Ancient Chinese Contributions - Essay Example

As such, during these 8000 years of history, the Chinese culture has been able to develop, invent, research, and expand upon a litany of different topic areas. Accordingly, the following research will help to elaborate briefly upon eight of these specific contributions. It is the hope of this author that such a level of analysis will present the reader with a more profound level of understanding concerning how the Chinese culture has ultimately benefited not only their own society but the entire world.

From a culinary standpoint, it was the Chinese that first cultivated and utilized herbal teas. These keys were cultivated in use not only for their flavor and aroma but also for the fact that different tea leaves were thought to have the dysentery purposes with regards to a wide range of illnesses and diseases; many of these herbal remedies have since been proven to in fact be effective in helping to ameliorate a variety of different conditions. By much the same token, the earliest evidence of medicine and the development of medical practice is evidenced within the early Chinese culture as well.

Naturally, this process is come to be differentiated in exists within a host of different cultures throughout the world; however, it was the Chinese first categorize and chronicled specific approaches to a number of different diseases and ailments. Whereas gunpowder has long been thought to be linked to high explosives and military ordinance, the fact of the matter is that gunpowder itself was utilized as a means of both medicinal purpose and pyrotechnics within ancient China. Once again, the invention of gunpowder has allowed the remainder of society to develop powerful weaponry and complex artillery that rely upon the explosive power that it represents.

From the standpoint of beauty and artistry, it was the Chinese that first synthesized and began the production of silk. Once prized as the most expensive fabric on earth, so is now evidenced throughout the world and still commands a premium as compared to other fabrics. Although oftentimes wrongly attributed to the Arab culture, it was in fact the Chinese who also invented and utilized the compass. Such a development was of a great importance; especially with regards to the fact of the development trade.

Due to the fact that the earliest exhibitions of trade spread from China elsewhere throughout the globe, the compass was especially helpful in delineating position with regards the vast and seemingly endless steppes that surrounded China to the West (Dekkers, 2009). Still within the topic of trade, the Chinese were the first to invent and produce porcelain. Even within the current era, porcelain from China is considered one of the cultural legacies that the Chinese have been able to bequeath to the world.

Moreover, within earlier periods of time, Chinese porcelain was worth over its weight in gold within the Western and developing world. However, perhaps the two most important inventions that China is responsible for involve two interrelated inventions; the invention of paper and the invention of printing. Whereas the Egyptians have oftentimes wrongly been attributed as the inventors of paper, the true inventors of paper, as we know it today, are in fact the Chinese. Moreover, Gutenberg, along attributed as the first inventor of the printing press, was in fact only