Due to the limitation of ductility index in evaluating the low temperature performance of hard petroleum asphalt， a better evaluation index of low temperature performance of hard asphalt was proposed. Bending beam rheological （BBR） test of four kinds of representative hard petroleum asphalt were carried out at different temperatures. The low-temperature parameters such as stiffness modulus and creep stiffness change rate of each asphalt sample were tested. Burgers viscoelastic model was used to fit and analyze the low temperature creep compliance curve， and the low temperature viscoelastic evaluation index of asphalt was constructed， including relaxation time λ， new index m（t）/S（t）， low temperature comprehensive compliance parameter J_C. At same time， the correlation analysis and comparison with the maximum bending tensile stress index of hard petroleum asphalt mixture were established. The results show that there are some limitations in using absolute index （S or m） to evaluate the low-temperature performance of hard petroleum asphalt. Considering the modulus， creep rate， λ， m（t）/S（t） and J_C of hard petroleum asphalt modulus， creep rate and relaxation capacity can reflect and evaluate the low-temperature rheological properties of hard petroleum asphalt more accurately. It is suggested to use index m（t）/S（t） to evaluate the low-temperature rheological properties of hard petroleum asphalt during the research work， and λ should be used as the low-temperature evaluation index of hard petroleum asphalt in engineering application.