Adam Kvederis
Chinese Contributions to the Modern World
H. Stansbury
HUM111
6/3/13

The ancient Chinese have made many invaluable contributions to both technology and culture. Originally, a tribe of stone tool using hunter-gatherers, this civilization evolved into a sophisticated people who harnessed the command of gunpowder, medicine, and the arts among other things (Sayre, 2012, pg 208). Although little remains from China’s early history, the luxurious items carefully buried with royalty are a testament to the nation’s power. For example, emperor Shihuangdi of the Quin dynasty was buried in 210 BCE with an extensive army of unique terracotta soldiers, each painstakingly created by hand (Sayre, 2012, pg 208). In his book Travels, Italian merchant and explorer Marco Polo exclaimed, “The houses of the citizens are well built and elaborately finished, and the delight they take in decoration, in painting, and in architecture, leads them to spend in this way sums of money that would astonish you” (Sayre, 2012, pg 497). One of the oldest civilizations in history, China is for these reasons revered for its many achievements throughout history.
Following Rome’s fall during the beginning of the Common Era, China emerged as the strongest nation in the world (Sayre, 2012, pg 226). China’s many dynasties each brought technological, cultural, and intellectual advances. Included among these are gunpowder, the compass, printing, paper, tea, acupuncture, spaghetti, the utilization of animals for agriculture, the abacus, and paper money (Ray, 2004). Prosperous and peaceful dynasties such as the Han Dynasty encouraged spans of intellectual and cultural advancement that lead to the creation of many of these inventions (Sayre, 2012, pg 215). These inventions and ideas gradually reached the rest of the world through trade and exploration. Though Chinese engaged in trade