The Most Useful Ancient Chinese Inventions - Term Paper Example

Ancient Chinese Contributions The essay aims to address a two-fold objective to wit to identify eight to ten of ancient Chines useful inventions or contributions; (2) to nominate four that one believes are the most ingenious or innovative; (3) to explain why one believes these four inventions or contributions are the most useful inventions or contributions from the ancient Chinese; and (4) to identify one invention or contribution that one cannot live without and explain why. Ancient Chinese Contributions Identification of Ten Useful Inventions or Contributions China has made a number of inventions and contributions related to improvement of mankind while others reflect advancements in the field of science and technology. Ancient Chinese inventions and contributions have been existent since the establishment of dynasties but there are ten useful inventions attributed to ingenuity and innovativeness, among of which include: compass, gunpowder, paper, printing the invention of water pumps, seismoscopes (earthquake weathercock), use of wheelbarrows, the Grand Canal, and the construction of the Great Wall of China (Pelt & Matthews, 2010, 36-37). Of course there are other notable inventions and discoveries during the ancient times but these inventions stand out among the rest because of significant impact in science and technology, agriculture, military, communication, water system, and architecture. Nomination of Four Notable Most Ingenious or Innovative Contributions and Rationales From the ten remarkable contributions, the author strongly nominates that the four most ingenious and innovative contributions are compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. Compass is used to determine geographic direction and usually consists of a magnetic needle mounted or suspended and free to pivot until in alignment with the magnetic field of Earth and dial. However, the primitive compass (si nan) was invented during the Warring States Period and consists of a spoon cut out of lodestone and a bronze plate. There were twenty-four si nan (primitive compass) directions in the plate and the surface of the plate and the spoon were smooth enough to turn on easily. The compass worked by putting the spoon in the center and turning it slightly. The spoon would point to the south because of magnetism. Later inventors developed the current, familiar magnetic compass because of the heaviness of the plate and the difficulty of obtaining the lodestone. Gunpowder (left) was popularly listed as one of the most greatest inventions of Chinese. The discovery of gunpowder was an accident as the ancient Alchemists of China are trying to discover an elixir of life immortality. But one of the important elixirs known as saltpeter (potassium nitrate) failed, leading to the development of gunpowder. During 850 A.D., one of the Alchemists from Tang Dynasty mixed 75 parts saltpeter with 15 parts charcoal and 10 parts sulfur which have resulted in an explosion. A number of history books stated that the Chinese used gunpowder in fireworks to propel evil spirits; however, it has been documented that around 904 A.D., the Song Dynasty military forces have used gunpowder against Mongol enemies (Yinke, 2011, 18). The modern firearms used in police and military forces to defend one’s country are attributed to the Chinese inventions of gunpowder. China was the first country to make paper out of tortoise bones, silk, and bamboo sticks (Singh, Dhillon & Shanmugavel, 2010, 44). (Images on the right are examples of different Chinese inscriptions). Philosophers, writers, statesman, scientists, and historians used paper as a medium to record, and store information. Ancient writings used tortoise shells and ancient bones. Later on, it was replaced by bamboo strips and silks. But due to recognized defects such as the bamboo being clumsy to handle and the silk being too expensive, the need to replace them with light and cheaper materials emerged. A light paper out of hemp and ramie fibers was invented during the Han Dynasty but it was too rough for writing and the materials were not easy to obtain. The revolutionary evolution in papermaking was begun by Cai Lun of Eastern Han Dynasty and used bark, hemp fiber, broken fishnets, and rags as raw materials (Yinke, 2011, 21). The process was later improved including a mold of bamboo strips to dredge paper from suspension and expanded materials such as bamboo, reed, rattan, straw, and various kind of bark and fine varieties of papers emerged in the succeeding dynasties. The growth of human civilization, dissemination of scientific and cultural knowledge, and promoting friendship ties between nations can be attributed to the trinity of paper, books, and more importantly, printing. Chinese invented the two types of printing based on techniques: block printing and movable type of printing. (Images below are examples of block printing, right and movable type of printing, left). Block printing was invented between the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the technique involves writing the text first in ink on a sheet of fine paper, applying the written side of the sheet to smooth surface of a block wood coated with a paste that retained the ink of the text, and cutting away the blank areas so that will stood out in relief and in reverse (Yinke, 2011, 24). Printing was done when the wood block was inked with a paintbrush, was spread with a sheet of paper and then rubbed the back of the sheet with a brush. The example of block printing on the above left is the Chi Sheng Guang Jiu Yao Tu (Tejaprabha Buddha and the Nine Planets), a bloc-printed picture from Liao Dynasty. Meanwhile, movable printing was invented by Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty and was regarded as the great technological revolution in history (Yinke, 2011, 25). The process of printing was quite complicated starting with the making of rectangular blocks with clay, engraving individual Chinese character on each block and burning the block on fire until hardened (see the above right image), brushing the ink on the surface of the characters, and putting a piece of white paper on them. The movable type of printing is more efficient than hand copying and just like block printing, it promoted the development of human history and culture. One Invention that One Cannot Live Without If there’s one of the four inventions the author can’t live without, it is the invention of the paper. Paper has been a significant part of learning and in day-to-day student’s life. Without paper, this assignment could not be submitted, class notes can’t be recorded and students might find it difficult to recall lectures, written communication will not be used today, and more importantly, traces of literatures could not be recalled because of lack of paper to write down the events. In addition, the paper can also be used in other human activities such as serving as packages for parcels, used for drawing, illustrations, in applications of various art forms, used for currency printing, and to produce other lightweight containers and as building materials. Indeed, a number of advantages can be generated from the paper itself. Thanks to the ancient Chinese contributions, mankind from all over the world experiences and continues to benefit from the usefulness of ancient Chinese inventions and contributions. References Pelt, T.V. & Matthews, R. (2010). Inventions and Constructions. Ancient Chinese Civilization (p. 36-37). New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. Singh, V., Dhillon, J. & Shanmugavel, G. (2010). Chinese Civilization. Longman History and Civics for ICSE (p. 41-46). New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd. Yinke, D. (2011). The Four Major Inventions. Ancient Chinese Inventions (p. 11-26). New York: Cambridge University Press. Read More