本文讨论理性力学的历史发展和力学通论性课程的名称变迁．基于严格数学推导和证明的理性力学在法国学者引领下在十九世纪达到鼎盛后在二十上半叶衰落，在二十世纪中叶在美国学者倡导下复兴．理性力学八十年代后在中国起步得到持续的发展．在十九世纪理性力学往往是理论性较强的法语力学教材名称，这一名称在法语和意大利语中仍用于通论性教材．从理性力学中衍生出的理论力学，广泛用于俄语和汉语通论性教材中，也见于英语和德语教材或论著．

The historical development of rational mechanics and the name changes of general courses in mechanics are investigated. Rational mechanics, the branch of mechanics based on rigorous mathematical demonstrations and proofs, reached its peak in the 19th century under the guidance of French scholars and declined in the first half of the 20th century. It was rejuvenate in the mid-20th century under the advocacy of American scholars. In China, rational mechanics began in 1980s and has continued to develop since then. In the 19th century, the mechanics textbooks focusing on theoretical issues in French were named rational mechanics, and it is still used in general textbooks in French and Italian. Theoretical mechanics possibly derived from rational mechanics is widely used as the titles of general textbooks in Russian and Chinese, as well as occasionally used in English and German for textbooks or treatises.