Chinese Discoveries and Inventions

By Jake Carlin
  • 900 BCE

    Flame Thrower

    Flame Thrower
    By the 10th century, the Chinese had made the first weapon that used gunpowder: the flamethrower. Early flamethrowers contained gunpowder mixed with oil. The Chinese used them to spray enemies with a stream of fire.
  • 850 BCE

    Gunpowder

    Gunpowder
    Chinese alchemist discovered when they were using saltpeter and find secret to immortally
  • 206 BCE

    Compass

    Compass
    Your compass is a magnetized needle that aligns itself with Earth’s magnetic poles so that one end points north and the other south. By the Song dynasty, the Chinese were using this type of compass to help them navigate on long voyages. People still use the same kind of device today.
  • 200 BCE

    Steel

    Steel
    The Chinese first made steel, a very useful metal, before 200 B.C.E. Steel is made from iron, but it is less brittle than iron and easier to bend into different shapes.
  • 50

    Porcelain

    Porcelain
    Porcelain Another Chinese invention is a type of fine pottery called porcelain. Some historians think that the Chinese produced the first porcelain as early as the 1st century C.E.
  • 150

    Paper

    Paper
    The Chinese invented the art of paper making by the second century C.E. The earliest Chinese paper was probably made from hemp and then the bark of the mulberry tree. Later, the Chinese used rags.
  • Feb 15, 650

    Printing

    Printing
    The invention of paper made another key development possible: printing. In about the 7th century, 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.
  • Feb 15, 1001

    Catapult

    Catapult
    The Chinese created many other weapons using gunpowder. Artillery shells, for example, exploded after being hurled at enemies by a war machine called a catapult. The sound of the exploding shells confused the enemy and terrified their horses. Small bombs, or grenades, were lit and thrown by hand.
  • Feb 15, 1300

    Rocket Technology

    Rocket Technology
    Rocket technology was developed in China during the Song dynasty. Rockets were powered by a black powder made of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. At first, rockets were used only in fireworks. Later, the Chinese used them as weapons. They even developed a two-stage rocket for their armies. The first stage propelled the rocket through the air. The second stage dropped arrows down on the enemy.
  • Period: to Dec 31, 1400

    Chinese History