Ko Ketsugo advocated a theory on tradition of old history that those for older times were created more recently, based on a metaphor 'when stacking firewood, the ones placed later are higher,' and strongly shocked the intellectuals who were immersed in a Confucian historical perspective which viewed Gyo, Shun, and U as the golden age of Chinese history.
顧頡剛は「薪を積んでいくと、後から載せたものほど上に来る」という比喩のもと、古史伝承は累層的に古いものほど新しく作られたという説を主張し、尭・舜・禹を中国史の黄金時代とする儒教的歴史観に染まっていた知識人に大きな衝撃を与えた。