赫尔德是民歌概念的创造者和民歌研究的先驱。但不同于后来民族主义者的看法，赫尔德理解的“民”（Volk）是涵盖部落、地方和民族等多个层面的人类共同体，他所谓的民歌也不只是民族歌曲，而是指具有共同体精神的歌曲。民歌与共同体具有一种相互界定的关系，一方面民歌的自然品质体现了“民”的理想特征，另一方面民歌也是塑造和维系“民”共同体的重要方式。这个意义上的民歌，既具有民族性和地方性也具有普遍人性，具有集体精神但创作者也可以是个人，受传统的影响但要求不断地创新。赫尔德的民歌理论对我们反思常见的相关观念混淆，提供了重要的启示。

Johann Gottfried Herder(1744-1803)is the creator of the concept of folksong and the pioneer of folksong research.But different from the nationalist view, Herder's concept of Volk encompasses multiple levels of human community, including tribal,local,and national.His so-called folksongs are not just national songs, but songs with spirits of a community.There is a mutually defining relationship between folksong and community, on the one hand,the natural quality of folksong reflects the ideal characteristics of Volk, on the other hand, folk- song is also an important way to shape and maintain the Volk community. Folksong in this sense has both national and local characteristics and universal humanity,reflects the collective spirit but the creator can also be an individual,and is influenced by tradition but requiring constant innovation.Herder's theory of folksong provides important enlightenments for us to reflect on the common confusion of related ideas.