Chinese Inventions

World Cultures II

World Cultures II
May 24, 2012
“Chinese Inventions”

The United States Independence Day is July 4th and on this day fireworks light the sky. To know the day of the week Independence Day will fall on, we check a 365 day calendar. On Independence Day Americans put up flyers advertising firework shows using a combination of paper and printing. In order to arrive at the firework show a person may use a compass to help find the way. At the firework show a person may observeb a card game using playing cards. There may be food at the show for sale that may upset a person’s stomach and they may have to use the rest room. Using the restroom includes using toilet paper. While the firework show is very entertaining and festive, some Americans have their own traditions. Some may shoot at the sky with a gun using gunpowder. All these different things that can happen on any given Fourth of July in the United States are made possible by the Chinese.

The Chinese innovative and creative inventions make the festive of any given Fourth of July possible. The inventions include Paper,Printing,Gunpowder,and theCompass, theCalendar year 365, Fireworks, Playing cards and Toilet paper. Though all these inventions are important in society today there are four inventions that are the most important. Those four inventions that are the most important are the compass, the calendar year 365, paper and printing.

The invention of the compass was created by the Chinese during the Qin dynasty. The Qin dynasty was around (221-206 B.C.).The Chinese designed the compass on a square piece which had patterns for the cardinal points and the constellations. The pointing needle was a lodestone spoon-shaped device, with a lever that would always point south (Bellis).Magnetized needles used as direction pointers instead of the spoon-shaped lodestones appeared in the 8th century AD, again in China, and between 850 and 1050 they seem to have become common as navigational devices on ships (Bellis). Zheng He (1371-1435) was the first person recorded to have used the compass as a navigational aid, from the Yunnan province in China, who made seven ocean voyages between 1405 and 1433(Bellis). The compass was innovative because it showed the way around the world. Navigation began with the compass.

The Chinese calendar like the Hebrew is a combined solar/lunar calendar in that it strives to have its years coincide with the tropical year and its months coincide with the synodic months. It is not surprising that a few similarities exist between the Chinese and the Hebrew calendar: An ordinary year has 12 months; a leap year has 13 months. An ordinary year has 353, 354, or 355 days, a leap year has 383, 384, or 385 days.

Paper was invented by Cai Lun in 105 AD, which was one of the four great inventions by the Chinese("Chinese paper invention,”). Cai Lun not only greatly enhanced the papermaking technique, but also made it possible to use a variety of materials, such as tree bark, hemp, rags, etc. The earliest paper discovered in Fufeng County, Shaanxi, was made from hemp during the Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD). Bamboo paper was produced in the Tang Dynasty (608 - 907). Xuan paper made in Jing County, Anhui, is probably the best-known paper, which is mainly used in Chinese painting and calligraphy("Chinese paper invention,”). Xuan paper is soft, smooth, white, absorbent and very durable.Papermaking was introduced to Korea and Vietnam during the 3rd century and to the West around the 8th century. The first paper mill in Europe was built in 1009("Chinese paper invention,”). Paper was very innovative made printing, writing, and reading possible.

Block Printing first appeared in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The text was first printed on a piece of thin paper, and then glued face down onto a wooden plate("Four great inventions,”). The characters were imprinted out to make a wood-block printing plate, which was used to print the text. Wood-block printing took a long time as a new block had to be carved for every page in a book("Four great inventions,”). It took a lot of time and energy as well as materials to prepare for printing a book, but it worked more successfully afterwards. This technology was gradually introduced to Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines("Four great inventions,”). Block Printing had its disadvantages -- all the boards became useless after the printing was done and a single mistake in carving could decay the whole block. The frontispiece of the world's oldest surviving book, the Diamond Sutra printed in the year 868, was discovered at Dunhuang Cave, along the Silk Road("Four great inventions," ). The book, in the form of a roll, is the earliest woodcut illustration in a printed book. Printing was a revolutionary innovative invention. Education became possible because of printing.

Out of all the great inventions by the Chinese, the best invention was printing. Printing is the best because of books. Printing allowed the mass production of books. This meant that anyone in the world could have access to information instantly because of printing. The impact of printing impacted the world. Mass production of books like the bible helped spread Christianity throughout the world. Books being mass produced introduced education to the world. All types of information could now be shared with the world because of printing. The Chinese made it possible for the world to be educated in any way that’s why printing is the most importance.

Reference:

Bellis, M. (n.d.). The compass and other magnetic innovations. Retrieved from http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Compass.htm

Chinese paper invention. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa_invention_paper02a.htm

Four great inventions of ancient china - printing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.chinesecultureonline.org/past.jsp?catName=invention¢erName=printing