Abstract: During the New Culture Movement, most of the Chinese intellectuals who were exposed to science chose to embrace “Mr. Science” enthusiastically. Their vehement support helped science break from the shackles of Confucianism, rooting and germinating in the Chinese soil and rapidly growing into a towering tree. How could science defeat Confucianism in China and win “a status of supreme dignity” as described by Hu Shi? This article investigates the characteristics of science as advocated in the New Culture Movement, and argues that the reason why “none of those who consider themselves as enlightened dared to openly despise ‘science’” in the early Republican China, is because of science’s obvious advantages over Confucianism regarding their definitions of research object and purpose and their choice in research methods and approaches. However, science and Confucianism have distinctive but complementary social functions, and it is inappropriate to replace or repudiate one with the other. The most important thing is that, any scholarly viewpoint, regardless of being scientific or Confucian, must be tested with reason and facts.