Abstract: The historical documents of revolution that survived various political storms, wars, and social upheaval in the 20th century have long been regarded as rare collection objects by libraries at home and abroad. However, in the oral and written expressions of people who are inside and outside the industry, the reference names of these literatures are often different, and the concepts of these names are ambiguous. Based on the collection of book examples and documentary evidence, this article attempts to clarify the context, connotation and extension of the terms progress (revolution) books, historical materials (cultural relics) of revolution and historical documents of revolution. It is believed that the term historical documents of revolution can best embody the scientific connotation of historical materialism. The Special Collection of Revolutionary Historical Documents opened by Mr. Gu Tinglong when he was in charge of the Hezhong Library, Shanghai Historical Literature Library and Shanghai Library laid a rich foundation of document resources for the resource development and social utilization that advance with the times, and thus endowed modern people with some important thoughts and inspirations.