宫廷戏剧由于其观众的特殊身份和特定的审美意趣而被打上深深的宫廷文化的印记，而特定观众对戏剧的态度直接影响了宫廷戏剧的创作和演出。明代统治者对戏曲的态度颇为矛盾，但却统一于一点，即戏曲要为政治教化服务。他们本着礼法并重、以礼为本的治国理念，以儒学思想为政治指导思想，并认识到“乐作于上，民化于下”的道理，在礼乐的雅俗、古今等问题上表现的很通达，并推及到戏曲，认识到戏曲也可以成为风化和载道的工具，并通过限制和指导戏曲的编撰和搬演活动来达到约戒人心、导化民俗的效果。统治者对戏曲的态度给宫廷戏剧的创作和演出带来了重重约束，导致作家个性遭到扭曲和抑制，情感的自然表现消亡，代之而起的是大量带有宫廷文化特征的歌功颂德、道德教化的宫廷庆赏剧和教化剧的出现。%Due to the high positions and special aesthetic tastes of royal audience, Royal Dramas are marked with court culture. Meanwhile, the opinions of royal audience have great influences on the creation and performance of Royal Dramas. The opinions of rulers in the Ming Dynasty were quite contradictory, but were unified on one point, that is, dramas should be of help to political indoctrination. These rulers insisted on equal emphasis on courtesy and laws, and held Confucianism as their guidance of politics. Meanwhile, they found that dramas could serve as a desirable tool in cultivating citizens. Such opinions put various confinements on the creation and performance of Royal Dramas, which caused the distortion and restriction of playwrights.
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