Abstract：In ancient China, there was a tradition of using unearthed documents to read handed-down documents. Through the efforts of scholars in the past dynasties, this research method has become more mature. But the “absolute function” and “relative function” should be distinguished when using unearthed documents to read handed down ancient books. In the past, most of the collate works generally advocated the use of unearthed documents in reading ancient books handed down from generation to generation, but it was not clear what roles unearthed documents played in the emancipatory and reading. There is even a tendency to overestimate or exaggerate the role of unearthed documents. In fact, we should deal with the relationship between unearthed documents and handed down documents, and divide the emendation function of unearthed documents into “absolute role” and “relative role”, which is helpful in improving our understanding of a “double evidence method”.Therefore, in order to solve the problem of disputes in the handed down ancient books, we should first pay attention to the value of the handed down ancient books themselves, and then combine the handed down ancient books with unearthed documents.In the past, scholars discussed more about the absolute role of unearthed documents but paid little attention to its relative role. Through the combination of theoretical interpretation and practical research, we conducted an in-depth discussion on this issue, hoping to attract the attention of colleagues in the academic circle.
2023, Vol. 53 
