However it is the Chinese form of paper that proved superior and longer lasting. It is from this origin that the English word ‘paper’ is derived. It is made from the central core of papyrus (a type of reed). In Egypt the somewhat similar substance papyrus ➚ was developed at about the same time as paper in China. Other materials like stone and pottery are permanent but just too bulky and slow to fashion in any quantity. Paper seems such an uninteresting thing, but when you think of it, the development of all scientific, historic and artistic endeavor has needed a durable writing medium for permanent records to be kept. Paper is considered one of China's greatest inventions. It can also make a justifiable claim to many other inventions including: Iron casting Examinations Spaghetti Fans Porcelain Blast furnaces the Abacus Ship rudders Silk Planetaria Printed books Pasta Kites Paper money Ice cream Wheelbarrows Acupuncture and many more. Image by William Alexander ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚Ĭhina traditionally lays claim to four great inventions: paper printing gunpowder and the compass. Painted by the official artist to the Macartney British Embassy to China 1793-94. It also has a 'sail' so that the wind can assist its motion. The barrow has a central wheel so it can take greater weight. A Chinese porter with traditional wheelbarrow. As direct contacts between 'Europe' and 'China' were few it was the Central Asian intermediaries who traded in the strange new inventions from the mysterious East. Along the desert Silk Roads between the two great civilizations of the time there must have been the transmission of objects of the greatest value: ideas and inventions. In the case of China, the trade between Rome and China in the Han dynasty is well known and documented. Ming dynasty waterwheel at Lanzhou, Gansu Also an invention may not have been taken up immediately there could be a long gap before adoption. An invention in one place can lead to it being found after a hundred years over a very widespread area. So tracing the first appearance of something is a case of careful detective work. Even so it is quite possible for the same idea to be independently discovered in several places at more or less the same time, greatly complicating any search for the origin. It is only when an invention becomes widely used that there is a realistic chance that someone will have written down an accurate account. The first invention of something is by its nature an isolated event and it is unlikely that the initial discovery is faithfully recorded. Working out who invented precisely what and when is a daunting task as contemporaneous records are fragmentary. On this page we look in detail at five of the most important of these inventions: paper printing the compass gunpowder and the abacus. discovered that many of the great achievements in science and technology actually originated from China. Up until the 1960s World Civilization was considered to have started in the Middle East and Mediterranean with not much of any consequence elsewhere. Similarly shaking hands as a greeting is European, in China a greeting was made with a bow. This is a clear example of how different cultures can develop different traditions. In China clapping was used mainly to drive out evil spirits. The tradition of clapping to show appreciation is a European tradition.
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