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Chinese Inventions

  • Tea
    2700 BCE

    Tea

    Tea was made by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water and was drank mostly for medicine.
  • Period: 300 BCE to Dec 31, 1400

    Chinese History

  • The Compass
    250 BCE

    The Compass

    The Chinese developed the first compass with pieces of magnetic material called lodestone. Because of the magnetic lodestone, it is influenced by the Earth's magnetic poles, which would make it point towards the North and South.
  • Steel
    200 BCE

    Steel

    When the Chinese invented it steel it was very useful and they bent it easily into different shapes. Their steel was made from cast iron by melting and molding iron ore.
  • Papermaking
    150 BCE

    Papermaking

    The Chinese invented papermaking, where they made paper out of hemp and then bark of the mulberry tree.
  • Porcelain
    50

    Porcelain

    Porcelain is a type of fine pottery where they first produced in the 1st century C.E. Porcelain is made of clay, quartz, and feldspar. they created these beauties as crafts and used glazes to color them.
  • Arched Bridges
    618

    Arched Bridges

    A Chinese engineer completed a new type of arched bridge in 618 C.E. The Chinese always found ways to improve their bridges.
  • Gunpowder
    850

    Gunpowder

    Chinese alchemists looking for the secret to eternal life accidentally discovered gunpowder. Gunpowder was made Saltpeter, Sulfur and Charcoal. They used gunpowder for fireworks because they believed it would scare away evil spirits in the sky.
  • Game Cards
    850

    Game Cards

    Printers used woodblocks printing to make cards from thick paper. Famous artists were the ones who designed and decorated the backs of the cards.
  • Paper Money
    850

    Paper Money

    Paper money was also printed with wood blocks. It was invented in the late 8th or 9th century. A single bill would have many colors in it.