How did Chinese inventions impact the world?

PAPER

Before the invention of paper, writing was done on tablets made of bamboo or other
paper-like material, such as animal skin. In 105 AD, a government worker in China
named Ts’ai Lun (蔡伦) was the first to start a paper-making industry. Ts’ai Lun
developed paper by mixing finely chopped mulberry bark and hemp rags with water,
mashing it flat, and then pressing out the water and letting it dry in the sun. Ts’ai
Lun’s paper was a great success, and began to be used all over China. At first, paper
was mostly used for wrapping and packing things, since most people could not read
and write at that time. It was 400 to 500 years later that paper began to be used
mostly for writing. The knowledge of how to make paper spread very slowly to other
countries. In 600 AD, Japan began making their own paper; then, in 750 AD, paper
started being made in the Middle East. The knowledge of papermaking finally arrived
to Europe in 1100 AD. That’s almost 1,000 years after Ts’ai Lun first made paper in
China! Once paper became more common in Europe, paper was used to make
newspapers, novels, school textbooks, and much else. industry: a large factory
used to make things quickly
develop: to make something
new

Interesting Fact mulberry bark hemp rags

Before paper came to
Europe, it took about 250
sheep skins to make a
bible… That’s baaaa-d.
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How did Chinese inventions impact the world?

MOVABLE TYPE PRINTING

In about 1045 AD, a Chinese craftsman named Bi Sheng (毕昇) invented movable
type. For movable type, characters had to be carved into clay blocks which were then
hardened by fire so that they could be reused. Bi Sheng created over 30,000 clay
blocks for the thousands of Chinese characters that existed. Once all of these clay
blocks were ready, Bi Sheng could print nearly any message. He could also print
hundreds or thousands of copies fairly quickly with his invention. Movable type
printing developed very fast and spread to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and finally to
Europe. Once this invention arrived in Europe, Johannes Gutenberg improved the
movable type invention into a faster machine. This invention then completely
changed the world by making information easier to spread. Without the invention of
paper and printing from China, Europe would have continued for much longer to copy
books by hand, in a slow process that could sometimes take more than a year to
complete for just one book. craftsman: someone who is
very good at an activity in
which you make things with
Interesting Fact your hands

This invention was much more

useful for languages that had an
alphabet, because character-
based languages required
thousands more clay blocks to be
made, instead of 26 letters for
English, for example.
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©Strogers – Upper Elementary Resources
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How did Chinese inventions impact the world?

GUNPOWDER

In about 850 AD, the emperor of China paid for alchemists to discover a mixture for
eternal life. The alchemists discovered something that would change the world forever,
but it would not give people eternal life. Gunpowder was invented when an alchemist
mixed saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. At first, the mixture did not seem special, but once
he exposed the mixture to fire, there was an explosion with smoke and flames! The
explosion even burnt the face and hands of the alchemist and it burnt down the house
he was working in. This mixture began being used by the Song dynasty military forces
against their main enemy, the Mongols. Using gunpowder, they would fire small rockets
at the Mongols in order to terrify the Mongol men and horses. At first, the Mongols must
have thought the Chinese were using magic rockets against them, since no one had ever
seen this before. In 1076 AD, the Song government banned anyone from telling
foreigners about this invention because they did not want gunpowder to be used against
them. Nevertheless, by 1280 AD, European countries began using gunpowder for their
militaries. This invention changed the world forever. alchemists: scientists
eternal: forever
exposed: joined together
military: army or people
who fight for a country.

saltpeter charcoal sulfur

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How did Chinese inventions impact the world?

MAGNETIC COMPASS

The magnetic compass is an ancient Chinese invention made in about 210 BC. At first,
Chinese fortune tellers used lodestones to make their fortune telling boards.
Eventually, someone noticed that lodestones were great for directions. This led to the
creation of the first compass. The earliest compasses were made on a square slab
with cardinal points engraved into the slab. In the center of the slab was a spoon
shaped device, which had a handle that always pointed South. In about 900 AD, the
spoon center piece was replaced by a magnetized needle, which made the compass
easier to carry and more convenient to read. The compass became very common on
ships to help with navigation. The first person to use a compass to navigate was
Zheng He (郑和) from Yunnan province in China. Zheng He made seven ocean
voyages between 1405 and 1433. The compass has impacted the world in many ways.
Before the compass, sea explorers relied mainly on the stars to navigate, but often
times clouds prevented explorers from using the stars. The compass allowed
explorers to sail more confidently. Many historians suggest that Christopher
Columbus wouldn’t have found North America without the use of a compass.
fortune teller: someone who
says they can tell your future.
Interesting Fact lodestones: stones that are
The Chinese compass always magnetic.
pointed South. Once the convenient: useful because it
saves time.
invention arrived in Europe
the needle direction was navigation: planning which
way you need to go
changed to point North.
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©Strogers – Upper Elementary Resources
All rights reserved by author.
Permission to copy for single classroom use only.