Among the most important contributions and inventions of China for humanity are paper, fireworks, gunpowder, compass or silk.
China, or the People's Republic of China, is an Asian state that is now considered the world's most populous country (more than 1300 million people), the third largest country in the world by land area and the second largest world economic power by GDP.
Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China 1988.
For millennia its political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known like dynasties and from 1949 to date, is governed by the communist party.
Its civilization, one of the oldest in the world, has developed to such an extent that today it is considered at the international level as an emerging superpower, a reference in the industrial and commercial field, and with a military force competing with that of the United States of America.
His years of history have meant great advances in different fields: medicine, agriculture, architecture, science...
The next few lines list just a few of these breakthroughs that have crossed borders and contributed to global progress.
You might also be interested in: Contributions of India to humanity .
The 10 most notable contributions of China to the world
1. Paper
The first known piece of written paper was discovered in the ruins of a Chinese watchtower in Tsakhortei, where Han Dynasty troops had abandoned their position after an Xiongnu attack.
Evidence shows that the paper was made from: silk rags, strips of wood or bamboo, seaweed, hemp or clothing.
Making paper from the silk, it was very expensive and the writings on paper of bamboo, were uncomfortable to manipulate, so little by little it was evolved towards the vegetal fiber.
And the development of writing and paper, naturally derived in the invention of some type of ink for writing. Thus in 400 BC, the first ink made of carbon black and rubber appears.
Paper money is also owed to Chinese ingenuity.
2. Printing
In 1974, in a tomb of Tang near Xi'an, a paper of hemp was unearthed with printed letters.
And it was a Chinese scientist, Shen Kuo (1031-1095), who first described the process of printing in moving clay blocks, attributing the invention to a little-known craftsman named Bi Sheng (990-1051).
3. Gunpowder
It is an explosive substance that is obtained from the mixture of charcoal, saltpeter (nitrate of potassium) and sulfur and that serves to shoot projectiles or for the propulsion. It was invented by Taoist alchemists of the fourth century of our era.
In a military manuscript compiled in 1044 during the Song dynasty (960-1279), the use of incendiary bombs launched from catapults and defensive walls is described, reason why some consider it precursor of the metallic cannon that arises in Europe between 1280 and 1320.
4. Compass
This device, whose magnetic needle points to the North, had its origin during the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), when used in the form of a wooden circle having a number of marks on it and a magnetic spoon on the lid, Oriented towards the north and to the south, for the purpose of divination and geomancy.
That is to say, its initial objective was not to guide them in navigation but rather to be an instrument used in religious rites or to verify that the buildings were oriented correctly towards the north so as to be in harmony with nature.
It is said that the ancestor of the apparatus was a wooden fish that contained a piece of stone imán that pointed to the north when it was to float in the water.
5. Silk
It was the Chinese who taught the rest of the world how to harvest silk from silkworms.
They also developed the techniques for making clothes, fans, kites, paper and many other items from this fabric.
6. Abacus
A popular way of telling during the thirteenth century was to make use of the abacus table developed by the Chinese, a table covered with cloth with lines drawn with chalk or ink.
The oldest, discovered until the hour, dates back more than 3 thousand years and was made with ceramic beads.
In spite of attempts to replace it in the following years, it did not disappear until the use of Indo-Arabic numerals was extended.
7. Acupuncture
It is a form of traditional medicine in which needles are inserted in certain points of the body located in the vital lines of force. It is believed that he was born about 100 BC. C. in China.
It is a technique used in the treatment of pain and other conditions, usually, complementing another form of treatment.
Although its scientific validity is questioned, it continues being used in many countries around the world.
8. The kite
That childish toy that is usually seen in the skies in summer seasons, was also invented by the Chinese but with another purpose: to send messages across great battlefields in the wars.
9. The seismograph
The device that is currently used to record the time, duration and amplitude of an earthquake, several hundred kilometers away, was also invented in China.
10. Steel
In the sixth century AD, the Chinese developed the process of co-melting, bathing with cast iron the masses of wrought iron, thus giving rise to steel.
Thanks to this they were able to build suspension bridges with iron chains (around the year 600 of our era) and drilled wells up to 700 meters deep.
Although here is a list of 10 contributions from China to the world, the truth is that many fields of modern life benefit from inventions or knowledge developed in that culture:
- Obtaining salt from underground wells
- Paper Processing
- The notion of human blood circulation or pulse
- The explanation of solar eclipses
- An anesthetic
- Harness
- Rudder
- Manufacture of ceramic utensils
- The bases of immunology
We also owe them some of the earliest forms of iron management: While in the military arena, iron was forged to make armor or long swords, in agriculture it was cast to create molds that were then used to make iron plows or parts of Wheelbarrows.
In short, China is the example of a very ancient civilization that solved many problems of its daily life with its ingenuity, bequeathing many of the results to the rest of the world.
References
- 5 Important Chinese Contributions. Recovered from: angelfire.com
- BBC World (2010). The curious story of the fireworks. Retrieved from: bbc.com.
- Infogram (2017). China's greatest contributions to the world. Retrieved from: infogr.am.
- Ancient China (1994). Contributions and legacy. Retrieved from exploreancientchina.weebly.com.
- Roche, Marcel (s / f). Technology in Ancient China in Interciencia. Retrieved from interciencia.org.
- Wikipedia.org.