Chinese inventions and Discoveries

By JJ swat
  • Period: 3000 BCE to Feb 15, 1400

    3000 BC To 1400 AD

  • 150 BCE

    steel

    steel
    The Chinese first made steel, a very useful metal, before 200 B.C.E. Steel is made from iron, but it is less brittle than iron and easier to bend into different shapes. The earliest Chinese steel was made from cast iron. 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.
  • 50

    Paper

    Paper
    The Chinese invented the art of paper making by the second century C.E. The earliest Chinese paper was probably made from hemp and then the bark of the mulberry tree. Later, the Chinese used rags.
  • 50

    Porcelain

    Porcelain
    Porcelain Another Chinese invention is a type of fine pottery called porcelain. Some historians think that the Chinese produced the first porcelain as early as the 1st century C.E.Porcelain is made by combining clay with the minerals quartz and feldspar. The mixture is baked in a kiln, or pottery oven, at very high temperatures.
  • Jan 1, 750

    water clocks

    water clocks
    Clock The Chinese developed the first mechanical clock in about the 8th century. The new clock was more accurate than earlier timekeeping devices, such as sundials and hourglasses. The
    Chinese devised a wheel that made one complete turn every 24 hours. Dripping water made the wheel turn. Every
    quarter hour, drums would beat; and every hour, a bell would chime. The sounds let people know what time it was.
  • Jan 1, 850

    Gun Powder

    Gun Powder
    Accidentally discovered by alchemists working on salt peter looking for the secret to eternal life. MILITARY TECHNOLOGY.
  • Jan 1, 950

    Woodblock Printing

    Woodblock Printing
    The printer first drew characters (symbols) on
    paper. He 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.
  • Jan 1, 1200

    tea plants

    tea plants
    During the Tang Dynasty, the first tea-plant seeds were brought
    to Japan. Tea cultivation became an industry there by about
    1200. Europeans became involved in tea farming and trade by
    the 18th century. Dutch traders brought seeds from Japan and
    China to their colonies in Indonesia. Tea plants were found in
    the British territories of Burma and India.
    Today, tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world.
    And, as in ancient China, people now often drink tea for their health.
  • Jan 1, 1250

    bombs

    bombs
    Between the 11th and 14th centuries, the Chinese created many other weapons using gunpowder. Artillery shells, for example, exploded after being hurled at enemies by a war machine called a catapult. The sound of the exploding shells confused the enemy and terrified their horses. Small bombs, or grenades, were lit and thrown by hand.
  • Jan 1, 1300

    rocket

    rocket
    Rocket technology was developed in China during the Song dynasty. Rockets were powered by a black powder made of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. At first, rockets were used only in fireworks. 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.