Inheritance and Innovation in ZHENG Zhenduo’s Popular Literature Studies

ZHENG Zhenduo’s research on Chinese popular literature embodies a dual character of inheritance and innovation. ZHENG critically engaged with the scholarly achievements of WANG Guowei, LU Xun, and HU Shi. He not only recognized the groundbreaking significance of Songyuan Xiqu Shi (History of Drama in Song and Yuan Dynasties), expanding upon its findings with his own evidence and corrections. Moreover, he enhanced his study of fictions through intellectual exchanges with Lu- relationship marked by mutual inspiration and reciprocal refinements. Furthermore, he inherited HU’s empiricist methodology, emphasizing textual criticism and inductive reasoning. Building upon this foundation, ZHENG systematically proposed the centrality of popular literature. As a result, this type of literature is elevated to a mainstream position in literary history. He also dedicated considerable effort to pioneering the study of tell-and-sing literature as an emerging field. In doing so, he established a clear paradigm and direction for subsequent research.