Ancient China Inventions

By ZacSt
  • 3000 BCE

    3000 BC – Egyptians mastered the art of creating papyrus paper.

  • 2450 BCE

    2450 BC – Oldest surviving record of animal skins being processed into parchment.

  • 2200 BCE

    2200 BC – Oldest surviving record of Egyptian papyrus.

  • 250 BCE

    250 AD – First book about algebra written by Diophantus of Alexandria

  • 200 BCE

    200 BC – First parchment manufacture appeared in Ancient China, more precisely in Pergamon (Asia Minor).

  • 149 BCE

    149 BC – First dictionary produced in China by Hu Shin. It contained around 10 thousand characters.

  • 105 BCE

    105 AD – First written record about process of paper manufacture created by Ts'ai Lun in China. His guidelines continued to be used for several more centuries.

  • 50 BCE

    50 BC – First organized production of paper started in China. It was made from macerated hemp fibers, old fishnets, plant bark and water.

  • 499

    500 – Mayans used paper created from tree barks.

  • 610

    610 – Paper arrived and started to be manufactured in Japan.

  • 707

    707 – Imported Chinese paper started being used in Mecc

  • 748

    748 – First printed newspaper appeared in Peking.

  • 751

    751 – Arabs started producing paper after they learned its recipe from Chinese prisoners.

  • 867

    868 – One of the earliest printed book was Diamond Sutra by Wang Chieh. It was a 16 feet long scroll.

  • 875

    875 - Toilet paper used in China.

  • 969

    969 – First appearance of playing paper cards in China.

  • 1035

    1035 – First recorded reference of paper packaging found in the diary of Persian traveler Nasiri Khosrau. He witnessed street food sellers of Cairo packing up their goods in paper.

  • 1040

    1040 – Chinese inventor Bi Sheng created first Movable type during the Song Dynasty.

  • 1150

    1151 – Paper started being manufactured in Europe.