Ancient China Inventions

When most of us think about ancient China, one thing that we consider is the fact that they have a lot of natural medical practices that are still used in some areas today. The fact of the matter is, however, that there are some ancient China inventions that were groundbreaking and the concepts for these inventions are still put into practice in many of the things that we use on a daily basis. There are many Chinese inventions that we can discuss, but here are four that really stand out.

Almost 2500 years ago, the compass was conceived of in this part of the world. It wasn't until some 1000 years later, however, that this ancient China invention was really documented. At that time, it was described as an iron south pointing fish which floated in a bowl of water. It was used in order to help individuals to find their way during the night and to orient themselves. Most of the ancient references to the compass show it being in a bowl of water but there were also some indications that a dry compass was used as well.

Gunpowder is another one of the ancient Chinese inventions that is rather noteworthy. Developed sometime in the ninth century, it was actually found by accident. Many Chinese inventions were found accidentally because they were so interested in life and health. In this particular case, it is thought that it was discovered whenever they were searching for a formula for immortality. This ancient China invention, however, lead to disaster when in 1280 AD, an explosion at a gunpowder factory killed a reported 100 guards and scattered debris for over 2 miles.

China is also responsible for the invention of printing. Woodblock printing came about sometime during the ninth century. This style of printing was an excellent Chinese invention, simply because it allowed for Chinese lettering to be easily printed. Interestingly enough, China was also responsible for the invention of movable type but it did not replace this former type of printing, simply because it did not lend itself to their written language.

Finally, we have one of the Han Dynasty inventions to discuss. This is when the art of paper making came into existence and it is one of the ancient Chinese inventions that is still used today. Although many cultures have used other mediums in order to write, such as papyrus, China was the first to make paper in a similar way to the fashion in which it is made today.