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200
B.C The kite
The first kite was made in 200 B.C in the city of Wei Fang, Shandong by a man name Mu Zi.They were made with light wood in the shape of wings and attached to string.Early kites were used for military purpose.Due to their large size, some were powerful enough to carry men into the air to observe their enemies.Kites were also believed to be used for superstition.It was believed that when someone fly's a kite and lets go of it, they might send off their bad luck and illnesses. -
210
B.C Abacus
The abacus was invented by a famous mathematician named Cheng Dawei.It was called the worlds first calculator.It contained a wooden frame with small rods that holds beads as counters.The sliding beads to help solve maths problems quickly.It was used to solve operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. -
500
B.C Crossbow
The crossbow was invented in central Asia during the Zhou dynsty by a man named Ch'in.The crossbow was used as a peacemaking device.It consisted of a horizontally mounted bow,a stock and a trigger.The idea of the crossbow was that if someone appeared with a more powerful and advanced weapon like the crossbow,people would stop fighting and obey the person with the crossbow.This impacted the warfare in Ancient China because it was more advanced than other weapons used in war. -
Oct 1, 600
A.D Block printing
Before printing was invented,it was very slow to hand-write scripts.It was also expensive and there was no gurantee that every copy would be the same.Stone-tablet rubbing was later developed and used to pass on the Confucius teachings and beliefs to the rest of China.Improving on this idea,a man named Bi Sheng developed block printing which was used by text written on a thin piece of paper which was then stuck face down onto a wooden plate.The characters were carved and then printed. -
Sep 25, 1000
A.D Gunpowder
A man named Wei Boyang who lived in China first wrote about the three ingredients used to make gunpowder which are sulfur,charcoal and potassium nitrate.Alchemists were trying to create an elixir of immortality but ended up making gunpowder. Gunpowder was first used to make fireworks,but later the Chinese realized gunpowder could be used in war so they developed the cannon to fire gunpowder onto enemy grounds and spying on their strategy. -
Sep 25, 1100
A.D Compass
The fortune-tellers in china used a mineral called lodestone to make compasses.Then they created a square slab that had markings and points of the constellations. The pointing needle is a round-shaped spoon which is always pointing to the south. This was used as a navigational device to point out real directions. -
Oct 7, 1110
B.C Umbrella
The first umbrella was invented by Lu Ban and were said to be made in Fujian.The first umbrellas were used as protection from the rain and sun.They were inspired by the shape of a tree which provides shade from the heat of the day.The umbrella was also considered as a symbol of religious because the goddess of China was compared to the shape of an umbrella with her body arching over of the whole earth. -
B.C Alcohol
In ancient China,alcohol was called "water of history" and was considered to be a sacred liquid only used as sacrifices to Heaven and the earth.Yi Di who was the wife of the first dynasty's King Yu was said to have invented the method to make alcohol.Eventually the Chinese discovered that adding cooked grain to the liquid makes more alcohol content,so stronger drinks were made.Alcohol was soon drunk on most occasions such as victory celebrations,before going into battle,birth ceremonies etc. -
B.C Bronze
The chinese bronze age began by 1700 B.C in the kingdom of the Shang dynasty along the banks of the Yellow River in China. Bronze casting allowed the Chinese to make sharper cutting tools.Bronze was associated with Chinese culture and were used by sculptors who made masterpieces such as the elephant drinking vessel. -
A.D Mechanical clock
The world’s first clock was invented by Yi Xing who was a Buddhist monk and mathematician.Yi Xing’s clock operated with water dripping on a wheel that made a full revolution every 24 hours.Iron and bronze gears made the clock turn.This system caused the chiming of a bell every hour.
