公案小說為中國古代小說的一個門類，如同其他的文學形式一般，亦有其時代性。《三言》公案小說位於明代公案小說專集的前緣地帶，在內容上出現了許多法律現象與法制資料，如犯罪行為的描述，破案判案的過程，法務機關及司法過程，刑罰內容、訴狀與判決書。由於《三言》小說除了明人故事外，其他時代的話本在流傳過程中亦可能經過明人的加工與修改，故本論文即以「明律」為研究依據，期望一、在形式上研究小說與法制素材結合的情形，並驗證小說中法制素材的真實性。二、從內容中去探討罪與法在公案小說中的相對關係，以及法的理念在小說中表現或處理方式。第一章緒論，主要敘述公案小說的意義及流變，《三言》公案小說創作的律法背景，本論文的研究動機及撰述重點。第二章討論《三言》公案小說情節與律法的關係，著重「罪」與「法」的分析、證明，以期瞭解公案小說犯罪類別和比重以及依法判決的真實性。並研究公案情節在小說結構中的作用。第三章就犯罪者、執法者及其他關係人三方面，以身份職業分類，將《三言》公案小說人物的行為舉止、言語談吐、心理活動的描繪，歸納分析，以求了解法律觀與法律認知在個人與社會存在的情形。第四章分析《三言》公案小說文字中律法用語的出處及使用情形，俗諺語中的公門形象及法律經驗。並考證訴狀、判決書的格式與內容的真實性。第五章結論，就本論文研究結果提出總結，並提出研究中遭遇之困難及若干尚待深入考察的問題。

《施公案》、《三俠五義》、《彭公案》是三部以公案與俠義題材融合而成的同類型小說，它們保留了公案小說與俠義小說既有的元素，題材融合的原因是時代背景的反映、章回化的演變、理想人物的期待與讀者的欣賞需求。 小說原著以公案為主、俠義為輔。在公案情節上，大多數是延續公案小說的 人命案與賊盜案，以數案相連或案中有案的形式呈現；由於俠義題材的加入，謀叛的政治案件、盜印信、盜內府財物、謀殺朝廷命官與採花大盜犯姦殺人案件逐漸增多。綠林與清官的結合，是俠義情節的中心，主要表現在豪傑投靠、豪傑護主、豪傑破案三方面。小說中官吏，清官特徵漸少，忠臣形象漸多；綠林人物無論是水寇、土匪、紳匪均呈現集團化特性；官俠性格趨向「忠義」，認同當代法律秩序；游俠強調隨機應變、譎詐多端，「從遊戲中生出俠義來」的俠義特徵。小說語言除了訟詞、判詞的沿用，因俠義題材的加入，江湖隱語的使用，加添了小說綠林犯罪情節的真實感。小說原著主題思想除了表現出清官意識、俠義思想，更強調勸善懲惡的傳統思維。小說內容思想表現出非主流社會義的道德觀、任官朝廷的價值觀、建立聲譽的價值觀、追逐眼前利益的價值觀。也反映出當代紳衿階層與皇糧莊頭危害百姓的社會現象以及政治衝突事件。 小說續書呈現俠義興起，公案隱退的局面。《施公案》、《三俠五義》、《彭公案》三部小說續作的目的，主要有商業、政治、心理三類因素。情節著重在破獲政治叛亂案件、異姓結義、破奇樓奇陣、打擂臺與黑店犯罪，並加入特殊武功、武器、暗器的描寫。小說人物強調英雄與超人的塑造，並製造出魔怪邪惡人物與奇特的綠林女子。江湖隱語繼續沿用，訟詞、判詞僅存於《施公案》中。小說內容由於俠義漸多，官俠重名爭功、嚮往武將官職，綠林犯法露名的觀念成為表現的重點。 《施公案》、《三俠五義》、《彭公案》三部小說中公案隱退，但未絕跡；俠義抬頭，綠林的集團運作，與統治階級聯合打擊綠林同道的小說傳承，由姚民哀的「會黨小說」接班。「會黨小說」小說產生於清末民初綠林的蓬勃、新小說後期的通俗化、武俠與偵探小說獨立的時代，姚民哀以彈評藝人身份，運用評書技巧，從事會黨小說的創作。情節內容以揭露江湖秘聞與會黨秘密為主，小說人物著重描寫習武者與幫會人物，小說語言大量使用江湖隱語與幫會切口，小說內容主要反映出下層社會爭面子的價值觀，與軍閥時期兵匪不分家的社會現象。 / Shi Gong-An, San Xia Wu Yi and Peng Gong-An are three similar types of fictions plotted with a fusion of ‘Gong-An’ and chivalry which retain the existing elements of ‘Gong-An’ fictions and chivalry fictions. The fusion of plots is the results from the reflection of time, the transition of contextualization, the expectations for ideal characters and the readers’ need. The originality of the fictions is primarily based on ‘Gong-An’ aided with chivalrous tales. The ‘Gong-An’ plot is mainly a continuation of ‘Gong-An’ fictions’ homicides and thefts presented by means of serial cases or cases within cases. With the addition of chivalrous plots, there are more and more cases of political rebellions, theft of official seals or government property, murder of imperial court officials and raping. The union of bandits and incorruptible officials, presented in the forms of heroes’ defections, protection of masters and breaking of cases, is the center of chivalrous plots. Features of these fictions include that there are more royal court officials than incorruptible officials; that bandits, whether pirates, brigands or evil gentry, demonstrate syndicate characteristics; that knight-errant-turned-court-officials, tending to be loyal, identify themselves with law and and order of that time; that knight-errants, borne ‘chivalry out of wandering in life’, characterize themselves with improvisation and treachery. The diction of these fictions, in addition to using litigators’ phrases, jargons of the underworld and chivalrous plots boosts the virtual reality of fictional crime scenes. Except for demonstrating the incorruptibility of the officials chivalrous ideas, the main themes of these fictions also stresses the traditional ‘do no evil’ teaching. The contents of these fictions reveal not only values of a non-mainstream social moral judgment, of being imperial court officials, of building of good names and of pursuing immediate profits but political clashes and social incidents of common people being intimidated by gentry and imperial agents. The sequels of Shi Gong-An, San Xia Wu Yi and Peng Gong-An, showing the rise of chivalry and the fall of ‘Gong-An’, are created for commercial, political and psychological reasons. The plots emphasize heavily on breaking political rebellions, unifying of brethren for justice, cracking booby trapped buildings, winning the fights and striking clip joint with the description of special martial arts, tactics and weaponry. The characters contain not just super heroes and unique females of the underworld, monsters and evil figures are also introduced. The jargons of the underworld continue to be used. However, the litigators’ phrases are only used in Shi Gong-An. More plots features chivalry, knight-errant-turned-court-officials craving for promotion in the military, the underworld’s attempt to challenge the law to be known. ‘Gong-An’ in Shi Gong-An, San Xia Wu Yi and Peng Gong-An gradually diminishes but is never extinct. ‘Syndicate fiction’, created by Yao Ming-ai, who, as a minstrel, using his skills of reviewing books, engages himself in writing that contains a tradition of the rise of chivalry, the functioning of the underworld and the joint operation with ruling class to nail down fellow gang members of the underworld. Syndicate fiction focuses its plots on discovering the secrets of the underworld and the syndicate with an emphasis on illustrating martial arts students and syndicate principals, using numbers of underworld jargons as dialogues, reflecting the underworld’s keen face-saving sense of value and the social phenomena in the warlord period when soldiers and bandits are sometimes hard to differentiate.