What is the tradition of ancient science in China?

The contention of a hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin period was the basis for the development of ancient science and technology in China. Yi Zhuan, written in the Warring States Period, systematically expounded the idea of harmony between man and nature, which is not only the destination of China's thought and culture, but also the ideological basis for the formation of China's ancient science and technology culture.

The concept of heaven is the embodiment of naturalization and human culture, and this spirit of "looking up at the sky and overlooking the geography" governs "humanity" and "physics" respectively. In addition, cosmology such as "generative theory", "inductive theory" and "circular theory" laid a rational foundation for the formation and development of ancient science in China.

Science has two sources. The first is the inherent requirement of obtaining the overall world outlook. Humans need to create a home for their own mind, a cognitive framework that will not change frequently because of ever-changing immediate phenomena, and a way to systematically understand the world. This inherent requirement constitutes the tradition of philosophers in the history of science.

The second source is that in order to meet the needs of human material life, human beings must improve their ability to manufacture, use and improve tools, which has formed the progress of technology and technology. This is the craftsman tradition in the history of science.

Philosophers' traditional science, or so-called pure science, theoretical science and basic science, is often passed down to this day through works, while craftsmen's traditional science has actually disappeared with the passage of time, and the process of its invention has only been passed down to this day in legends.