...agriculture, shipping, astronomy, printing, oil, martial arts, ammunition, and mathematics. Ancient Chinese inventions such as gunpowder, silk, paper, printing, tea, wheel barrow, iron plows, deep drilling, porcelain, toilet paper and the compass were and still are important pieces of Chinese and global life. These inventions were major blocks in the building of the world that we know today. The four main innovations that I consider essential in our lives are printing, gunpowder, compass, and paper. The method of printing and woodblock, or movable, printing are considered ancient Chinese inventions. This ancient Chinese invention was seen before the first dated book in 868 (Lad). Printing books was time-consuming, as the blackline method used required a new block to be carved for each page. Movable type in printing was invented during the Song Dynasty. Movable Chinese characters were carved from wood, which could be arranged as needed and even reused. Later versions used clay, but these broke easily. During the Ming Dynasty, the wooden movable type was refined and books were printed using the two-color printing process. After the development of paper, printing was one of the most important inventions as it led to expansion in spreading stories, news, and knowledge. Another innovation that changed the world was gunpowder. Gunpowder is believed to be development as a by-product of trying to make an immortality elixir. Taoist alchemists experimenting with sulphur...
Words: 985 - Pages: 4
...progress the way it has. These are eight inventions that Chinese has contributed to the world and their usefulness. ) Identify eight to ten of these useful inventions or contributions. . The top ten inventions and contributions and inventions by the Ancient Chinese included: the wheelbarrow, seismograph, paper, compass, gun powder, map, glazed pottery, hot air balloons, and silk. The ten most useful contributions that the ancient Chinese made in our contemporary society were: paper money, kites, iron and bronze, gunpowder, printing press, umbrellas, clocks, compasses, porcelain, and alcohol (Yinke, 2009). (2) Nominate four that you believe are the most ingenious or innovative. However, out of those ten, the four most significant innovations are paper money, gunpowder, printing press, and clocks. (3) Explain why you believe these four inventions or contributions are the most useful inventions or contributions from the ancient Chinese. Paper is one of the utmost inventions of the Chinese culture. This invention has been trace to the Chinese culture around AD 105, when Cai Lun, an official attached to the Imperial court during the Han Dynasty, created as sheet of paper using mulberry and other bast fibres along with fishnet, old rags and hemp waste. One of the few destructive inventions of ancient Chinese...
Words: 1486 - Pages: 6
...seen some extremely important inventions emerge, most noticeably gunpowder, paper making, compass, and silk. Few substances in history have had as profound an effect on human history as gunpowder... and its discovery was an accident! Ancient alchemists in China spent centuries trying to discover an elixir of life that would render the user immortal. One important ingredient in many of the failed elixirs was saltpetre, also known as potassium nitrate. Many western history books over the years have stated that the Chinese used this discovery only for fireworks, but that is not true. Song Dynasty military forces as early as 904 A.D. used gunpowder devices against their primary enemy, the Mongols. And, although the Chinese did use gunpowder in fireworks for religious purposes, they also used gunpowder in cannons, rockets, and guns. Other Song military applications of gunpowder included primitive hand grenades, poisonous gas shells, flame throwers and land mines. Paper was invented by Cai Lun in 105 AD. Cai Lun not only greatly improved the papermaking technique, but also made it possible to use a variety of materials, such as tree bark, hemp, rags, etc. Paper appears to have been made by from a suspension of hemp waste in water, washed, soaked, and beaten to a pulp with a wooden mallet. Eventually, tree bark, bamboo, and other plant fibers were used in addition to hemp. Bamboo paper was produced in the Tang Dynasty and...
Words: 1323 - Pages: 6
...civilization’s achievements in the fields of agriculture, shipping, astronomy, printing, oil, martial arts, ammunition and mathematics. Ancient Chinese inventions such as gunpowder, silk, paper, printing, tea, wheel barrow, iron plows, deep drilling, porcelain, toilet paper and the compass were and still are important pieces of Chinese and global life. These inventions were major blocks in the building of the world as we know today. The four main innovations which I consider to be essential aspects of our contemporary lives are paper, printing, gun powder, and compass. Certainly the most important invention of Chinese culture is paper. The invention of paper was a great contribution to both the Chinese and the world civilization. According to Sayre, it was in the year 105 A.D during the Han dynasty, that the invention of the paper was first reported by Cai Lun. Paper made of hemp had been used by the Han for over 200 years, but Cai Lun improved both the techniques and the quality of the paper by using verity of materials such as, tree bark, hemp and rags. The basic principles of papermaking invented by Cai Lun are still in use today (Sayre, 2012, p.226). Before the invention of paper, characters were written on animal bones, turtle backs, bamboo or stones. The storage of great ideas and paintings were a difficult task. Paper made it easy to express people’s thought in writing and educateing the people (Bellis, 2011). It has promoted and quickened the steps of human civilization and development...
Words: 1145 - Pages: 5
...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...
Words: 1149 - Pages: 5
...Part 1 -- The History of China Before we discuss individual technological developments, you should read the following three essays that will give you a historic context for these developments. Concise Political History of China, an online article by Paul Halsall compiled from Compton's Living Encyclopedia on America Online, http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/chinhist.html Chinese Periodization in Light of Economic Developments by Paul Halsall, http://www.mastep.sjsu.edu/history_of_tech/chinese_chronology.htm China, Technology and Change, an article by Lynda Shaffer, from the World History Bulletin, Fall/Winter, 1986/87, http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/shaffer.html China's Gifts to the West by Professor Derk Bodde, for the Committee on Asiatic Studies in American Education Reprinted with permission in China: A Teaching Workbook, Asia for Educators, Columbia University, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/readings/inventions_gifts.htm Part 2 - Science and Technology in China Science in China has a long history and developed quite independently of Western science. Needham (1993) has researched widely on the development of science and technologies in China, the effect of culture, and the transference of these principles, unacknowledged, to the West. The Chinese contribution to Western science is particularly interesting because it serves...
Words: 2783 - Pages: 12
...achievements such as: compass, papermaking, iron technology (cast iron), silk, first water powered blast furnace, gunpowder, medicine, paper money and certificates of deposit, printing, helicopter rotor and propeller, etc. Among, undoubtedly, many inventions, four stand out above others that I believe and nominate for are: (1) Iron technology (cast iron), (2) papermaking/currency, (3) guns and gunpowder, (4) medicine, all of which are still utilized by modern humanity. The first nominate greatest Chinese invention is the development of iron and steel. The development of iron and steel led to other advance. In the 5th century BC during the Zho Dynasty (1122-256BC), the Chinese had developed the blast furnace to obtain cast iron from iron ore. The Chinese had access to large amount of clay; clay was the most important ingredient in making blast furnace. The Chinese also figured out that by adding a substance the called “black earth” they could lower the melting point of iron; today iron and steel are used in many things from cars to buildings. The second nominate and the most important Chinese contributions to the modern world are papermaking. The earliest known piece of paper with writing on it was discovered near the 2nd century B.C, some say about 150 B.C. Although it is recorded that the Han Dynasty (202 BC –AD 220) court eunuch Cai Lun (b.c. 50-AD 121) invented the pulp papermaking process and established the use of new raw materials used in making paper, ancient padding...
Words: 1186 - Pages: 5
...contributions to the world. Some of their inventions and contributions include paper making, moveable type printing, gunpowder, compass, alcohol, mechanical clock, tea production, silk, practical umbrella, acupuncture, iron and steel smelting, porcelain, earthquake detector, rocket, bronze, the kite, the seed drill, row crop farming, toothbrush and paper money. We will take a look at 10 of these contributions and then choose the four that I believe are the most important. I will then choose one of the Ancient Chinese contributions that I cannot live without. The most prominent inventions are: * Gunpowder: The principle behind gunpowder was discovered by the Chinese in perhaps the first century A.D., during the Han Dynasty. It wasn’t used in guns at the time, but created explosions at festivals. They mixed together saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal dust, which they put into bamboo tubes, and threw into fires until they found a way to propel the matter on its own as a rocket (Gill, 2013) * Silk: During the Shang Dynasty the Chinese learned to cultivate the silk worm, real out its silken thread, and create silk fabric. Not only was the silken fabric useful in heat or cold as clothing, but, as a highly sought-after luxury item, it led to commerce with other peoples and the spread of culture all the way to and from the Roman Empire. (Gill, 2013). * Paper: Another Han Dynasty invention. Paper could be made from a sludge made from fabrics, like hemp, or rice. Ts’ai-Lun is...
Words: 1048 - Pages: 5
...invented? 1) Row planting was first planted in the feudal period-6th century BC. This way of planting allows the crops to grow faster and stronger and they also realized that as the wind travels there is less damage in crops planted in rows due to the wind passing through gently. It is also more efficient in watering, weeding and harvesting the crops. (Stevenh) 2) The compass was created in the feudal period-4th century BC and was made of lodestone. The compass was first used by fortune-tellers before it was applied to the cardinal direction. Then the Chinese’s started using the compass to point to the south because they considered south not north their cardinal direction. 3) Gunpowder has been credited to certain Chinese alchemists around 9th century but the legend has it as gunpowder being accidently discovered by alchemists looking for a concoction that could create immortality in humans. 4) Paper was invented in AD 105 by Cai Lun by creating a mixture of wood fiber and water pressed into a woven cloth. This allowed the moisture in the pulpy mixture to seep out resulting in a rough paper. Paper currency was first introduced by the...
Words: 1369 - Pages: 6
...technological inventions to the world. Since there are a lot of ancient Chinese inventions, in this essay I would like to give information about some of the very interesting and useful ten ancient Chinese inventions that I believe we cannot imagine without them today. 1. Toilet Paper Toilet paper was one of the very important Chinese inventions that we cannot imagine living our life without. Toilet paper was used in China for the first time in history during 6th century AD. In 589 AD a famous scholar Yan Zhitui wrote about the use of toilet paper and the word spread throughout China and toilet paper became popular in China. 2. Ice Cream Ice cream, our favourite treat is another surprising invention in ancient China. It became a new invention 3000 years ago when rich Chinese families started to treat their guests to sweet juices mixed with snow or ice. Marco Polo brought it to Europe and it became popular in the world. 3. Paper Paper is one of the major contributions to spread development of human civilisation in the world. China made the first proper paper during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC- 9AD). However, Cai Lun of the Eastern Dynasty (25-220) successfully invented the very first batch of paper using fish net, tree bars,...
Words: 1100 - Pages: 5
...until something was created to make the task easier. “Necessity is the mother of invention” spoke Plato. The Chinese are and have been great inventors, contributing hundreds of incredible items throughout the ages. A debate on which Chinese inventions are the best or greatest of all has been ongoing for many years. Although the top ten seem to be somewhat the same, the order in which they are listed is different depending on who is cataloging them. Some say that alcohol is the #1 invention while others contend that gunpowder or the compass is at the top. There are so many to choose from, it is a difficult task to determine which Chinese invention is the most important. Since the inventions are scattered among different areas of life: homemaking has the teapot, pasta and the toothbrush; sailing has the movable rudder and the batten sail; war has gunpowder, the crossbow (not to mention the repeating crossbow), the exploding cannonball and landmines; finance has paper money, the bank note, the abacus; agriculture has the iron plow and the seed drill, different inventions mean more to one person than others. All of the above mentioned inventions are incredible and extremely beneficial. Two that weren’t mentioned above but have become very valuable to society at large are inoculations (specifically a smallpox inoculation) and iron and steel smelting. The smallpox inoculation saved millions of lives in ancient China. It was created during the Song Dynasty (960-1276) after a Prime...
Words: 1539 - Pages: 7
...How cool do you think it would be to make your own invention? Well, back in Ancient China they made their own inventions and they have quite an influence on our lives. Their inventions have been impacting the world from their time and it would be pretty cool if they still impact the world for later centuries. Some inventions they made are printing press, the compass, gunpowder, the kite, and the Silk Road, but the one that has the most influence on us today is paper. Their other inventions have some influence on us, but some just have more than the others. The biggest influence on us right now, and hopefully for centuries to come is paper. Paper has the biggest influence on us because we use paper everyday and without it, we wouldn’t be...
Words: 319 - Pages: 2
...The Major Change in Sui, Tang Song Dynasty What are the major changes in political structures, social, and economic life in The Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasty. Well during the period of the dynasty that China was unified again when Young Jian a member of aristocratic family from northern china founded a new dynasty known as Sui. The Sui dynasty started 581 and ended 618bit was founded by Sui Wendi or Yang Jian. The major changes that occurred were reduce the rich-poor social gap, enhanced agricultural productivity, equalization system and have the governmental power centralized. The defense was improve and great was expanded and Buddhism was spread. When Yangdi took over the throne he didn’t seek to gain support from nomads. He restored Confucian education and examination system of bureaucrats. Yangdi lost support of nomads by supporting educational forms. Yangdi start expensive construction work. Yangdi luxury expense lost him public support and he was assassinated by his minister, but the biggest factor that led to the down fall was invadation of Goguryeo. Li Yuan took advantage of the situation and declared a new foundation dynasty known as Tang. The Tang dynasty started from 618 and ended 907 it was founded by Li family who gain power during the collapse of Sui Dynasty. According to Chinese history records The Tang dynasty was the greatest historic period in China. During this time period the economy, politics, culture and military strength reached an unparalleled...
Words: 586 - Pages: 3
...During the Tang/Song period, China was very successful in art, literature, and technology. The dynasties were at peace and was known as the Golden Age of China. It was referred to as the Golden Age of China because it was an era of major technological advancement. During the Tang dynasty, Chinese culture and ideas spread when the empire expanded to neighboring states (Korea, Vietnam, and Japan). The empire’s political system had a strong bureaucracy by hiring court officials by merit and by reintroducing the civil service exams. This allowed Chinese bureaucrats seeking government position to take in order to determine their role. As a result, the power of the aristocrats declined. In addition, the equal field system came into play and improved...
Words: 318 - Pages: 2
...hundred years, the Chinese culture have developed inventions and made contributions to things that not only be used on a daily basis, but to used in years to come. Some of the greatest inventions to come out from China are: alcohol; the mechanical clock; tea; silk; porcelain; iron and steel smelting; paper; printing; gunpowder and the compass. Of the four greatest inventions are paper, tea, silk and the mechanical clock. Before paper was invented, the people of China wrote on used grass stalks to write on “various natural materials by ancient peoples-on grass stalks by the Egyptians, on earthen plates by the Mesopotamians, on tree leaves by the Indians, on sheepskin by the Europeans and strangest of all, even inscribed on bamboo or wooden strips, tortoise shells or shoulder blades of an ox by the early Chinese.” (www.chinese-embassy.org.za) Until the Second Century, Cai Hun invented an idea that will include bark, rags and wheat stalks that was very cheap and light and became “suitable for brush writing. Today, paper is used on a daily basis for when we read our favorite entertainment magazine, a hot and steamy fiction novel, and even the textbook. Money serves as a paper because this is how we have to pay for items we purchased in retail stores. We all love to drink tea, whether it’s cold, as in a southern tradition in the southern states, or as a warm beverage that will help to settle a cough or to help get rid of a cold. Tea was “According to Chinese legend,...
Words: 1044 - Pages: 5
