Ancient China Research Paper

Ancient Chinese Contributions
Kenneth Russell
Strayer University
Prof. Michael Briere
Hum. 111
March 3rd, 2014

Ancient Chinese Contribution
To win a trip to China, you enter to determine the four (4) most useful contributions or inventions created by the ancient Chinese.
China Ancient Culture, a term often compared with “China modern culture” which means the culture of tradition, and was the introduction of Western influences. China has always been known for exchanging with other cultures, and had assimilated many influences from various neighboring countries, especially those coming via the Silk Road (China absolute tours, 2012). Identify eight to ten of these useful inventions or contributions
The ancient Chinese
culture has been responsible for several inventions that we use today. It is well known that China has an ancient and glorious history, from the feudal periods in 222 B. C. through the three imperial and intermediate ears, up to the modern-era over 400 years of dynasty reigns. It may also be well know that China is the source of many wonderful and useful inventions from spaghetti to gunpowder (Frater, 2009). Here are 10 inventions and contributions made by ancient China: Row planting (Feudal period-6th century BC). In the 6th century BC, the Chinese introduced planting in rows. This technique was developed to allow crops to grow faster and stronger. This technique was not introduced to the western world until 2200 years later. Compass (Feudal period-4th century BC) the Chinese created the loadstone compass to indicate direction sometime during the 4th century BC. The primary use was on land as a divinations tool and direct findings. Seed Drill (Han Dynasty: Circa 202 BC-220 AD) the seed drill was used to punch holes in the soil followed by covering them up. Without this invention seeds were tossed by hand over the ground resulting in waste and inefficient, uneven growth. Paper (Han Dynasty: Circa 206 BC-220 AD) the Chinese culture was the first to invent paper. The first form of paper came about during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) during those times the paper was very coarse and thick (Sayre, 2011). Iron plows (Han Dynasty: Circa 202 BC-220 AD) one of China’s major agriculture developments was the use of the iron moldboard plows. Though probably first developed in the 4th century BC and promoted by the central government, they were popular and common by the Han Dynasty. Deep Drilling (Han Dynasty: Circa 202 BC-220 AD) during the first century, China developed the technology for deep drilling. This tool was used to drill deep in the ground as deep as 4800 ft. (1.5 km). Ship’s rudder (Han Dynasty: Circa 202 BC-220 AD) the Chinese was steps ahead of western technology. The first recorded use of rudder technology in the west was 1800. Chinese pottery models of sophisticated slung axial rudders (enabling the rubber to be lifted in shallow waters) dating back from the 1st century have been found. Early rudder technology (c 100 AD) also included the easier to use balance rudder (where the blade was in front of the steering post), first adopted by England in 1843 some 1700 years later. Harness for Horses (Age of Division: Circa 220-581 AD) in the late (4th century BC) there’s pictorial evidence (from the Chinese state of chu) of a horse with a wooden chest yoke. By the late Han Dynasty, the yoke was made of softer straps and was used throughout the country. By the 5th century, the horse collar was developed. Porcelain (Sui Dynasty: 581-618 AD) invented during the Sui Dynasty (but possibly earlier) and perfected during the Tang Dynasty (618-906), most notably by Tao Yue (C. 608-676), Chinese porcelain was highly prized throughout the world. Printing (Song Dynasty: 960-1279 AD) Chi Lun (C 50-121 AD) was the inventor of paper. The recipe for this paper still exists and can be followed by today’s artisans. In 868 the first printed book, using full-page woodcuts, was produced. About 100 years later, innovations of Bi Sheng (990-1051) were described. Using clay fired characters he made re-usable type and developed typesetting techniques. Though used successfully to produce books, his technology was not perfected until 1298. By contrast, Gutenberg’s bibles – the first European book printed with movable type – were printed in the 1450’s. Interestingly, the Chinese did not start using metal type until the 1490’s (Frater, 2009).
Nominate four (4) that you believe are the most ingenious or innovative.
The four nominated ingenious inventions are: the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing.
Explain why you believe these four inventions or contributions are the most useful inventions or contributions from the ancient Chinese.
Until the compass was created, ships were frequently getting lost in the big oceans and the consequences would be so dire. The Chinese invented the compass to solve that problem. The first compass appeared during the Warring States Period, it was constructed from loadstone, and shaped like a spoon with a circular base, and the magnet was placed on a flat smooth surface (so that the magnet could freely move in a circular motion). The Compass served an instrumental role in contributing to technology.
Gun powder was also a great invention by the Chinese culture.
Gun powder, known as the “Blazing Medicine” in Chinese, is made up of three kinds of ancient folk medicine: Saltpeter, Sulfur, and Charcoal. Since the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206 BC), saltpeter and sulfur are used to make drugs by ancient alchemist to achieve immortality. The first true application of the gun powder occurred in the Three Kingdom Period (220AD-280 AD). Late Tang Dynasty (618 AD-907 AD) saw Gun Powder applied in military field. During Song Dynasty (960AD-1279AD) and Yuan Dynasty (1206 AD-1368 AD), ancient Chinese had already mastered the skills to make reasonable ratio of various ingredients and invented various gun power weapons, such as artillery, guns, rockets, mines and bombs. In the 13th century, Gun Powder reached Arab and after the 14th century and it was transmitted to Europe (China Absolute Tours,
2012).
Another great invention and contribution to the world’s cultural development and International communication is paper. In the Shang Dynasty (about 3, 500 years before present) the Chinese had already had their own written characters, which were known as the “oracle bones” because the words were carved on animal’s bones or tortoise’s shell. During the Warring States Period, bamboo and Wooden plates were used instead of bones. During the Han Dynasty (about 2, 200 years before present), the noble caste wrote on thin paper made of silk and cotton. It was easier to write on and excellent for painting. In 105 AD, A high ranking official in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun combined the knowledge of paper making in the past, invented a kind of cheap plant fiber paper, which was made of cortex, broken fishnets and cloths. Since then, paper has been popular among common people.

The paper making technique was introduced to Korea and Japan in the 7th century and the Arab World in the 8th.
In the 12th century, the Europeans began to adopt this technique.
And last, printing is another great invention and contribution. During the Sui Dynasty, printing is accomplished by mean of a knife cut laterally reversed characters on wooden boards, paint ink on it, and then print the characters on the paper. However, the wooden board can be used once, because the boards are specially made for the printing of the book. Therefore, to print a book was a very painstaking task at that time and to print a book of different content, another batch of boards should be made.
The difficulty was solved in the 11th century. A lettering worker, Bi Sheng spent 40 years to make type of the Chinese characters. He used lime cement as material, molded into square columns, carved a laterally reversed Chinese character on the bottom of one column, and then baked to hard in a furnace. These columns could be arranged according to the contents of the book to be printed, so the type could be reused unlimited times. This technique is the rudiment of modern printing. Wang Zheng, a mechanist in the Yuan Dynasty, created a wooden type and typesetting. Years later, he created a metal type which improved the quality of printing tremendously. The technique was introduced to Japan during the 15th century during the Tang Dynasty. When Sui Dynasty (581AD-618) gave way to Tang Dynasty (618AD-907AD),
the earliest printing technology in the world emerged in China. Flourished and innovated during Song Dynasty (960AD-1279AD) and Yuan Dynasty (1206AD-1368AD), printing was introduced into other part of the world later (China Absolute Tours, 2012).
Identify one (1) invention or contribution that you cannot live without and explain why.
I would say that the compass would be the invention/contribution that I and society couldn’t live without today. The compass served as a direction tool to help guide ships to their destinations and solved traveling issues when ships were getting lost at sea. Today following that invention, we now have what is called a GPS (Global Positioning System). This modern day compass has laid ease on almost every traveling task you can imagine. Although, every mechanical gadget has its glitches, it has made traveling much easier and stress free to accomplish (Clark, 2009).

References
China Absolute Tours. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.absolutechinatours.com/china-culture/china-ancient-culture.html
Clark, J. (2009). How stuff works. Top 10 ancient Chinese inventions. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/10-ancient-chinese-inventions.htm#page=0
Frater, J. (2009). Listverse. 10 great ancient Chinese inventions. Retrieved from http//listverse.com/2009/04/18/10-great-ancient-chinese-inventions/
Sayre, H. (2011). The Hummanities. Culture, continuity, and change. Volume 1 (2nd Edition). Pearson education. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458