"电" is written in traditional Chinese as "电", which is a noun and is a pictophonetic character in terms of word formation. "Yu" represents the origin of "electricity", and "Shen" represents the pronunciation. Its original meaning is lightning.
Electricity is a natural phenomenon. In ancient times, people discovered its existence through lightning. In ancient China, the ancients believed that the phenomenon of electricity was generated by the interaction between yin and yang qi. "Shuowen Jiezi" states that "electricity is the stimulating of yin and yang, and it follows the rain and the shen." "Ci Hui" has "Thunder comes from Hui, and electricity comes from Shen. Yin and Yang use the thinness of Hui to become thunder, and use Shen and Xue to become electricity."
In the ancient book Lun Heng (about the first century AD, that is, the Eastern Han Dynasty), there are records about static electricity. When amber or tortoiseshell is rubbed, it can attract light and small objects, and The phenomenon of electricity generated by friction of silk is described, but ancient China did not know much about electricity.