Chinese History

  • Tea
    2700 BCE

    Tea

    The Chinese had been drinking tea fro thousands of years before Christ.Many stores sold tea around the country and they got it from trees.
  • Compass
    250 BCE

    Compass

    The Chinese used load stone,a magnetic mineral.Because lodestone is magnetic,they were able to find the direction of north and south.
  • Steel
    200 BCE

    Steel

    Steel is made from iron,but very different.Steel is very flexible and less brittle than iron.The Chinese made adjustments to the iron ore with the steel,finding chemical reactions to take place.
  • Paper
    150

    Paper

    For more than 500 years,the Chinese were the only people in the world who knew how to make paper.Europeans were the next to discover this important invention around 1100.
  • Boat Construction
    150

    Boat Construction

    The Chinese invented another way to travel,boats.They would split the boat into sections and seal the outside with caulk.They would sometimes get leaks in the boat,but it was split into sections so it would still float.
  • Printing
    700

    Printing

    The Chinese started out using woodblock printing.Hundreds of years later,they were creating books with pages.
  • Mechanical Clock
    800

    Mechanical Clock

    The clock they created was powered by water and rotated clockwise once every 24 hours.They had different sounds to notify people thee time.They would beat a drum every quarter hour and a bell would chime every hour.
  • Gunpowder
    850

    Gunpowder

    Chinese alchemists accidentally discovered gun powder when they were trying to find the secret to eternal life.
  • Porcelain
    900

    Porcelain

    The Chinese created porcelain,a hard yet light material used to make pottery.