Chinese Discoveries & Inventions

Tea

2700 BCE

Tea We know from written accounts that the Chinese have been drinking tea since at least 2700 B.C. For several
thousand years, tea—made by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water—was drunk mostly as medicine. However, by
the 8th century C.E., tea had become a hugely popular everyday beverage throughout China.

First Paper Money

1107 BCE

Paper money was invented by the Chinese in the late 8th or early 9th century. Before that time, coins were the only
form of currency. Like game cards, paper money was printed with wood blocks. By 1107, Song printers were using
multiple wood blocks to print each bill. A single bill would have many colors. Paper money is the most common
form of currency in the world today.

Steel

200 BCE

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. The earliest Chinese steel was made from cast iron. The Chinese were the first to learn how to make cast iron by melting and molding iron ore. Later they learned that blowing air into molten, or melted, cast iron causes a chemical
reaction that creates steel. Steel is a great deal stronger than iron.

Chinese Paper

100 BCE

Paper The Chinese invented the art of papermaking 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.

First Boats

6 BCE

Within China, people often traveled by boat on rivers or
across lakes. An innovation of a vessel called a paddlewheel boat made this type of travel must faster.

Compass

4 BCE

The Chinese developed the first
compass as early as the 3rd century B.C.E. The first
Chinese compasses were pieces of a magnetic mineral
called lodestone. Earth itself is like a giant magnet with
north and south poles. Because lodestone is magnetic, it is
influenced by Earth’s magnetic poles. If you put a piece of
lodestone on wood and float it in a bowl of water, the
lodestone will turn until it points in a north-south direction.

Porcelain

2 BCE

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. Porcelain is made by combining clay with the minerals quartz and feldspar. The mixture
is baked in a kiln, or pottery oven, at very high temperatures. The resulting pottery is
white, hard, and waterproof. However, light can pass through it, so that despite its
sturdiness it looks quite delicate and beautiful.

Playing Cards

1300

Game cards were invented in China in about the 9th century. Printers used
woodblock printing to make the cards from thick paper. Famous artists drew the designs that appeared on the backs
of the cards. Europeans were introduced to card games by the late 1300s. Today, card games are played throughout
the world.

Mechanical Clocks

1400

developed during the Tang dynasty.