Usually refers to the history of science. Before Marxism, all countries in the world accumulated rich historical works and historical materials, as well as various historical ideas and viewpoints. However, due to the limitations of the times and classes, strictly speaking, history is not a science. Marx and Engels first discovered the universal law of the development of human society. They founded dialectical materialism and historical materialism which combined revolutionary and scientific nature, and realized the great revolution of social science, thus making history a science. Marxist historical science develops with the development of history. See History.

"Historical science" is an important concept with overall situation to understand Marx and Engels' thought. Although we have long regarded historical materialism as the symbolic contribution of Marx and Engels, we have not paid enough attention to Marx and Engels' formulation of "historical science". A profound understanding of Marx and Engels' concept of "historical science" is conducive to our more accurate grasp of Marxism, especially Marxist philosophy.

Marx and Engels mentioned the concept of "historical science" many times in their works, but just like their use of other concepts, their meanings are often different due to complicated reasons. Generally speaking, there are two meanings: one is in the sense of discipline division, and the other is in the sense of scientific research principles and methods.