惠棟以漢儒「近古」而守「家法」，且將古訓著於竹帛，故標榜以「漢學」解經，為乾嘉之學開一門徑；「述而不作」的「古義」則是其代表性的解 釋類型。「古義」以輯佚、考據為基礎，注重訓詁之學，《易漢學》、《周易述》等一系列著述，巳為撰述新注疏揭開序幕。依《左傳補註》、《公羊古義》和《穀梁古義》三傳古義而言，惠氏之《春秋》學非嚴守今文、古文之壁壘，不墨守一家之說；治經重心從書法義例轉向古訓，由識字審音進而考索典章制度，循此進路以解經釋義。以禮治《春秋》，正是以「漢學」補正魏晉注解的突破關鍵，其中仍寓有經世的終極關懷。總之，惠棟經學標榜述「古」，實則以「漢學」立幟開新。

Hui Dong considered that the Han Confucians were closer to antiquity, followed the traditional schools of interpretation, and transcribed the transmitted archaic pronunciations onto bamboo and silk. Thus he had respect for the Han and concentrated on the Han Learning interpretation of the Classics that respected antiquity, emphasizing the "guyi ( 古義 )" of the Confucian phrase, "Transmit but do not create," as the representative model of interpretation. He used guyi as the basis for his textual reconstruction and evidential scholarship, stressed study of ancient pronunciation, and authored texts such as Han Learning Yi ( 易漢學 ), and the Explanation of the Zhouyi ( 周易述 ), outlining the beginning of a new way of commentary. According to his three texts, Supplementary Notes to the Zuozhuan ( 左傳補註 ), "Guyi of the Gongyang Commentary ( 公羊古義 )," and "Guyi of the Guliang Commentary ( 穀梁古義 )," all may be classed as the type of interpreta – tion of "guyi ( 古義 )." We can say that his Spring and Autumn Annals scholarship did not strictly preserve the distinction between Old Textand New Text schools, and he was not bound to study solely according to anyone traditional school or commentary. The core of his exegeses of the Classics changed from the interpretation of their concealed meanings, to ancient pronunciation, and he turned in the direction of ancient philology according to meaning and pronunciation; in addition, concentrating on researching the system of governmental decrees and regulations. Ordering the Spring and Autumn Annals according to ritual, this was actually a breakthrough in that he used Han Learning to supplement and correct the Wei and Jin Dynasty commentaries; and also we should not overlook his ultimate goal of ordering the world. In sum, although Hui Dong's study of the classics declared that it described what was ancient, it actually opened up a new direction through Han Learning.