Hehe, as far as patents are concerned, feelings have a lot to do with cultural traditions. First of all, under the influence of Confucian culture, the ancient rulers of China always paid more attention to literature than light industry. Compared with the prominent schools at that time, the so-called technology has always been strange and ingenious, and has not received due attention. Secondly, from the folk point of view, all kinds of technologies are protected by the most primitive ways such as heirlooms and apprenticeships. Today, this can be regarded as a "technical secret" and one of the original sources of the European intellectual property system. It is not recognized by the rulers, but only protected by the people, and its effectiveness is extremely limited. At the same time, from the purpose, the modern intellectual property system ultimately achieves the purpose of communication through protection, while "technical secrets" achieve the purpose of protection by limiting communication, which is very different in essence. Therefore, personally, based on tradition, China ancient officials did not and will not protect intellectual property rights, but they produced limited protection similar to customs among the people.
As said on the first floor, this topic is too big, a little personal opinion, I hope it will help my girl.