Abstract:

Novels were despised by orthodox ideology in ancient times. For many works, the author and the writing process of many works are unknown, and the path of version evolution is not clear. Therefore, textual research has become an important content of ancient novel research. After years of accumulation, textual research papers have become a larger collection. A small number of those that have been rigorously argued to make judgments have been regarded as conclusive, which has promoted the research progress. However, more have been questioned or ignored by peers. Several or even dozens of different conclusions have been verified on the same question, which also makes researchers at a loss, which affects the corresponding follow-up research. Examining more than a hundred textual research works covering the past 40 years from a methodological perspective, this paper summarizes seven situations that have fatal harm to the validity of the conclusion of textual research: 1. The premise is not reliable; 2. The basis of the data is unable to support the conclusion; 3. Reasoning is illogical; 4. The possibility of superposition is equated with affirmation; 5. The key point of the proof is missing; 6. Association and speculation is taken as argument; 7. Searching for concealed issues, together with others, is taken as textual research.

Key words: novel, textual research, logic rules