Stories about Ancient Chinese Inventions

The Four Great Inventions--Papermaking

Papermaking is an important chemical process, and the invention of paper is a very valuable contribution made by China in the dissemination and development of human culture, and a major achievement in the history of Chinese chemistry.

Before paper was invented, oracle bones, bamboo slips and silk were the materials used for writing and recording in ancient times. However, due to the rapid economic and cultural development of the Western Han Dynasty, oracle bones and bamboo slips could not meet the needs of development, thus prompting the improvement of writing tools.

At that time, people have begun to apply small pieces of silk made of paper, because archaeologists in 1933 in Xinqiang Luobu Nuer found an ancient paper, it is "hemp, white, as a square sheet, around the incomplete, about 40 centimeters long, about 100 centimeters wide, the quality of the very rough, uneven net, the paper surface is still a hemp tendon, cover the first made of paper when made, so it is not fine also. The quality of the paper was not very good due to the fact that it was made of hemp and silk in the ancient Han Dynasty and the method of making the paper was rough. The paper was made of hemp and silk, and the method of making it was crude, so the quality of the paper was not very good. The hemp and silk had their own functions, and if they were to be used as raw materials for making paper, they would be subjected to great limitations and it would be difficult to get rapid development to meet the requirements for paper in cultural life.

In the new objective situation, the emergence of Cai Lun will bring new breakthroughs in papermaking, in the "Eastern Han Dynasty Guanji" Volume II on the record: "Cai Lun - talented, loyal and prudent, each time off, closed to cut off guests, exposure to the field. Dengzuo Shangfang, create the intention to use the bark of the tree and my cloth, fishnet for paper. In the first year of Yuanxing, Cai Lun's paper was used by the emperor, who was so good at it that he did not use it, and the whole world was called "Cai Hou Paper". From the above, it seems that Cai Lun is the use of bark, rags, fishnets to make paper.

While paper existed before Cai Lun, the raw materials had great limitations, and Cai Lun's discovery of new raw materials solved the problem. Because the rags and fishnets have long since ended their own mission, become waste and used as raw materials, the paper industry has played a great role in promoting.

The use of new raw materials will inevitably put forward the requirements of the new technology, but due to the loss of books, the actual operation of how, has been a lack of records, there is no way to know, but probably the first sheet of cloth or net torn or cut, and then placed in the water impregnated with a considerable period of time and need to be pounded to be made into pulp. Bark for paper, more difficult. In addition to the initial cut and pounded after the pounding, in the middle of the need to cook and add lime slurry and other agents to promote rotting. The following picture is the ancient Chinese papermaking project (against the pressure of the curtain cover) and (dry baking fire baking).

The Four Great Inventions--Gunpowder

Gunpowder is one of the Four Great Inventions of China. Gunpowder, as its name implies, is (medicine that catches fire). Its origin has a close relationship with alchemy, and it was accidentally prepared by ancient alchemists during the alchemy. The photo on the left shows a bronze cannon from the Yuan Dynasty.

It is a mixture of sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal, the first two of which were listed as important herbs in China's first pharmacological text (Shennong's Classic of the Materia Medica), which was written in the Han Dynasty. Is the gunpowder itself is also categorized as medicine, the Ming Dynasty Li Shizhen's (Materia Medica) said, gunpowder can cure sores and ringworm, kill insects, and dispel dampness and plague. The invention of gunpowder is the result of people's long-term alchemy, pharmaceutical practice, so far has a history of more than a thousand years.

The end of the Tang Dynasty, gunpowder has been used for military. Tang Zhaozong Tianyou first year (904 years) Yang Xingmi's army siege of Yuzhang, generals Zheng (to the Department of the hair machine flying fire, burning Longsha door, leading the strong first fire logging into the city, burned by the body)< Nine Kingdoms? Zheng even biography>. Here said (flying fire), is (artillery), (rocket) and so on. (artillery) is made of gunpowder in the form of a ring, the hanging line ignited with a stone-throwing machine thrown out; (rockets) is the gunpowder ball bound to the arrowhead, the hanging line ignited with a bow shot. To the song dynasty, ji dispute one after another, promote the accelerated development of gunpowder weapons. The northern government established a gunpowder workshop, has manufactured gunpowder arrows, artillery and other combustion performance-based weapons and (thunderbolt), (Zhentianlei) and other explosive weapons. Nanwei in 1259 made a huge bamboo for the tube, filled with gunpowder (sudden fire gun). To the Yuan Dynasty and the emergence of copper cast fire system, known as (copper general). These weapons were powered by the explosion of gunpowder, and they showed unprecedented power in the JI war. The picture on the right is the south of the fire gun.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, gunpowder was first introduced to the Arab countries, and then to Greece and Europe and the rest of the world. It played a driving role in the progress of civilization and the development of economy, science and culture of human society. It was not until the middle of the 14th century that the application of gunpowder and firearms was recorded in the United States and France. The picture on the left shows a gunpowder arrow.

The Four Great Inventions-Printing

Seals, Topography, Dyeing and Engraving

Seals existed in the pre-Qin period, and generally consisted of only a few characters indicating a name, an official position or an organization. Seals are engraved into the reverse, there is a difference between yin and yang. In the paper did not appear before, official documents or letters are written on the letter, after writing, tied with a rope, in the ligature at the sticky mud seal knot, the seal will be covered in the mud, known as the mud seal, mud seal is printed on the mud, which is a means of confidentiality at the time. After the emergence of paper, mud seal evolved into paper seal, in several pieces of official paper seams or official paper bag seal. According to records in the Northern Qi Dynasty (AD 550 ~ 577 years), some people used for official paper sealing seal made a large, very much like a small engraved plate.

The copper seal of the Warring States period (475-221 BC).

The famous alchemist Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty (284-363 AD) mentioned in his book "Hug Park Zi" that the Taoists had already used a four-inch-square (13.5×13.5) large wooden seal with 120 characters. This was already a small engraved plate.

Buddhists often printed images of the Buddha at the beginning of the scrolls of the sutras to make them more vivid, and this handmade wooden seal was much less laborious than hand-painting.

The technique of topography of tablets and stones was very inspiring to the invention of engraving and printing technology. The invention of engraved stone has a very early history. Ten stone drums were found in Fengxiang, present-day Shaanxi Province, by the early Tang Dynasty, which were carved in stone by Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period in the 8th century BC. The first emperor of Qin went on a tour and carved stones in important places seven times. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, stone monuments were prevalent. Han Lingdi four years (175 AD) Cai Yong suggested that the court, in front of the Imperial College to establish the "Poetry", "Shangshu", "Zhou Yi", "Rites", "Spring and Autumn Annals", "Gongyang Chuan", "The Analects of Confucius" and other seven Confucian classics of the stone tablets, * * * 209,000 words, engraved in 46 stone tablets each 175 high, 90 wide, 20 cm thick, the word capacity of 5,000, the tablet on the front and back of the engraved words. Lasted 8 years, all carved. It became a classic for the readers at that time. Many people scrambled to copy. Later, especially during the Wei, Jin, and Six Dynasties, some people took advantage of the lax or unattended care, and used paper to topographize the scriptures for their own use or sale. As a result, it was widely circulated.

Ancient people found in the monument covered with a slightly moist paper, with a soft mallet gently hit, so that the paper into the monument surface of the text of the concave place, to be dry paper and then wrapped in cotton with a cloth, dipped in ink, gently patted on the paper, the paper will be left on the surface of the black ground and white characters with the stone monument exactly the same handwriting. This method is easier than hand copying, reliable. So topography appeared.

Topography is one of the important conditions for the emergence of printing technology.

Printing and dyeing technology is also a great revelation of engraved printing, printing and dyeing is engraved on a wooden board with a floral pattern, printed with dyes on the cloth. In China, there are two types of printing plates: convex plates and openwork plates. two pieces of printed yarn unearthed in 1972 from the Mawangdui No. 1 Han Tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province (around 165 B.C.) were printed on convex plates. This technique may predate the Qin and Han dynasties and date back to the Warring States period. After the invention of paper, this technique may have been used in printing, as long as the cloth was changed to paper and the dye to ink, and what was printed, became an engraved print. In the Dunhuang stone room there are Tang Dynasty convex plate and hollow plate paper printed Buddha.

The three techniques of sealing, topography and dyeing were inspired by each other and blended with each other, and together with the experience and wisdom of our people, the technique of engraved plate printing came into being.

Compass

During the Warring States period, the people of China used magnets to create a tool for indicating direction, called "Sinan". The name "Sinan" means "guide".

The shape of the Sinan was completely different from that of today's compasses. It was based on the shape of the ancient Chinese spoon, much like the spoons we use today.

How was Sinan made? There is a lack of detailed records in ancient books and no physical objects left behind, so we have no way to know its exact shape. According to experts, Sinan was made by taking a whole natural magnet, gently faceting it into the shape of a spoon, and faceting its S-pole into a long handle so that the center of gravity would fall squarely on the round and smooth bottom. Topography is one of the most important conditions for the emergence of printing technology.