Famous Inventions

For most of us in America, we read the morning paper and check out the fireworks each year. These are just two examples of how China has impacted the world with its widely used inventions. Papermaking, printing, gunpowder, and the compass are four great Chinese inventions!

We all use paper…one wonders today how we could do without it? The process of silk reeling inspired papermaking. People succeeded in first making a kind of paper, which they called "bo" (silk). Another type of paper known as Cellulose paper was created out of hemp. In the early days of the second century, Cai Lun produced a kind of paper from bark, rags, wheat stalks and other raw materials that was cheap, light, thin and durable. At the beginning of the third century, the papermaking process spread to Korea and then to Japan. It reached the Arab world during the Tang Dynasty, and had reached Europe by the twelfth century.

The art of printing is the technology of pressing images or markings onto a surface. It is often used to produce copies of an original. Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty invented movable type printing in the 1040s. Movable type printing has a very important position in the history of printing, for all later printing methods such as wooden type, copper type and lead type printing invariably developed on the basis of movable clay types. Bi Sheng created movable type printing more than four hundred years earlier than it was invented in Europe.

The invention of gunpowder was no doubt one of the most significant achievements of the Middle Ages in China. The correct prescription for making gunpowder with nitre, sulphur and carbon was probably discovered in the ninth century. In fact, in his book dated to the third century, Ge Hong records the procedures for making a kind of mixture that could be ignited! The method of powder making was introduced into the Arab world in the 12th century, and then into Europe in the 14th century.

According to ancient records, natural magnets were employed in China as direction-finding devices. This led to the first compass, called a sinan (south-pointing ladle) during the Warring States Period. In the Han Dynasty compasses consisted of a bronze piece on which 24 directions were carved and a rod made from a natural magnet. Such devices were in use until the eighth century.

In the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo described the floating compass, suspended in water, a technique that minimized the effect of motion on the instrument. This enabled the compass to be used for sea navigation for the first time. The invention of the compass promoted maritime undertakings, and its use soon spread to the Arab world, and then onto Europe.