通觀中國古代各體文學發展演進的種種情形可知，叙事與抒情經由共生、分化、消長、互滲的歷程，兩者邊界是流動變化的，非一次劃定而截然清晰。從原始宗教到《詩》演述時期，叙事與抒情本來是一體共生的；春秋戰國以至兩漢時期，《詩》的賦與比興分開，賦的手法與賦的體式分開，賦體文學與他體文學分開，叙事與抒情分化，其邊界日益清晰；魏晉以後以詩歌為代表的抒情文類、以説部為代表的叙事文類分途發展，其抒情、叙事所占份額此消彼長，兩者邊界主要表徵在文體分類上；及至明清時期，兩者有時含混，叙事與抒情諸要素在此消彼長的同時，竟在某些特定的文類中出現互滲現象。是知，叙事與抒情並非靜止而截然二分，兩者邊界一直處於流動變化之中。

From a comprehensive perspective of the development and evolution of Chinese literature, we can see that narration and lyricism have gone through the course of commensalism, divisions, growth and decline, and mutual permeation. The boundary between narration and lyricism is constantly fluxing and changing, without a clear-cut definition. From primitive religions to performative writings such as The Book of Songs, narration and lyricism were originally co-existing. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the Han Dynasty, the narration in The Book of Songs began to separate from analogies and symbols. To be more precise, narration as a technique was separated from narration as a style (fu), and the literary genre fu was separated from the other literary genres. Narration and lyricism became divided, and their boundary became clearer. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, the lyric genre, represented by poetry, and the narrative genre, represented by novels and dramas, developed in separate ways. The boundary between narration and lyricism is mainly represented in stylistic classification and narration and lyricism were not always distinguished until Ming and Qing Dynasties. While the relationship between narration and lyricism changed, they permeated into each other in some specific genres. Thus, narration and lyricism are not static and dichotomous concepts, but with fluxing and changing boundaries.