Chinese Inventions

Adam Kvederis
Chinese Contributions to the Modern World
H. Stansbury
HUM111
6/3/13

The ancient Chinese have made many invaluable contributions to both technology and culture. 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 lead to the creation of many of these inventions (Sayre, 2012, pg 215). These inventions and ideas gradually reached the rest of the world through trade and exploration. Though Chinese engaged in trade with other nations, they were largely isolated from the West due to their ethnocentric ideology of superiority. However, when westerners such as Marco Polo and Vasco da Gama traveled east and interacted with Chinese traders, they returned to Europe with knowledge of China’s achievements (Sayre, 2012, pg 239).
Of paramount significance are China’s “Four Great Inventions”: gunpowder, the compass, the printing press, and paper (Ray, 2012). Dubbed the “New Instruments” by Francis Bacon, these inventions helped shape modern society and are tools that we today could not exist without (Ray, 2012). The compass changed the face of exploration during the Quin Dynasty of the 200s B.C. During this period, China was unified for the first time in half a millennia (Sayre, 2012, 214). Initially used by fortune-tellers, magnetites, or “lodestones”, were later discovered to have magnetic properties that could be utilized to determine which direction was North. Over the course of centuries, the rudimentary compass design was modified until in 15th century Zheng He used a compass to navigate his seven voyages. Magnetite compasses replaced the sun and stars as a more accurate and reliable means of navigation. A century later, use of the compass was recorded in Europe (Ray, 2012). This invention encouraged the international sea trade and consequently the spread of ideas throughout the world.
Gunpowder, discovered by necromancers, is now utilized in modern warfare along with various civilian uses. The Chinese developed three original recipes for the explosive substance, recorded by Zeng Gongliang in his text describing military techniques (Ray, 2012). During the prosperous Song Dynasty, a time of trade and iron exportation (Sayre, 2012, pg 215), the Chinese even went as far as to begin developing rockets (Ray, 2012). Among their other inventions following gunpowder were fireworks, landmines, and cannons. Without guns, the use of guns for hunting, marksmanship, and warfare would be a foreign idea. Fireworks displays on the Fourth of July in America would not exist. Gunpowder is an essential tool throughout the world for defense, leisure, and civilian work.
The first paper production can also be credited to the Chinese. Developed in the 2nd century AD, paper made of materials such as bamboo and tree bark replaced the less convenient papyrus as a writing surface (Mack, n.d.). Credit for this invention is debated, but it is known that China began making paper similar than that used today a millennia before the practice began in Europe (Ray, 2012). Paper is such an essential and common element of everyday life in the west that a world without it is almost unthinkable. To this day, preservation of the written word is of great importance in China and extensive records are kept. Informative documents are strictly protected, and the written word’s power is revered (Ray, 2012).
Though the inventions mentioned so far are important, the printing press is arguably the most valuable Chinese contribution in history. Without its invention, the circulation of knowledge and foreign cultural ideas would be greatly impaired. The only convenient means of information circulation prior to the invention of the printing press were word of mouth and handwritten letters. This severely limited the extent to which information could be circulated. The printing press made sharing ideas and educating the masses on a larger scale possible for the first time. The first printed book was Diamond Sutra, created in 868 CE. However, during the Western Han Dynasty stone rubbing was utilized to spread Confucian and Buddhist ideation (Ray, 2012). During this dynasty China’s culture flourished and Confucianism was made the official state philosophy (Sayre, 2012, pg 215). This type of printing was later replaced by block printing, which was used to print the first book, discussing Buddhist sutra, mentioned previously (Ray, 2012). It was not until 600 years later that Johannes Gutenberg printed the first book in the West following the creation of a new printing press. Later, in the Song Dynasty the first ever movable type printing press was invented by Bi Sheng, making the tools used to print reusable (Ray, 2012). At no time in history has the spread of information been so revolutionized until the age of mass media.
Without the ancient Chinese, countless essential elements of our daily life would have possibly never come into existence. Gunpowder made modern warfare possible while the compass greatly improved navigation, enhancing trade by sea between nations and the mixing of culture and ideas. The advent of paper introduced an easier way to store ideas, information, and artwork. However, of greatest importance the printing press enabled the mass circulation of information, the blending of cultures, education on a larger scale, and the recording of history. Through many dynasties and centuries, China has continued to contribute to society as a whole as it progresses as a people.
References:
Mack, L. (n.d.). Chinese inventions. About.com. Retrieved from http://chineseculture.about.com/od/historyofchina/tp/Chinese-Inventions.htm
Ray, K. (2004, spring). Four great inventions. China Eye, 1.1. Article reprinted as Chinese inventions. Retrieved http://www.sacu.org/greatinventions.html
Sayre, H. (2012). The humanities: Culture, continuity & change, vol. 1 (2011 custom ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

References: Mack, L. (n.d.). Chinese inventions. About.com. Retrieved from http://chineseculture.about.com/od/historyofchina/tp/Chinese-Inventions.htm Ray, K. (2004, spring). Four great inventions. China Eye, 1.1. Article reprinted as Chinese inventions. Retrieved http://www.sacu.org/greatinventions.html Sayre, H. (2012). The humanities: Culture, continuity & change, vol. 1 (2011 custom ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.