There are two cases of how komonjo survive: when an original document from the time ('shomon' [正文]) has been passed down in the addressee's family, and when a draft ('soan' [草案] or 'dodai' [土代]) has survived in the author's family as a duplicate.
古文書には当時の原本（「正文」しょうもん）が宛所の家にそのまま伝わる場合と、下書き（「草案」そうあん/「土代」どだい）が差出人の家に控えとして伝世する場合がある。