Claims as to the “ancient” origins of knowledge were a received way of legitimating it in early modern East Asia. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, however, with the rise of nationalism, socialism and liberalism, the ‘traditional’ origins of knowledge were increasingly put forward instead. In order to highlight the changing appeal of antiquity and tradition in science, technology and medicine in these centuries, this symposium brings together studies on the early modern period with others focusing on the 20th century that address the following questions:

How were techniques, concepts and beliefs ‘recovered’? Were they sought in ancient sources pertaining to élite traditions, or in more recent sources preserving local ‘little traditions’? With what aim was this done: retrieving a lost golden age, or constructing theories and disciplinary practices aiming to be modern and universal? In what ways did the specific forms of appeal to antiquity and tradition change? In addressing these questions, both the practice of science, technology or medicine and the discourse on it should be considered, in order to show whether and how the two are related to one another.

Our aim is to analyse the ways in which early modern scholars and then modern scientists of East Asia positioned themselves on the shoulders of their own giants, and thus to shed light on the complex nature of the transition from ‘traditional’ to ‘modern’ science.