The Four Great Inventions of Ancient China, the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China

Papermaking, gunpowder, compass, movable type printing.

Compass, gunpowder, papermaking, printing.

The four great inventions of ancient China were papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

The theory of the four great inventions, originated from the British sinologist Joseph Needham, is the wisdom and science and technology of ancient Chinese innovation, including papermaking, compass, gunpowder, and printing. The four inventions have greatly promoted the political, economic, and cultural development of ancient China, and have been transmitted to the West through various channels, exerting a huge influence on the history of world civilization.

The Four Great Inventions are a series of glorious footprints left by ancient Chinese ancestors for the world, and a symbol of great contributions to the progress of human civilization. The invention of papermaking provided mankind with economical and convenient writing materials, setting off a revolution in the carrier of human writing.

The invention of block printing greatly contributed to the spread of culture. The invention of the compass provided the conditions for the sailing activities of European navigators. The invention of gunpowder**The use of gunpowder ** changed the way of warfare, helped the European bourgeoisie destroy the feudal fortress, and accelerated the historical process of Europe.

A detailed introduction to the four major inventions

1. Compass.

In ancient times, it was called Sinan, and the main component was a magnetic needle mounted on the shaft, which could rotate freely under the action of the natural geomagnetic field and remain in the tangential direction of the magnetic meridian, and the south pole of the magnetic needle pointed to the geographical south pole (magnetic field North Pole), and the direction could be identified by using this performance.

2. Papermaking.

It is one of the four great inventions of China, which was invented in the Western Han Dynasty of the Han Dynasty and improved in the Eastern Han Dynasty of the Han Dynasty. China is the first country in the world to raise silkworms and weave silk. In ancient China, the working people of the superior silkworm cocoons drew silk and weaved silk, and the remaining evil cocoons and disease cocoons were made of silk cotton by bleaching method.

After the bleaching is completed, there will be some residues left on the mat. When the number of bleaching is too much, the residue on the mat will accumulate into a layer of fiber flakes, which can be peeled off after drying, and can be used for writing. The number of by-products of this drifting is not large, and it is called Helang or Fang Fu in ancient books.

3. Printing.

It is one of the four great inventions of the ancient Chinese working people. Block printing was invented in the Tang Dynasty and was widely used in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng invented movable type printing, marking the birth of movable type printing.

He was the first inventor in the world, marking the birth of movable type printing about 400 years before the German Johannes Gutenberg's movable type printing.

4. Gunpowder. As the name suggests, it is a medicine that can cause intense combustion by sparks, flames, etc. According to the record of "Fan Zi Jiran", China has been used for people's livelihood applications in the Spring and Autumn Period.

The above content reference: Encyclopedia - Four Great Inventions.