This research studies the concept and role of background disciplines in the process of the development and design of subject curricula. It has long been a common belief that a subject is originated from one or more background disciplines. However when we look into the histories of many subjects, we can easily find that the background of each subject is not only limited to disciplines. Many subjects have grown from specific traditions of practices. I have critically reviewed this idea in the areas of both curriculum development and curriculum design. Reviewed from the comparative subject perspective, the relationships between subjects and disciplines are complex and dynamic. For the development of subject pedagogy, the links between them need to be studied more throughly than they have been in the past.