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66-467: These four inventions had a profound impact on the development of civilization throughout the world. However, some modern Chinese scholars have opined that other Chinese inventions were perhaps more sophisticated and had a greater impact on Chinese civilization – the Four Great Inventions serve merely to highlight the technological interaction between East and West. "The Three Great Inventions"

132-620: A Silla Korean temple stupa built-in 751. The first printed periodical, the Kaiyuan Za Bao was made available in AD 713. However, the earliest known book printed at regular size is the Diamond Sutra , made during the Tang dynasty (618–907), a 5.18 m (17.0 ft) long scroll, which bears the date AD 868. Joseph Needham and Tsien Tsuen-hsuin write that the cutting and printing techniques used for

198-556: A history involving mechanics , hydraulics and mathematics applied to horology , metallurgy , astronomy , agriculture , engineering , music theory , craftsmanship , naval architecture and warfare . Use of the plow during the Neolithic period Longshan culture (c. 3000–c. 2000 BC) allowed for high agricultural production yields and rise of Chinese civilization during the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1050 BC). Later inventions such as

264-482: A permanent magnet . The other question is how lodestones get magnetized . The Earth's magnetic field at 0.5 gauss is too weak to magnetize a lodestone by itself. The leading theory is that lodestones are magnetized by the strong magnetic fields surrounding lightning bolts. This is supported by the observation that they are mostly found near the surface of the Earth, rather than buried at great depth. One of

330-472: A thermoremanence compass of heated iron or steel shaped as a fish and placed in a bowl of water which produced a weak magnetic force via remanence and induction; the Wujing Zongyao recorded that it was used as a pathfinder along with the mechanical south-pointing chariot . Inventions which made their first appearance in late Bronze Age China after the Neolithic era , specifically during and after

396-611: A Han tomb. Based on his discovery of an Olmec artifact (a shaped and grooved magnetic bar) in North America, astronomer John Carlson suggests that lodestone may have been used by the Olmec more than a thousand years prior to the Chinese discovery. Carlson speculates that the Olmecs, for astrological or geomantic purposes, used similar artifacts as a directional device, or to orient their temples,

462-777: A black streak . The process by which lodestone is created has long been an open question in geology. Only a small amount of the magnetite on the Earth is found magnetized as lodestone. Ordinary magnetite is attracted to a magnetic field as iron and steel are, but does not tend to become magnetized itself; it has too low a magnetic coercivity (resistance to demagnetization) to stay magnetized for long. Microscopic examination of lodestones has found them to be made of magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) with inclusions of maghemite (cubic Fe 2 O 3 ), often with impurity metal ions of titanium , aluminium , and manganese . This inhomogeneous crystalline structure gives this variety of magnetite sufficient coercivity to remain magnetized and thus be

528-527: A direction when sailing on large oceans and exploring new area with the creation of the round compass, which led to the discovery of the New World and the development of sailing ships. Originally, gunpowder was used to make fireworks for festivals and major events. It was later utilized as an explosive substance in cannons, fire-arrows , and other military weapons. During the Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368), gunpowder

594-486: A distance of over 10 li (~2 mi or ~3 km) away from the explosion. By the time of Jiao Yu and his Huolongjing (which describes military applications of gunpowder in great detail) in the mid-14th century, the explosive potential of gunpowder was perfected, as the level of nitrate in gunpowder formulas had risen to a range of 12% to 91%, with at least six different formulas in use that are considered to have maximum explosive potential for gunpowder. By that time,

660-399: A furnace, and wooden tablets. The earliest known piece of paper with writing on it was discovered in the ruins of a Chinese watchtower at Tsakhortei, Alxa League , where Han dynasty troops had deserted their position in AD 110, after a Xiongnu attack. In the paper making process established by Cai in 105, a boiled mixture of mulberry tree bark, hemp, old linens and fish nets created

726-467: A little-known artisan named Bi Sheng (990–1051). Bi had experimented with wooden type characters, but their use was not perfected until 1297 to 1298 with the model of the official Wang Zhen (fl. 1290–1333) of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), who also arranged written characters by rhyme scheme on the surface of round table compartments. It was not until 1490 with the printed works of Hua Sui (1439–1513) of

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792-490: A lodestone adorned with a gilt coronet that was donated by Mary Cavendish in 1756, possibly to secure her husband's appointment as Chancellor of Oxford University. Isaac Newton 's signet ring reportedly contained a lodestone which was capable of lifting more than 200 times its own weight. And in 17th century London, the Royal Society displayed a 6-inch (15 cm) spherical lodestone (a terrella or 'little Earth'), which

858-549: A point of pride. In 2005, the Hong Kong postal service created a special stamp issue that featured the Four Great Inventions. The stamp series was first issued on August 18, 2005, during a ceremony where an enlarged first day cover was stamped. Allan Chiang (Postmaster General) and Prof. Chu Ching-wu (president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ) marked the issue of the special stamps by personally stamping

924-475: A profound influence on trade, war and cultural exchange. The compass's origins may be traced back to the Warring States period (476–221 BC), when Chinese people utilized a device known as a si nan to point in the right direction. During the early Song dynasty, a spherical compass with a small needle made of magnetic steel was created after steady development. The little needle has one end pointing south and

990-455: A pulp that was pounded into paste and stirred with water; a wooden frame sieve with a mat of sewn reeds was then dunked into the mixture, which was then shaken and then dried into sheets of paper that were bleached under the exposure of sunlight; K. S. Tom says this process was gradually improved through leaching, polishing and glazing to produce a smooth, strong paper. Woodblock printing : The earliest specimen of woodblock printing

1056-451: A spoon and when it is placed on a plate on the ground, the handle points to the south". There are, however, two other references under chapter 47 of the same text to the attractive power of a magnet according to Needham (1986), but Li Shu-hua (1954) considers it to be lodestone, and states that there is no explicit mention of a magnet in Lunheng . The Chinese polymath Shen Kuo (1031–1095) of

1122-458: Is a single-sheet dharani sutra in Sanskrit that was printed on hemp paper between 650 and 670 AD; it was unearthed in 1974 from a Tang tomb near Xi'an . A Korean miniature dharani Buddhist sutra discovered in 1966, bearing extinct Chinese writing characters used only during the reign of China's only self-ruling empress, Wu Zetian (r. 690–705), is dated no earlier than 704 and preserved in

1188-630: Is adapted from the European intellectual and rhetorical commonplace of the Three Great (or, more properly, Greatest) Inventions. This commonplace spread rapidly throughout Europe in the 16th century and was appropriated only in modern times by sinologists and Chinese scholars. The origin of the Three Great Inventions—these being the printing press, firearms, and the nautical compass—was originally ascribed to Europe, and specifically to Germany in

1254-665: Is given to these inventions, over other significant Chinese inventions . They have pointed out that other inventions in China were perhaps more sophisticated and had a greater impact within China. In the chapter "Are the Four Major Inventions the Most Important?" of his book Ancient Chinese Inventions , Chinese historian Deng Yinke writes: The four inventions do not necessarily summarize the achievements of science and technology in ancient China. The four inventions were regarded as

1320-481: Is in an AD 593 imperial decree by the Sui Emperor Wen-ti , who mandates the printing of Buddhist pictures and scriptures. Blocks made from wood were used in the oldest type of Chinese printing. Printing textiles and reproducing Buddhist scriptures were also done using these blocks. Short religious writings were carried as charms in this manner. The Chinese invention of woodblock printing , at some point before

1386-487: The Lunheng ( Balanced Inquiries ): "A lodestone attracts a needle." In the 2nd century BC, Chinese geomancers were experimenting with the magnetic properties of lodestone to make a "south-pointing spoon" for divination. When it is placed on a smooth bronze plate, the spoon would invariably rotate to a north–south axis. While this has been shown to work, archaeologists have yet to discover an actual spoon made of magnetite in

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1452-486: The Wujing Zongyao , a military manuscript compiled in 1044 during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Its gunpowder formulas describe the use of incendiary bombs launched from catapults , thrown down from defensive walls , or lowered down the wall by use of iron chains operated by a swape lever. Bombs launched from trebuchet catapults mounted on forecastles of naval ships ensured the victory of Song over Jin forces at

1518-630: The Battle of Caishi in 1161, and the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) used gunpowder bombs during their failed invasion of Japan in 1274 and 1281. During the 13th and 14th centuries, gunpowder formulas became more potent (with nitrate levels of up to 91%) and gunpowder weaponry more advanced and deadly, as evidenced in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) military manuscript Huolongjing compiled by Jiao Yu (fl. 14th to early 15th century) and Liu Bowen (1311–1375). It

1584-525: The Guanzi , Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals and Huainanzi . The Chinese by the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) began using north–south oriented lodestone ladle-and-bowl shaped compasses for divination and geomancy and not yet for navigation . The Lunheng , written by Han dynasty writer, scientist, and philosopher Wang Chong (27 – c. 100 AD) stated in chapter 52: "This instrument resembles

1650-499: The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) that the Chinese perfected metal movable type characters, namely bronze . The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) scholar Xu Zhiding of Tai'an , Shandong developed vitreous enamel movable type printing in 1718. Gunpowder : Evidence of gunpowder 's first use in China comes from the Tang dynasty (618–907). The earliest known recorded recipes for gunpowder were written by Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du and Yang Weide in

1716-537: The Shang dynasty ( c . 1600–1050 BC), and which predate the era of modern China that began with the fall of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), are listed below in alphabetical order. Lodestone Lodestones are naturally magnetized pieces of the mineral magnetite . They are naturally occurring magnets , which can attract iron . The property of magnetism was first discovered in antiquity through lodestones. Pieces of lodestone, suspended so they could turn, were

1782-460: The Song dynasty (960–1279). The invention of gunpowder in the mid 9th century during the Tang dynasty led to an array of inventions such as the fire lance , land mine , naval mine , hand cannon , exploding cannonballs , multistage rocket and rocket bombs with aerodynamic wings and explosive payloads . Differential gears were utilized in the south-pointing chariot for terrestrial navigation by

1848-426: The Tang dynasty (618–907) paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea. The Song dynasty (960–1279) that followed was the first government to issue paper currency . The compass in the Four Great Inventions was formerly the compass of ancient China. It is a kind of direction-indicating tool, which is widely used in navigation, field exploration and other fields. In ancient times, it had

1914-474: The delicate calligraphy of the Diamond Sutra book are much more advanced and refined than the miniature Dharani sutra printed earlier. Movable type : The polymath scientist and official Shen Kuo (1031–1095) of the Song dynasty (960–1279) was the first to describe the process of movable type printing in his Dream Pool Essays of 1088. He attributed the innovation of reusable fired clay characters to

1980-562: The multiple-tube seed drill and the heavy moldboard iron plow enabled China to sustain a much larger population through improvements in agricultural output. By the Warring States period (403–221 BC), inhabitants of China had advanced metallurgic technology, including the blast furnace and cupola furnace , and the finery forge and puddling process were known by the Han dynasty (202 BC–AD 220). A sophisticated economic system in imperial China gave birth to inventions such as paper money during

2046-591: The 16th century, were not widely used in China until the 19th century. China, along with Korea, was one of the last countries to adopt them. Woodblock printing for textiles , on the other hand, preceded text printing by centuries in all cultures, and is first found in China at around 220. It reached Europe by the 14th century or before, via the Islamic world, and by around 1400 was being used on paper for old master prints and playing cards . Printing in Northern China

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2112-453: The 18th century. Although superseded by western printing techniques, woodblock movable type printing remains in use in isolated communities in China. Although Chinese culture is replete with lists of significant works or achievements (e.g. Four Great Beauties , Four Great Classical Novels , Four Books and Five Classics , etc.), the concept of the Four Great Inventions originated from the West, and

2178-418: The 20th century, this list was popularized and augmented by the noted British biochemist, historian, and sinologist Joseph Needham , who devoted the later part of his life to studying the science and civilization of ancient China. Recently, scholars have questioned the importance placed on the inventions of paper, printing, gunpowder, and the compass. Chinese scholars in particular question if too much emphasis

2244-402: The 2nd century BC and 1st century AD, where it was called the "south-governor" ( sīnán 司南 ). The earliest reference to a magnetic device used for navigation is in a Song dynasty book dated to 1040–1044, where there is a description of an iron "south-pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water, aligning itself to the south. The device is recommended as a means of orientation "in the obscurity of

2310-623: The 3rd century during the Three Kingdoms . With the navigational aid of the 11th century compass and ability to steer at sea with the 1st century sternpost rudder , premodern Chinese sailors sailed as far as East Africa . In water-powered clockworks, the premodern Chinese had used the escapement mechanism since the 8th century and the endless power-transmitting chain drive in the 11th century. They also made large mechanical puppet theaters driven by waterwheels and carriage wheels and wine-serving automatons driven by paddle wheel boats. For

2376-850: The Beijing Social Facts & Public Opinion Survey Center found that Beijing residents found the program on the Four Great Inventions the most moving part of the opening ceremony. List of Chinese inventions China has been the source of many innovations, scientific discoveries and inventions . This includes the Four Great Inventions : papermaking , the compass , gunpowder , and early printing (both woodblock and movable type ). The list below contains these and other inventions in ancient and modern China attested by archaeological or historical evidence, including prehistoric inventions of Neolithic and early Bronze Age China . The historical region now known as China experienced

2442-533: The Chinese , changes in minor concepts of design or style and artistic innovations do not appear on the list. The following is a list of the Four Great Inventions —as designated by Joseph Needham (1900–1995), a British scientist, author and sinologist known for his research on the history of Chinese science and technology. Paper : Although it is recorded that the Han dynasty (202 BC – AD 220) court eunuch Cai Lun (50 AD – AD 121) invented

2508-550: The Chinese had invented how to create explosive round shot by packing their hollow shells with this nitrate-enhanced gunpowder. An excavated trove of early Ming land mines showed that corned gunpowder was present in China by 1370. There is evidence suggesting that corned powder may have been used in East Asia as early as the thirteenth century. During the Tang dynasty, printing was created in China (AD 618–906). The first mention of printing

2574-464: The Song dynasty (960–1279) was the first to accurately describe both magnetic declination (in discerning true north ) and the magnetic needle compass in his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, and the Song dynasty writer Zhu Yu (fl. 12th century) was the first to mention use of the compass specifically for navigation at sea, in his book published in 1119. Even before this, however, the Wujing Zongyao military manuscript compiled by 1044 described

2640-602: The ancients [the Greeks], and of which the origin, though recent, is obscure and inglorious; namely printing, gunpowder, and the magnet. For these three have changed the whole face and stage of things throughout the world, the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes; insomuch that no empire, no sect, no star, seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these three mechanical discoveries. Karl Marx wrote: Gunpowder, compass, and printing—these are

2706-480: The case of the printing press and firearms. These inventions were a badge of honor to modern Europeans, who proclaimed that there was nothing to equal them among the ancient Greeks and Romans. After reports by Portuguese sailors and Spanish missionaries began to filter back to Europe beginning in the 1530s, the notion that these inventions had existed for centuries in China took hold. By 1620, when Francis Bacon wrote in his Instauratio magna that "printing, gunpowder, and

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2772-528: The compass and gunpowder. Edkins' notes on these inventions were mentioned in an 1859 review in the journal Athenaeum , comparing the contemporary science and technology in China and Japan. Other examples include, in Johnson's New Universal Cyclopædia: A Scientific and Popular Treasury of Useful Knowledge in 1880, The Chautauquan in 1887, and by the sinologist, Berthold Laufer in 1915. None of these, however, referred to four inventions or called them "great." In

2838-453: The development of European civilization. Joseph Edkins, a Chinese missionary and sinologist, was the first to add papermaking to the three major inventions mentioned above, and in comparing Japan and China he noted that "we must always remember that they have no such remarkable inventions as printing, papermaking, the compass, and gunpowder." Papermaking has traditionally been traced to China about AD 105, when Cai Lun , an official attached to

2904-775: The dwellings of the living, or the interments of the dead. Detailed analysis of the Olmec artifact revealed that the "bar" was composed of hematite with titanium lamellae of Fe 2–x Ti x O 3 that accounted for the anomalous remanent magnetism of the artifact. "A century of research has pushed back the first mention of the magnetic compass in Europe to Alexander Neckam about +1190, followed soon afterwards by Guyot de Provins in +1205 and Jacques de Vitry in +1269. All other European claims have been excluded by detailed study..." Lodestones have frequently been displayed as valuable or prestigious objects. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford contains

2970-458: The earliest known references to lodestone's magnetic properties was made by 6th century BC Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus , whom the ancient Greeks credited with discovering lodestone's attraction to iron and other lodestones. The name magnet may come from lodestones found in Magnesia , Anatolia . The ancient Indian medical text Sushruta Samhita describes using magnetic properties of

3036-507: The end of the 12th century, Chinese formulas of gunpowder had a level of nitrate capable of bursting through cast iron metal containers, in the form of the earliest hollow, gunpowder-filled grenade bombs. In 1280, the bomb store of the large gunpowder arsenal at Weiyang accidentally caught fire, which produced such a large explosion that a team of inspectors at the site a week later deduced that 100 guards had been killed instantly, with wooden beams and pillars blown sky high and landing at

3102-485: The first magnetic compasses , and their importance to early navigation is indicated by the name lodestone , which in Middle English means "course stone" or "leading stone", from the now-obsolete meaning of lode as "journey, way". Lodestone is one of only a very few minerals that is found naturally magnetized. Magnetite is black or brownish-black, with a metallic luster , a Mohs hardness of 5.5–6.5 and

3168-547: The first dated book in 868 (the Diamond Sutra ), produced the world's first print culture . According to A. Hyatt Mayor , curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , "it was the Chinese who really invented the means of communication that was to dominate until our age." Woodblock printing was better suited to Chinese characters than movable type , which the Chinese also invented, but which did not replace woodblock printing. Western printing presses , although introduced in

3234-412: The first day cover. The Four Great Inventions was featured as one of the main themes of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics . Paper making was represented with a dance and an ink drawing on a huge piece of paper, printing by a set of dancing printing blocks, a replica of an ancient compass was showcased, and gunpowder by the extensive firework displays during the ceremony. A survey by

3300-621: The four inventions, and some are even greater than the four. In his political discourse, Xi Jinping often cites the four great inventions as a source of national pride for China and its historic contributions to humanity. In 2017, the term "four great new inventions" became popularized in China in reference to high-speed rail , mobile payment , e-commerce, and bike-sharing . The term is not intended strictly, as although these innovations have been exceptionally developed in China, none were invented within China. The four great inventions are significantly emphasized during Chinese schooling and are

3366-484: The imperial court during the Han dynasty (202 BC – AD 220), created a sheet of paper using mulberry and other bast fibres along with fishing net , old rags, and hemp waste. While paper used for wrapping and padding was used in China since the 2nd century BC, paper used as a writing medium only became widespread by the 3rd century. However, a recent archaeological discovery has been reported from Gansu of paper with Chinese characters on it dating to 8 BC. Before paper

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3432-497: The lodestone to remove arrows embedded in a person's body. The earliest Chinese literary reference to magnetism occurs in the 4th-century BC Book of the Devil Valley Master ( Guiguzi ). In the chronicle Lüshi Chunqiu , from the 2nd century BC, it is explicitly stated that "the lodestone makes iron come or it attracts it." The earliest mention of a needle's attraction appears in a work composed between 20 and 100 AD,

3498-658: The most important Chinese achievements in science and technology, simply because they had a prominent position in the exchanges between the East and the West and acted as a powerful dynamic in the development of capitalism in Europe. As a matter of fact, ancient Chinese scored much more than the four major inventions: in farming, iron and copper metallurgy, exploitation of coal and petroleum, machinery, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, porcelain, silk, and wine making. The numerous inventions and discoveries greatly advanced China's productive forces and social life. Many are at least as important as

3564-505: The nautical compass... have altered the face and state of the world: first, in literary matters; second, in warfare; third, in navigation," this was hardly an original idea to most learned Europeans. Western writers and scholars from the 19th century onwards commonly attributed these inventions to China. The missionary and sinologist Joseph Edkins (1823–1905), comparing China with Japan, noted that for all of Japan's virtues, it did not make inventions as significant as paper-making, printing,

3630-417: The needle at the tail would always point in the northern cardinal direction. Although the 14th-century European compass-card in box frame and dry pivot needle was adopted in China after its use was taken by Japanese pirates in the 16th century (who had in turn learned of it from Europeans), the Chinese design of the suspended dry compass persisted in use well into the 18th century. People could readily locate

3696-416: The night." The first suspended magnetic needle compass was written of by Shen Kuo in his book of 1088. According to Needham , the Chinese in the Song dynasty and continuing Yuan dynasty did make use of a dry compass. The dry compass used in China was a dry suspension compass, a wooden frame crafted in the shape of a turtle hung upside down by a board, with the lodestone sealed in by wax, and if rotated,

3762-527: The other pointing north. During the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), the compass was brought to the Arab world and Europe. People relied on interpreting the positions of the sun, moon, and pole stars to tell directions on open ocean or new area before the discovery of the compass. When the weather was gloomy or severe, traveling was difficult. A lodestone compass was used in China during the Han dynasty between

3828-521: The pulp papermaking process and established the use of new materials used in making paper , ancient padding and wrapping paper artifacts dating from the 2nd century BC have been found in China, the oldest example of pulp papermaking being a map from Fangmatan , Tianshui ; by the 3rd century, paper as a writing medium was in widespread use , replacing traditional but more expensive writing mediums such as strips of bamboo rolled into threaded scrolls, strips of silk , wet clay tablets hardened later in

3894-552: The purposes of this list, inventions are regarded as technological firsts developed in China, and as such does not include foreign technologies which the Chinese acquired through contact, such as the windmill from the Middle East or the telescope from early modern Europe . It also does not include technologies developed elsewhere and later invented separately by the Chinese, such as the odometer , water wheel , and chain pump . Scientific, mathematical or natural discoveries made by

3960-635: The three major inventions that foretell the arrival of bourgeois society. Gunpowder blasted the knight class to pieces, the compass opened the world market and established colonies, and printing became a tool of Protestantism. In general, it has become a means of scientific renaissance, and has become the most powerful lever to create the necessary preconditions for spiritual development. British Sinologist Medhurst pointed out: The Chinese people's genius for inventions has manifested in many aspects very early. The three Chinese inventions (navigation compass, printing, gunpowder) have provided an extraordinary impetus to

4026-541: Was a tedious process if one were to assemble thousands of individual characters for the printing of simply one or a few books, but if used for printing thousands of books, the process was efficient and rapid enough to be successful and highly employed. Indeed, there were many cities in China where movable type printing, in wooden and metal form, was adopted by the enterprises of wealthy local families or large private industries. The Qing dynasty court sponsored enormous printing projects using woodblock movable type printing during

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4092-626: Was completed in 1412, a long while after Liu's death, with a preface added by the Jiao in its Nanyang publication. Compass : Although an ancient hematite artifact from the Olmec era in Mexico dating from about 1000 BC indicates the possible use of the lodestone compass long before it was described in China, the Olmecs did not have iron , which the Chinese found could be magnetised by contact with lodestone. Descriptions of lodestone attracting iron were made in

4158-605: Was first proposed by the British philosopher Francis Bacon , and later, Walter Henry Medhurst , and other scholars agreed. Printing, gunpowder, and the mariner's compass were brought to Europe by Arab traders during the Renaissance and Reformation. Bacon, a leading philosopher, politician, and adviser to King James I of England, wrote: It is well to observe the force and virtue and consequence of discoveries. These are to be seen nowhere more clearly than those three which were unknown to

4224-480: Was further advanced by the 11th century, as it was written by the Song dynasty scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095) that the common artisan Bi Sheng (990–1051) invented ceramic movable type printing. Then there were those such as Wang Zhen ( fl. 1290–1333) who invented respectively wooden type setting, which later influenced developing metal moveable type printing in Korea (1372–1377) . Movable type printing

4290-409: Was in high demand due to numerous battles and the development of mass industry. Gunpowder was invented in the 9th century by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality . By the time the Song dynasty treatise, Wujing Zongyao (武经总要), was written by Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide in 1044, the various Chinese formulas for gunpowder held levels of nitrate in the range of 27% to 50%. By

4356-441: Was invented, the ancient Chinese carved characters on pottery, animal bones and stones, cast them on bronzes, or wrote them on bamboo or wooden strips and silk fabric. These materials, however, were either too heavy or too expensive for widespread use. The invention and use of paper brought about a revolution in writing materials. By the 6th century in China, sheets of paper were beginning to be used for toilet paper as well. During

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