufficient for essence. Besides, there is no different between ”Comic Play” and ”Impromptu Perform a drama”. 3. On the ”Comic Play” of ZAJU in the Sung Dynasty. The Singing was not token seriously, Nevertheless, dialogue was quite essential, and the audience were moved by the expression of performers' face. 4. Zhuang Chuo recorded ”The ZAJU Contest” once at Chengdu in the Sung Dynasty. According to his description, it was just a contest on funny drama (only curtain modern drama). The Chinese modern drama was displayed before Yuan Qu (Opera of Yuan) and mixed in actor performed, afterward it declined gradually when the opera became exuberant. In the Tang and Sung Dynasty, there was modern drama on the western definition which earned public favor and official acclaim.
