Chinese Discoveries & Inventions

Chinese History

Period: 3000 BCE to Dec 31, 1400

Tea [Industry]

2700 BCE

Several times per year, the Chinese harvested tea leaves, cut back the branches, dried the leaves in sunlight, and cooked them in dry woks or ovens for medicines and later everyday drinking.

Compass [Exploration & Travel]

250 BCE

The Chinese first made compasses by topping wood floating in water with lodestone, and later rubbed the stone on steel needles to increase accuracy.

Porcelain [Industry]

50

A fine art that the Romans did not discover until the 18th century, porcelain was made by clay that was mixed with quartz and feldspar, baked in kilns at high temperatures, and glazed with dyes.

Paper [Industry]

150

For centuries, the Chinese were the only people to know the secret of paper using hemp, mulberry bark, and later rags.

Human Paddleboats [Exploration & Travel]

450

The Chinese connected treadmills to paddles, as using people made the boat faster and wasn't as difficult as controlling oxen like the Romans.

Segmental Arch Bridge [Exploration & Travel]

Jan 1, 618

A Chinese architect made the Great Stone Bridge using smaller segments of circles instead of half-circles like the Romans, resulting in stronger bridges that took less material to build.

Gunpowder [Military Technology]

Jan 1, 850

When experimenting with saltpeter to find the secret of immortality, alchemists accidentally discovered gunpowder.

Gunpowder Weapons [Military Technology]

Jan 1, 950

Weapons with gunpowder include a flamethrower with a gunpowder-oil mix to roast foes, artillery shells hurdled by catapults to shock enemies, and eventually even rifles and cannons

Rockets [Military Technology]

Jan 1, 1300

Powered by saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur, rockets were first used as fireworks, and later developed to be a weapon to drop arrows on enemies.