China’s four great inventions include paper, compass, typographic printing, gunpowder and compass. All of them are the great contribution made by ancient Chinese people to the world’s civilization.
Paper
According to historical records, the earliest Chinese characters were created by King Cang-Jie, who was a tribal leader in the Tribal-Union Period(3000B.C.-2000B.C.). Later on, people started to inscribe the characters on bones, tortoise shells and bronze wares. The characters on the bones and bronze wares were called the oracle-Bone Inscription and the Bronze Inscription. Both can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty(1600B.C.-1046B.C.). The earliest books came into use during the Zhou Dynasty(1046B.C.-256B.C.). The characters were written on flat bamboo strips and wooden strips. The strips were orderly tied in a bundle. The books were called Jian-Shu in Chinese. At that time, some nobles also wrote letters with silk satin. The wooden strips were heavy and bulky, while the silk satin was expensive and scarce. Necessity is the mother of invention. Despite a number of setbacks, Chinese people preserved in their attempts to find some better materials for writing, light and cheap. Cai Lun(61-121), a eunuch who served as an high-ranking official in the court of the Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220), used some inexpensive materials to make paper, such as fibers contained in tree barks, hemp, rags and old fishing nets. In the following centuries, the technology of making paper was introduced to many neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam, Japan, Korea and India. It spread to Europe in the middle of the twelfth century.
Printing
After paper was invented, people needed to find new methods of making copies of books. The earliest printing came into use in 170s. Characters were carved on stone tablets for making rubbings. During the Tang Dynasty, the characters were cut on wooden blocks and printed on paper. It is known as wood-engraving. The disadvantage of wood-engraving was that the blocks had to be engraved each time when printing a new book. It was a time-consuming process. A solution for the problem must be found. Bi Sheng(972-1051), the inventor of movable type printing, carved characters separately on small cubes of clay and hardened them by heating. The cubes were put on a iron plate, and fixed in a frame by filling the gaps between the cubes with resin and wax. The cubes could be arranged according to certain typographic designs and be used many times. The invention of movable type printing had a far-reaching influence on the world’s literature and education.
Gunpowder
Gunpowder was invented by Taoists, when they concentrated all their efforts on making elixir and changing ordinary metals into gold. In ancient times, the Taoists were good at chemistry and alchemy. During the process of pursuing an impossible goal, the chemists and alchemists found by chance that the mixture of saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal was explosive. There was no contemporary account of the discovery, since the long lifespan seekers liked to operate in secret. The earliest record of making gunpowder was written by Sun Simiao(581-682) who was an outstanding pharmacologist, as well as a celebrated Taoist in the Tang Dynasty. He also tried to make elixir. Gunpowder was originally used for fireworks. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, people started to use it in wars. In the thirteenth century, Mongols waged war on Arabian countries. The weapons, such as firearms and hand grenades, were brought to those countries by the Mongols. In the year of 1325, Arabs launched an attack on Spain. In the battle, a large number of “flaming balls” were shot out to the positions of Spanish troops. Later on, Europeans started manufacturing gunpowder and inventing cannons.
Compass
According to historical records, it was in the Warring States Period(476B.C.-221B.C.) that the ancient Chinese people discovered the magnetic property of lodestone. The earliest compass was called Si-Nan which was a simple instrument for finding direction with a spoon made from lodestone. The spoon was placed on a flat tray and rotated. When it stopped rotating, its handle would always point to the south. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong(713-756), the Tang Dynasty, a Taoist whose name was Zhang Zhihe made a significant improvement to the primitive compasses. He found that iron objects could be magnetized by rubbing against natural magnets. He also made some fish-shaped and tadpole-shaped iron needles. It was recorded that the needles would point to the south, when they floated on the surface of water or were suspended with a fine thread. In the Northern Song Dynasty(960-1127), the compass used by mariners was invented. The points of compass were carved on a wooden disc which was called Luopan. A magnetic needle was put at the central point of the disc. Since then, the compass was widely used in navigation. Before the compass came into use, sailors could only find direction by the sun and the lodestar. However, that method for finding direction does not work in cloudy and rainy days. The invention of compass greatly enhanced the maritime trade between China and countries in Southeastern Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and Eastern Africa.
Author: Tina Luo
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