Origin and Comparative Analysis of Ethnology and Anthropology

This study aims to clarify the origin context, historical evolution and core differences and connections of ethnology and anthropology, so as to make up for the lack of systematic comparative research on the origin stage of the two disciplines. The research adopts the methods of literature research, historical analysis and comparative research. It sorts out the social background and academic motivation of the emergence of ethnology and anthropology, traces the core disciplinary founders and landmark theoretical achievements in their initial stage, and conducts in-depth comparative analysis on the two disciplines from the dimensions of research objects, core paradigms and academic objectives. The results show that ethnology and anthropology share the same historical origin of exploring human culture and society, but form distinct disciplinary characteristics in the process of development. Ethnology focuses more on the systematic investigation and analysis of specific ethnic groups and their cultures, while anthropology has a more extensive research scope covering physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology and linguistics. The research reveals the homologous and divergent development track of the two disciplines, which provides a theoretical basis for the cross-integration of the two disciplines in subsequent academic research.