The script of The Peony Pavilion was adapted from a Song-dynasty story. Cheng Pei-kai, a professor in the history department of Pace University in New York, also lists this story as a favorite: "Tang Xianzu changed the plot so that it was not merely a story in which sexual activity brought life, but one in which a woman is depicted as having her own desires and pursuing them."
《牡丹亭》劇本源自宋話本「杜麗娘慕色還魂」，「然而故事經湯顯祖改編後，已不只是『慕色還魂』的情慾自覺；更是一個女子追求理想的過程」，任教於紐約佩斯大學歷史系的鄭培凱也非常喜歡《牡丹亭》。