Four inventions of ancient China

[Name of Instructor]

Four inventions of ancient China

Introduction

The Chinese civilization is one of the oldest in the world. They are honourable people who give utmost value to culture, ethics, traditions and their beliefs. Their origins and refined culture are elements of pride for them.

The Chinese have been pioneers of invention right from the early days of the world. They have always had a mind for science and invention of technology that would help make life easier and the world a better place. Even today, China is known as the world's toyshop because almost all products of the world are manufactured in China at cheap prices. The Chinese invented items and technologies in the fields of astronomy, agriculture, metallurgy, horology, engineering, music and warfare. Before anyone else, they had made remarkable progress in the fields of warfare and metallurgy, making weapons far beyond the imagination of other nations. The Chinese also have a great mind for economics and strategy and some of the modern world's industrial concepts are offspring of ancient Chinese concepts. When the world was still ruled by kings and queens, the Chinese had moved on to democratic decisions and advanced economic systems.

Discussion

Of all the inventions that the Chinese are proud of, they value their 'Four Great inventions' the most. These four inventions serve as the symbols of Chinese technological history and have great historical significance for them. These four inventions are paper, printing, gunpowder and the compass. Besides these, the Chinese invented many things in the ancient times which have great significance in today's world. They invented silk, matches, the decimal system, the sundial, porcelain, china fibre, folding umbrellas, ink, calligraphy, kites, playing cards, abacus, wallpapers, crossbows, samurai swords, skipping rope, dominoes, herbal medicines, fireworks and even ice cream (Deng, 2005).

The four greatest inventions of ancient China

The four inventions of the Chinese that are the most innovative and ingenious are:

Paper

The Compass

Gunpowder

Abacus

Paper

History shows that the Han Dynasty in the period 202BC to 220AD invented the first pulp paper. They invented the pulp papermaking procedure and started using new forms of raw material to make paper. This replaced the early forms of paper which included strips of bamboo sticks, strips of silk and clay tablets. The earliest piece of ancient paper was discovered in the ruins of a watchtower at Tsakhortei, China (Needham, 1986). This was once a famous position of the Has Dynasty troops. The oldest map made from paper is from Fangmatan, Tianshui, China.

The Compass

The earliest forms of compass were made by the Chinese and came in the form of ladle and bowl shaped loadstones. Ancient Chinese scriptures by Wang Chong (100 AD) describe the early form of compasses as a spoon shaped object that would point to the south when placed on the ground.

Gunpowder

Somewhere around the year 1044, Yang Weide and Ding Du recorded the world's first recipes for gunpowder. This changed the form of warfare forever. The formulas described in ancient Chinese scriptures related to the creation of incendiary bombs, catapult bombs ...