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For several thousand years, tea—made by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water—was drunk mostly as medicine. Tea houses had sprung up throughout the country. The drink’s popularity made tea-plant cultivation a major industry, often involving
an entire community. -
Chinese compasses were made with a magnetic mineral called lodestone.Lodestone is influenced by Earth’s magnetic poles. If you put a piece of lodestone on wood and float it in a bowl of water, the lodestone will turn until it points in a north-south direction.
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Papermaking became an important business in China. For more than 500 years, the Chinese were the only people in
the world who knew how to make paper. From China, knowledge of papermaking traveled to Japan and across Central Asia.The Europeans probably first learned about this art after 1100. Considering how important it is for
recording and transmitting information,few inventions touch our lives more than paper. -
The Chinese made this by arranging a series of paddles in a wheel. People walked on a treadmill to turn the paddle wheel, which moved through the water, pushing the boat forward.
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The new Chinese bridge used arches that were a smaller part, or segment, of a circle. This made the bridges broader and flatter than
semicircular arches could. Called a segmental arch bridge,
the new type of bridge took less material to build and was
stronger, as well. -
The invention of paper made another key
development possible: printing. The printer first drew characters (symbols) on paper.Then glued the paper to a wooden block. When
the glue was dry, the printer carved out the wood around
the characters, leaving the characters raised on the wood. -
Chinese alchemist looking for the secret to eternal life accidentally discovered gunpowder when working with salt peter. Military Technology.
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By the 10th century, the Chinese had made the first weapon that used gunpowder which was the flamethrower. Flamethrowers contained gunpowder mixed with oil. The Chinese used them to spray enemies with a stream of fire.
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Rocket technology was developed during the Song dynasty. Rockets were powered by black powder made of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. Later, the Chinese used them as weapons. They even developed a two-stage rocket for their armies. The first stage propelled the rocket through the air. The second stage dropped arrows down on the enemy.
