Chinese Inventions

  • Tea
    2700 BCE

    Tea

    The tea was first made in China by chines people by letting leaves steep in boiling water, this tea was first used as medicine.
  • Period: 300 BCE to 1400

    Chinese History

  • Steel
    200 BCE

    Steel

    The Chinese were the first to learn how to make cast iron by melting and molding iron ore. Later they learned that blowing air into molten, or melted, cast iron causes a chemical reaction that creates steel.
  • Porcelain
    50

    Porcelain

    Porcelain is a type of pottery created by Chinese. It is made by combining clay with the minerals quartz and feldspar. This mixture is baked in a kiln or a pottery oven with very high temperatures. Later on pottery became a beautiful popular art.
  • Paper
    150

    Paper

    The earliest Chinese paper was probably made from hemp and then bark of the mulberry tree. Later, the Chinese used rags. For a while only Chinese knew of paper making.
  • Mechanical Clock
    750

    Mechanical Clock

    The Chinese invented the first wheel that made one complete wheel every 24 hours. Dripping water made the wheel turn. Every quarter hour, drums would beat; and every hour, a bell would chime. The sounds would let people know what time it was.
  • Gunpowder
    850

    Gunpowder

    Gunpowder was created by Chinese alchemists by mistake when they were looking for the secret to eternal life.
  • Game Cards
    850

    Game Cards

    Game cards were invented in china. The cards were made with woodblock printing and thick paper. The designs on the cards were created by famous artists. Today card games are played throughout the world.
  • Paper Money
    850

    Paper Money

    Paper money was invented as a new type of currency invented by Chinese. Paper money was first created with wood blocks, and is now used in many different designs all over the world.
  • Movable Type
    1050

    Movable Type

    Printers made their type by by carving characters out of clay and baking them.To print, they selected the characters they needed and placed them on an iron frame in order they would appear on a page. Later on this invention got easier and spread learning through China. Movable type was used until the last century for newspapers, books, and magazines for people all over the world.