Theory and Methodology in Historical Folkloristics in China

Historical folkloristics is an important part of the Chinese folkloristic system.It is about the historical study of folklore events,and the study of the folklore events,folklore descriptions,and folklore comments in history.The study is generally divided into three aspects: history of folklore,history of folkloristics,and folklore documents.Besides the consanguineous relations with historical sociology and historical anthropology,historical folkloristics has its own academic features.The earliest concept of historical folkloristics came from Japanese folklorists.In China,ZHONG Jing-wen is the pioneer and erector of the Chinese historical folkloristics.The discipline has its own areas,features,and methods.It is a new,advancing subject that has special academic significance in the general Chinese folkloristic studies.