在吴承恩《西游记》小说出现之前,唐僧师徒西天取经的故事早已在民间以各种形式流传,五代时扬州孝先寺曾画有玄奘取经壁画,元代磁州窑有“唐僧取经枕”。取经故事入于戏曲的最早是南戏《陈光蕊江流和尚》、金院本《唐三藏》和元吴昌龄《唐三藏西天取经》杂剧,前二者均已失传,后者仅存残曲。其次便是明初人杨纳《西游记》杂剧。《西游记》杂剧凡六本二十四出,是元明北杂剧中罕见的长篇巨制,仅王实甫《西厢记》可与之媲美,前人也每每将这两记相提并论,有属名“弥伽弟子”的人在此剧小引中说:“元曲自《西厢》而外,长套者绝少,后得是本,乃与之颉颃。嗟乎!多钱善贾,长袖善舞,非元人大手笔,曷克臻此耶!”而《西游 Prior to Wu Cheng’en’s novel Journey to the West, the story of the monks and devout students studying in the West already spread in various forms in the folk. In the Five Dynasties, the Xiaoxian Temple in Yangzhou had been painted with Xuanzang scriptures and the Yuan Dynasty Cizhou ceramics “. Taking the story into the drama of the earliest is the South play ”Chen Guangrui River monk“, the court of the ”Tang Sanzang“ and Yuan Wu Changling ”Tang Sanzangxitiaojing“ drama, the first two have been lost, the latter only remaining song. Followed by early Ming Yangna Journey to the West ”drama. “Journey to the West” novels where six twenty-four, is the Yuanming Bei Zaju rare long compilation, only Wang Shih-fu “The Romance of the West Chamber” can be comparable, the predecessors often compare these two notes, the genre name In this play, “Gaddisko” said: “The sequel to the Yuan dynasty has never been done before, Long sleeves and dancing, non-generous generous, 曷 Ke Zhen Ye! ”And" Journey to the West