How to understand the evolution of the ancient and modern meaning of the word literature

The literature we are talking about today mainly refers to the relatively important written materials with historical significance, and the broad definition of literature has become all the carriers of recording knowledge. According to the international definition, literature is the carrier of all information.

With the development of society, the concept of "literature" has changed a lot. In addition to ancient books, people also call monuments, antiquities, models, inscriptions and paintings "historical documents". 1984 the definition of "document" in People's Republic of China (PRC) national standard "General Rules for Document Description" is: document: all carriers with knowledge are recorded.

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For thousands of years, our ancestors have created rich and splendid cultural achievements, which are mainly recorded in the voluminous ancient books and classics. These are classical documents. Among them, the books and materials directly related to a certain subject are the literature of that subject.

The basic task of classical philology is to inherit the methods, experiences and achievements of ancient collators, use the viewpoints and methods of historical materialism and dialectical materialism to explore, collect, sort out and study these documents, discard the false and retain the true, research the origin of mirrors, make them known, mastered and utilized by professional workers at all levels in various disciplines, and create new scientific culture on this basis, thus making contributions to all mankind.