Ancient Chinese Contributions
This paper will highlight some of the inventions of the ancient Chinese and focus on four that many believe to be the most important to society today. China is the oldest living civilization in the world. Because of the vast history, dating 5,000 years, Chinese history is broken down into dynasties. The Chinese have made a copious amount of inventions in history, four of which we will go into great detail about in this paper- printing, gunpowder, compass, and paper.
Theories abound as to why China was so successful inventing. Some of the factors contributing to the proliferation of innovation are wealth, an abundant population, and geographical isolation. The Chinese also had a very civilized and cultured society. The Chinese have always had a large population; historians estimate that during the innovation period for the Chinese they maintained 25% of the world’s population (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2014). This allowed for the Chinese to leverage many people to perform a task. China is located in Asia, and during the time they were extremely isolated, as evidenced by the building of the Great Wall, a tremendous feat in ingenuity and innovation in its own right.
A few of the noted inventions listed in chronological order are silk, papermaking, cast iron technology, wheelbarrow, compass, tea, porcelain, gunpowder, brandy, whisky and printing. For the purposes of this paper we will focus on the compass, paper, gunpowder, and printing. Silk is also an example of the tremendous innovation capability that China exhibited. Silk was invented around 200 BC using a loom with over 1800 moving parts (Deng, 2011).
Paper aided in the development of civilization. Refining previous methods of paper the Chinese were effectively able to make paper of high quality. Before the Chinese refined the process of paper making bones, tortoise shells, and bamboo slips were used as surfaces for writing. They were not particularly economical and posed problems when being transported long distances due to the weight. The Chinese developed a paper made from fiber pulp which allowed for easy transport of documents and books. This allowed for the Chinese to be more advanced academically and technologically.
The predecessor to the compass was a device known as a Si Nan. The Si Nan was a “ladle-like magnet on a plate with the handle of the ladle pointing to the South. In the 11th century, tiny needles made of magnetized steel were invented. One end of the needle points north whiles the other end points south. The compass was created” (Yates, 2000). Prior to the compass people had to rely on landmarks and memory to navigate the globe. They had difficulty during bad weather situations like fog and intense storms. The compass was first used in 200 A.D. and it helped aid in the exploration of new land and is still used extensively in just about any kind of transportation and surveying. Finally, the compass allowed man to conquer the seas, thus discovering new undeveloped land.
The third invention of note and importance was printing. Printing was invented around 600 Printing was extremely important because just like the invention of paper it increased productivity. The initial form of printing involved the Chinese carving characters into wood blocks. The process was refined eventually using moving, removable clay. The invention of paper and printing led to the spread of information and teaching throughout the country and eventually the world. Without the invention of movable clay printing the Gutenberg printing press would not have been developed.
The final invention to be discussed is gunpowder. The invention of gunpowder was actually a mistake. Chemists in China were actually looking to create an elixir for immortality using fuel and ores. The exact date of the invention is unknown but it is believed to be between the years 618-907. Gunpowder was originally used for fireworks and the first military application was believed to have been around the year 960 during the Tang Dynasty. Explosive bombs filled with gunpowder were loaded into a catapult and fired during war. During the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368), the military applications of gunpowder became common and some other weapons like "fire cannon", "rocket", "missile" and "fireball" were introduced (Sayre, 2011).
The greatest invention by the Chinese was gunpowder. Gunpowder completely changed the way that wars were fought. Without gunpowder America would never have been able to win the Revolutionary War and anybody reading this would not be here. The combustion engine and the steam engine would not have been possible and our basic modes of transportation would not have been possible without this Chinese invention. Man would have never been able to go to the moon and space exploration would have never existed.
The most commonly used invention from this time that cannot be lived without would have to be paper. Paper is used by nearly everybody on a daily basis. It would be impossible for humans to live a productive life without this all too important invention.
In conclusion, the Chinese are instrumental in the success of man. Although most of the inventions were for their own survival it still left an indelible impression on the world and mankind. Bibliography
Deng, Y. (2011). Ancient Chinese Inventions 3rd Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press.
National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2014, 01 20). China’s Economy Showed Good Momentum of Steady Growth in the Year of 2013 . Retrieved from National Bureau of Labor: http://www.stats.gov.cn/enGLISH/PressRelease/201401/t20140120_502079.html
Sayre, H. M. (2011). The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change. Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Yates, R. D. (2000, 02 29). China's Age of Invention. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/song-dynasty.html