In recent years, the research of folk literature in China gets great development, and the scholars obtain a great amount of results within theory studies, records and collections. The theory studiesaspects and the scholars based on inheriting traditional foundation, absorb some methods of research and principles from modern foreign folklore and cultural anthropology, using the research methods such as psychology, structuralism, etc., which advance the research to be deepen and develop. The collections and records aspects, they all aim to field, beginning with investigating and recording,carrying on complete and scientific research on the folk literature. After the 11th plenary meeting, in order to meet the literature unprecedented development needs at that time, the folk literature gets developmental space, which is also subjected to concerning the value of social public. And the indirect influence of politics for literature, makes the publications scale of multiform folk literature works be unprecedented huge, various folk literature works, such as folktale,folk legend, folk song, deny, etc. continuously published in the form of offprint or corpus.Publication grows profusely and quickly, including ShanXi Folk Literature (now Folk legend),which is sponsored by literature league in ShanXi province. Range and angle of research on folk literature lately expanded, the scholars had new results on the research of folk literature. Many different research contents were brought into the scholars visual field, just as the research of myth,folk song, deny, etc. all had a substantial development. But the research of folk literature publication was few. This is a new research content in the history of academic research. The thesis aims at the folk literature periodicals social background, which appears in 1980s; mainly study the wrresponding period publication ShanXi Folk Literature (now Folk legend), whose historical reasons, social reasons, conclude the reason and the meaning of producing in special history about ShanXi Folk Literature, divide two stages to contrast its characteristics in quality, content,format, etc., and use comparative method to look far the periodical developmental trace of the folk literature. The thesis divides into five parts. The preface mainly introduces current research of the folk literature and textual researchful method. This point is framing the thesis. The second part overviews the folk literature periodical in 1980s, analyzing the ages background,and the research of the folk literature publication is blank in the history of academic studies. The third part analyses the development of ShanXi Folk Literature, which starts in 1980s, including both the history condition and the social reason, and analyzes its development under the innovation mechanism. The Fourth part points to the content characteristic analysis of Folk legend, comparatively researching the content classification, contents setup etc., and analyzes the various circumstance of the publication. The fifth part compares Folk legend with the corresponding period folk literature periodical,analyzing and summarizing periodical characteristic and advantage trait, and its social meaning and function.