Chinese Inventions

By Michelle.Kubiak
  • 2700 BCE

    Tea

    Tea
    For several thousand years, tea made by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water was drunk mostly as medicine.
  • 300 BCE

    Compass

    Compass
    Chinese compasses were pieces of a magnetic mineral
    called lodestone. Europeans also developed a compass using lodestone.They had learned that rubbing a needle with lodestone made the needle act in the same way as the lodestone. However, needle in a compass gave a more accurate reading than a piece of lodestone.
  • Period: 300 BCE to 1400

    Chinese History

  • 200 BCE

    Steel

    Steel
    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.
  • 50

    Porcelain

    Porcelain
    Porcelain is beautiful pottery that is sturdy but looks delicate. Porcelain dinnerware is still called China.
  • 150

    The Small Boat

    The Small Boat
    As you push your paddle through the water, the boat moves
    forward. In the 5th century, the Chinese adapted this idea by arranging a series of paddles in a wheel. People walked
    on a treadmill to turn the paddlewheel, which in turn moved through the water, moving the boat forward.
  • 650

    Printing

    Printing
    The Chinese invented a technique called woodblock printing. The printer first drew characters (symbols) on
    paper. Then glued the paper to a wooden block. Then printer carved out the wood around the characters.
  • 750

    The Development of the Mechanical Clock

    The Development of the Mechanical Clock
    The Chinese developed the first mechanical clock. The new clock was more accurate than earlier timekeeping devices, such as sundials and hourglasses. The Chinese devised a wheel that made one complete turn every 24 hours. Dripping water made the wheel turn. Every quarter hour, drums would beat; and every hour, a bell would chime. The sounds let people know what time it was.
  • 850

    Gunpowder

    Gunpowder
    Chinese alchemists accidentally made gunpowder when they were looking for they answer to eternal life.
  • 1279

    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.