Four great inventions of ancient China
The four great inventions of China ( Chinese 四大 發明 , Pinyin sìdà fāmíng ) are the greatest achievements from the culture of ancient China, which have shaped the development of mankind over the past millennia. These include paper , letterpress printing , black powder and the compass .
- The paper (Chinese 纸, zhǐ) was presented to the Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty by Cai Lun .
- The art of printing began with a whole-plate woodcut process that was developed during the Tang Dynasty . Movable type printing (活字印刷, huózì yìnshuā) was invented by the printer Bi Sheng in the Song Dynasty . He used clay characters that were later replaced by wood and tin. European printing with movable type developed independently of the Chinese and was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century .
- The Chinese also used black powder (火药 / 火藥, huǒyào) for fireworks by filling bamboo tubes with powder. The fireworks were supposed to drive away evil spirits or were lit for fun at festivals.
- The magnetic compass (指南针 / 指南針, zhǐnán zhēn) was first used in China in the 4th century BC. Chr. Attested. Europe took over the compass from the Chinese around 1190.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Four Great Inventions of China. Retrieved December 20, 2018 .