Dong Zuobin And Chinese Folklore At An Early Stage

Dong Zuobin is an important founder of Chinese contemporary folklore. His research lies in a broad field. He is often called, in the academic circles, one of the four important figures in"the study of the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells", and also"the leading authority"for the study of dividing animal bones and tortoise shells into periods. In fact, Dong Zuobin not only is renowned as a historian and an archaeologist both home and abroad, but he has also made great contribution to the nation's folklore foundation also. Folklore in our country started in Peking University's ballad collection activity, Peking University Ballad Research Board's establishment and "Ballad Weekly" publication in 1923. Then Zhongshan University Folklore Research Board's establishment and "Folklore Weekly" publication is the symbol of its foundation and official development. Dong Zuobin all played a leading role in these two grand occasions of folklore development, which can not be substituted, but has not brought enough attention actually.Dong Zuobin's contribution to Chinese contemporary folklore at an early stage mainly lies in collecting and reorganizing folklore materials and in attempting to research. At that time, the articles which published in"Ballad Weekly" and "Folklore Weekly" mainly belong to arrangement or rural customs description which was far from true pursuits, but Dong Zuobin's research was thorough explanation and analysis in many kinds of custom phenomenonena by using some theory as far as possible. This is the value of Dong Zuobin's folklore study, at the same time has also shed some light on the characteristic of his scholarly pursuits.This article intends, from this point of view, to demonstrate this folklore pioneer's contribution in the folklore domain, in particular in ballad collection and research. Putting his folklore research achievement in this area, he indeed would be a summit in...