文学生产与消费的辨证关系是马克思主义文艺学的一项基本原则。本文从中西比较的角度出发 ,指出中国古代所以缺乏长篇史诗 ,原因在于中国缺乏一个与古希腊相似的简单文化市场 ,而造成这一缺乏的根源则在中西方不同的社会生活结构。 The dialectical relationship between literature production and consumption is a basic principle of Marxist literature and art. This article, from the perspective of comparison between China and the West, points out that there is a lack of long epics in ancient China because China lacks a simple cultural market similar to that of ancient Greece. The root cause of this lack lies in the different social life structures in China and the West.