| The beginnings of modern Chinese folklore are inextricably linked to the May Fourth Movement,in which the value of various folklore events was revalued.The introduction of folklore as a discipline name began with the weekly publication "Ballads" at Peking University.As scholars from Beijing moved south in 1926,Zhongshan University in Guangzhou became the new academic centre,writing the sequel to the folklore movement in its academic activities from 1927 to 1943.As an important publication of the Guangzhou folklore movement,Folklore nurtured a large number of outstanding folklore scholars.The success of Folklore was due to a group of high-quality content producers and editorial staff.By analysing the content of Folklore and the academic trajectory of the editorial writers,it is important for the development of Chinese folklore and folk culture to fully recognise and evaluate the groundbreaking academic work of early folklore scholars.Since the Opium War in 1840,China has been in a state of ’internal and external troubles’ and has been ’in a state of turmoil’.With the introduction of new ideas from the West and the influence of new cultural movements and social trends in China,the May Fourth New Culture Movement hoped to transform Chinese culture,reshape the national spirit and,in turn,transform Chinese society.The characteristics of folklore dictated the historical mission it was supposed to undertake at a particular time.Against this background,traditional Chinese folklore was gradually discovered,valued and regarded as a treasure by society.As the first systematic and comprehensive professional folklore journal in the folklore field,Folklore is of special significance for its comprehensive compendium.The research in this article takes Folklore,published by the Folklore Society of Sun Yat-sen University,as the object of study,and analyses the specific contents of Folklore from the perspective of its editors and author groups,using research methods from history,folklore and anthropology,and analysing more of the groundbreaking academic work of folklore scholars at the time,with a view to outlining the trajectory and forward movement of Chinese folklore studies in the first half of the 20th century.As a journal specialising in folklore,Folklore is a combination of scholars,journals and relevant local folklore content.This article first discusses the social and academic background of its founding,and then shows that the founding of Folklore in Guangzhou was a necessity of the times and a result of Guangzhou’s leadership in the reform of Chinese thought.The paper then looks at the editorial team of the journal,and through the diaries and autobiographies of Gu Jie-gang,Rong Zhaozu,Zhong Jingwen,Yang Chengzhi and Rong Yuan,it gives the reader a more systematic and intuitive understanding of the main editorial team of the journal at the time,as well as the academic views and ideas of important scholars.By fully exploring the practices of the folklore editors and creators,it seeks to show the direction,values and stance of the first Chinese folklore journal,Folklore.On this basis,through the collation of relevant materials such as correspondence and letters between the editors and authors,the efforts of early folklore scholars in exploring,establishing,disseminating and developing the folklore discipline are investigated,and the academic spirit of the first folklore scholars in China is distilled.As an important journal of Chinese folklore,Folklore has not only made remarkable achievements,but also made great contributions.In particular,it creatively extended its academic horizons to the folk cultural practices of China’s ethnic minorities.This article also discusses the brilliant achievements of the folklore scholars of the time who were concerned with the folk cultural practices of the ethnic minorities in southern China and used images to convey the brilliant results of their folk cultural pursuits,which is an important reference for our understanding of the living practices of the boat-dwelling people and the Yao people of the time.Based on the above research,this article argues that the publication Folklore,based in Guangzhou,has been able to sort and publish folklore materials from all over the country in the process of fully exploring and digging them up,bringing back the attention to folk culture materials not cherished by the general public and providing original materials for academic research.Secondly,Folklore has united many folklore enthusiasts to actively promote the professional knowledge of folklore,which has not only trained a number of excellent young folklore practitioners,but also laid the foundation for the construction of a modern folklore discipline system in China.Finally,the free and egalitarian atmosphere of academic exchange and pioneering academic efforts created by Folklore in its philosophy and editorial work are worthy of study and learning from the academic development of China today. |
