Professor Zhuang Kongshao,who was mentored by renowned anthropologists Lin Yaohua and Huang Shuping,discusses in this paper the academic guidance and inspiration he received from his mentors during a field investigation in the dense forests of Xishuangbanna.He further explores how his research team,under his mentorship,has expanded interdisciplinary academic work in areas such as cultural writing,visual anthropology,drama,and visual arts anthropology over the past 40 years.He highlights the need for Chinese anthropology,rooted in fieldwork,to construct a critical epistemology and indigenous theories that can address the issues of uncritical adoption and imitation in Chinese academic research,as well as the limitations imposed by scientific positivism and empiricism.