It can be seen from these ancient archives that archives are the product of historical civilization and are produced when society develops to a certain stage to adapt to the needs of handling affairs or recording public and private life. Since their inception, archives have been records of social practices such as production and political, scientific and cultural activities. At the same time, archives, as the remains of historical and cultural classics, have also become the source of cultural inheritance and development. Therefore, some historians and philosophers believe that, in a certain sense, archives are the mother of historical civilization and culture. Ancient historians recorded the speeches, actions, and regulations of the monarchs and nobles, and preserved them as national archives. The collection and knowledge of historians were passed down from generation to generation and became exclusive knowledge. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the contents of archives preserved by the dynasty spread to society, and the knowledge of historians gradually spread to the people. The situation of "learning in the government" was broken, and private writings and private lectures flourished. Many people have collected and studied various kinds of expertise accumulated in archives from various aspects, and selected, organized and developed them. For example, many of the academic thoughts and materials of various schools of thought are derived from or borrowed from archives. In the development of our country's traditional culture, archives have the function of carrying forward the past and opening up the future.
?Due to the invention of paper and the development of social life, the writing materials for documents were gradually replaced by paper. The widespread use of paper not only promoted the evolution of Chinese characters, but also promoted the exchange and development of the motherland's culture. It also had a huge impact on clerical and archival work. As for the complete use of paper to write documents, it still went through a transition period in which bamboo slips, silk and paper were used together. And because official documents were mostly processed on the desk, after the Han and Tang dynasties, official documents and archives were also called "official documents" and "official documents", and sometimes they were also expressed as "official documents", "documents" and "books". There is a record in "Han Shu·Criminal Law Chronicles" that "there are many documents in several pavilions, and the compiler cannot read them all". There are many of the above titles in the laws of the Tang and Song Dynasties. For example, "When the writing is completed, the official will go to Zhu's end", "If the documents in the cabinet are scattered and the officials in charge are lost, a hundred sticks will be given", etc. In the articles and poems, there are also lines and sentences such as "Why is it so urgent to return books and documents?"
?The word "archives" first appeared in the Qing Dynasty according to existing materials. In the existing government documents from the Shunzhi period, the word "archives" has been used. For example, on the first day of October in the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661), A Siha, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, inscribed the title of "Inspecting and Examining the Rouge, Money, Grain and Land in Bazhou Qianqing Palace". There is "In April of the 10th year of Shunzhi, the title of the Ministry of Finance was examined." Archives". Yang Bin's "Liubian Jilue", which was written around the 46th year of Kangxi (1707), said: "Bianwai writing is mostly written on wood, and those who pass it back and forth are called brands, so they are cut into pieces of wood to resemble cards; they are stored The old ones were called archives, and they were called stalls, because they were hung on the wall like a pile of leather strips. However, nowadays, those with written words on paper are also called brands and stalls. This is also an explanation of the etymology of archives. The word "file" is explained in the "Kangxi Dictionary" as "horizontal wooden frame file", which means wooden frame frame. "Case" is interpreted as "Jigen" in "Shuowen Jiezi", which is something like a small table. By extension, the relevant documents dealing with an incident are also called a case, and it is also called a case in the "Qing Dynasty Archives and Historical Materials Collection" ed. Official documents collected are commonly referred to as "cases". "file" and "case" are used together. As the name suggests, it is the copywriting that is stored in the file rack. This title has been used to this day and still has its figurative and intrinsic meaning, and has new scientific connotations.