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1200 BCE
(Industrial Inventions) Tea
During the Tang Dynasty, the first tea-plant seeds were brought
to Japan. Tea cultivation became an industry there by about 1200. -
950 BCE
(Industrial Inventions) Porcelain
Porcelain making became a major industry in China. Hundreds of thousands of people worked to mass-produce dishes, bowls, and vases. Some workers washed the clay. Others applied the glaze or operated the kiln. -
200 BCE
(Military Tech/Industrial Inventions) 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
(Disease Prevention) Medical Poisonous Smoke
When a person died from an infectious disease, the Chinese burned a chemical that gave off a poisonous smoke. They believed that the smoke would destroy whatever was causing the disease. -
750
(Everyday Objects) 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
(Military Tech) Gunpowder
Alchemists experimented with mixtures of natural ingredients, trying
to find a substance that might allow people to live forever. They also searched for a way to make gold out of cheaper metals. The Chinese had made the first weapon that used gunpowder: the flamethrower. -
850
(Everyday Objects) Money
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 -
850
(Everyday Objects) Game Card
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. -
1300
(Military Tech) Rocket
Rocket technology was developed in China during the Song dynasty. 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.
