This paper uses narrative theory to present a textual analysis of a story told in the form of Tang chuanqi(傳奇)and Ming nihuaben(擬話本)in an attempt to clearly show how the chuanqi and huaben differ both formally and in terms of meaning structure. Specifically, we will utilieze the concepts of narrative time, narrative perspective, and the way in which characters express themselves, to analyze Duzechun〈杜子春〉, a Tang Dynasty chuanqi, and Duzechun san ru changan 〈杜子春三入長內〉, a Ming Dynasty nihuaben. Likewise, we will make reference to five types of narrative code proposed by Roland Barthes to examine meaning structure in the two texts in terms of the interplay between the text and the reader. In the course of our discussion, we will examine: (1) how different narrational strategies result in the two texts having significantly different narration times; (2) differences in the role of the narrator; and (3) how the use of direct quotation and indirect quotation results in different climaxes in the two texts and ultimately leads to varying interpretations. We will also discuss how the stories' narrative structures result in different interpretational schemes, namely, how gaps in the Tang chuanqi open up the possibility of two completely different readings (either a call to search for Daoist immortality or an exhortation to be content with one's life), while a clarity on the part of the Ming nihuaben results in a clarion call for a renouncement of the coldness of worldly life.