Chinese Inventions

Tea

2700 BCE

The drink’s popularity made tea-plant cultivation a major industry, often involving an entire community.

Bombs

1250 BCE

The Chinese used large bombs that were as explosive as modern bombs.

Flamethrower

950 BCE

The Chinese had made the first weapon that used gunpowder. Early flamethrowers contained gunpowder mixed with oil. The Chinese used them to spray enemies with a stream of fire.

Gunpowder

850 BCE

The Chinese who first made gunpowder were alchemists. Alchemists experimented with mixtures of natural ingredients, trying
to find a substance that might allow people to live forever.

Playing Cards

850 BCE

Printers used woodblock printing to make the cards from thick paper and famous artists drew the designs that appeared on the backs of the cards.

Paper Money

750 BCE

Before that time, coins were the only form of currency, it was printed with wood blocks.

Mechanical Clocks

750 BCE

Dripping water made the wheel turn. Every quarter hour, drums would beat; and every hour, a bell would chime.

Printing

650 BCE

The Chinese invented a technique called 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.

Compass

250 BCE

The first Chinese compasses were pieces of a magnetic mineral called lodestone because Earth itself is like a giant magnet with north and south poles.

Paper

150 BCE

The earliest Chinese paper was probably made from hemp and then the bark of the mulberry tree. Later, the Chinese used rags.