The dissertation is a study of the early Chinese vernacular novel, P'ing-yao Chuan (The Sorcerer's Revolt and Its Suppression by Three Suis). It first re-examines the issues of authorship and edition of the novel. The authorship of the 20-chapter San-Sui p'ing-yao Chuan has by general scholarly agreement been assigned to Lo Kuan-chung. And Feng Meng-lung was known as the compiler of the New p'ing-yao Chuan in 40 chapters. It has been believed that the 40-Chapter edition is compiled on the basis of the 20-Chapter edition with additional details. However, some scholars argue that the 20-chapter version should be abridged from the elaborated version and the 40-chapter edition should be also attributed to Lo Kuan-chung. As a result of our research based on a detailed and meticulous textual comparison, the dissertation has come to the conclusion that the 20-chapter edition is quite antiquated in style. It differs substantially from the popular edition. The 20-chapter edition could not have been an abridgement of the elaborated version, however it might not be a full text. Concerning the issue of the authorship of the work, we know very little about Lo Kuan-chung's record. He was only known as a great playwright and an author of many popular fictions. Therefore we are not certain that he compiled San-Sui p'ing-yao Chuan in 20 chapters. However, there is no doubt that the 40-chapter edition was created by Feng Meng-lung. P'ing-yao Chuan tells of the Revolt of the Soldiers in Beizhou of the Northern Sung dynasty. Some sorcerers had organized the revolt. From then on, the major characters and events of the revolt had been romanticized by the storytellers. A major point of this work is that it shows a great independence of his sources from many stories. These stories have actually a very early origin, which can be traced back to the p'ing-hua of Sung-Yuan period or ancient supernatural fictions before Tang dynasty. Compared with the 20-chapter version, New p'ing-yao Chuan has advanced the work in many respects: The 40 Chapter edition is flourished by creatively transplanting the material from other novels to the plot of the P'ing yao Chuan. It completes the whole story and perfects the composition of the wor. Its language flows smoothly, neither too difficult nor vulgar, yet sarcastic and expressive. Artistically, as a work of comic fantasy, it has the style of supernatural stories well as characteristics of secular world. The p'ing-yao Chuan gives rise to novels and dramas with similar topic. Such a type of work, which describes military officers suppressing the heresies, can develop its own branch, which the researchers call "the series of squashing evils". Although the sequels or the rewritten works have their own characteristics, they still cannot surpass the 40-Chapter P'ing-yao Chuan on overall artistic level.

《三遂平妖传》是一部中国早期长篇白话小说。此书原有二十回本，旧题罗贯中作，或称“堪与《水浒》颉颃”，但也有人怀疑并非罗氏原作。另有题为《新平妖传》之四十回本，署题冯梦龙。今藏北京大学的万历年间王慎修校刻的二十回本的《三遂平妖传》，通常被认为即四十回本张无咎叙中所说的“昔见武林旧刻本只二十回者”，是罗贯中的原作。但是一些学者在对二十回本中人物、情节、文句、回目、诗词、分卷等方面的破绽进行分析后提出:“所谓二十回本‘罗贯中原本’，不过是后世妄人对四十回本滥加改作的产物罢了。”针对这一观点，本文首先对《平妖传》的作者和版本问题，进行了再探讨。在全面比对二十回本与四十回本基础上，我们结合《三国》、《水浒》、“三言”和其它一些相关的语言材料，对于相关内容的异文进行了合理的分析，再结合对本书的结构、性质的考察，从而对版本的先后问题做出判定：本文仍然倾向于四十回本是在二十回本基础上增补而成的旧说。二十回本虽然有删改的痕迹，但是它是否就一定是今本四十回的节本还不能遽下定论。 《平妖传》的叙述，在表面上看，是完全按着时间的顺序，以历史的发展为线索来进行的；但是，在深层次里，却是“短篇连缀”的模式，四十回本还采取了以人物的投胎转世来构成情节转换枢纽的结构形式。四十回本又以蛋僧和胡永儿的人生经历为线索，通过他们的身份变化来推动情节的展开，并以他们之间的正邪对立为模式来划分全书人物的阵营：在结构方面对二十回本有所提高。 《平妖传》虽然有敌视农民起义的思想，但是我们认为，追本穷源，本书的批语和叙言中所揭示出的“妖由人兴”这四个字，才是《平妖传》的主题所在--这是四十回本《平妖传》在主题方面对二十回本所做的提高与深化，也是《平妖传》比它的同类作品在思想价值方面稍微显得高明一些的地方。 在艺术方面，《平妖传》既向“传奇系”的唐宋的笔记小说中取材，又从“平话系”的宋元话本中级取养分。传奇系的作品往往语涉神怪，这一方面的素材为《平妖传》带来了一些志怪的风格；平话系的作品则多取材民间，即便叙写鬼怪也近于人情，这一方面的素材则给《平妖传》平添了几分世情的特色。小说的语言当行本色、通俗流畅，虽然朴素，但是幽默泼辣、富有表现力。作者还运用了大量当代的民间俗语，从而大大地加强了小说在人物塑造和性格描写等方面的生动性。 在《平妖传》的影响下，先后产生了一批“平妖”题材的小说、戏曲、曲艺作品，这类描写官军镇压以左道反抗朝廷的作品，在小说史上可以独成一个门类，研究者们称之为“平妖系列小说”。但是，总的说来，《平妖传》的续书、改作和同类作品，虽然各有自己的一些特点，然而，它们的总体艺术水平还没有能够超出四十回本的《平妖传》。这其中除了作者个人艺术修养方面的原因之外，最主要的原因在于，和原作相比，续书缺少了“原创”的精神。这也是中外文学史上绝大多数文学作品的续作不如原作的根本原因所在。