China Social Science Review

No.3, 2023

The Mythological Evidence Method in the Exploration of Chinese Civilization

(Abstract)

Wang Xianzhao

Mythological evidence method is a research method that combines empirical research with historical and cultural research, and as a methodology, it has gone through the process of evolution from “dual evidence method,” “threefold evidence method” to “fourfold evidence method,” and the evidence for myths has gradually been expanded from mere texts to multiple evidence such as archaeology of cultural relics, oral narratives, folklore narratives, pictorial narratives, and narratives of objects. The innovation of mythological evidence method is mainly manifested in the expansion from the emphasis on documents to the emphasis on physical evidence and oral tradition, and the expansion of linear reasoning to the multi-dimensional argumentation of evidence of different natures, where the cultural attributes of mythological evidence have been highlighted and the interdisciplinary characteristics have been continuously strengthened.