In the 5th century BC, Mozi Xia Jing at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period put forward the viewpoint that the smallest unit of matter is the "end" of material change and the "impermanence of five elements" (China Mozi).

From the 4th century BC to the 3rd century BC, during the Warring States Period, China recorded the earliest research on alloy composition in the world. This book is the earliest record of China's ancient technology.

From the 4th century BC to the 3rd century BC, there were words such as "wood rubbing against wood" and "drilling wood to make fire" in the books such as Foreign Things in Zhuangzi during the Warring States Period in China, which recorded the ancient methods of burning wood to make fire.

From the 5th century BC to the 3rd century BC, during the Warring States Period in China, the book "Zhuangzi" had the viewpoint that "one foot's pestle is enough for half a day, and it is inexhaustible".

In the 2nd century BC, China's historical records contained Li's alchemy in the Western Han Dynasty.

In the 2nd century BC, Huan Kuan, Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty in China, wrote The Theory of Salt and Iron, which recorded the position of salt and iron in the national economy and its refining technology. At the beginning of Han Dynasty, smelting iron, making salt and casting money became three major industries.

In the 2nd century BC, it was recorded in Huainan Wanbi Book written by Liu An, a guest of the Western Han Dynasty in China that "white green (that is, copper sulfate) turns into copper when it gets iron", which was an early discovery of metal replacement reaction.

In BC 1 century, copper alloy was extracted from zinc-bearing ore in China during the Western Han Dynasty.

BC 1 century, during the Western Han Dynasty in China, Geography of Hanshu recorded the early use of oil and coal.