Thus when Xu began doing research outside his own field, perhaps there was an element of following in his father's footsteps. As well as looking for links between writing systems of the Olmec and the Shang, Xu also looked for similarities in such areas as religion, agriculture, astronomy and calendar systems.
對於奧爾梅克與殷商，許輝除了從文字找關連，也就宗教、農業、天文曆法等層面找比對。