This landmark volume offers a bold response from the East to the Western classic The Golden Bough, bringing Chinese perspectives into the global conversation on comparative mythology.

Through a close examination of the culturally distinctive motif of the "Jade Leaf", the author reinterprets the foundational narratives of ancient China and highlights the symbolic and civilizational role of jade in shaping East Asian identity. By bridging disciplines such as mythology, literature, history, philosophy, religion, art, and anthropology, the book constructs a uniquely Chinese mythological coding system-one that challenges conventional boundaries and offers fresh insight into the spiritual and cultural imagination of ancient China.