Chinese inventions

Exploration and Travel: improving transpertation

200

The Chinese also made sea travel safer by improving boat
construction. By the 2nd century C.E., they started building ships with separate, watertight compartments. Builders divided the ships into sections and sealed each section with caulk, a sealant that keeps out water. If there were a leak, it would be isolated.

Industry: Steel

200

Steel is mad 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 invetions

Period: 200 to Feb 16, 1400

Exploration and Travel: Paddelwheel boat

250

The people-powered paddlewheel boats allowed the Chinese to travel much faster on rivers and lakes. These boats were also much easier to maneuver than other types of watercraft. People still use this type of boat for recreational activities.

Exploration and Travel: improving travel by sea

300

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.

Industry: Tea

Feb 18, 750

Basic tea cultivation and processing has not changed much since early times. Tea farmers grow small tea trees or shrubs on high ground usually above 4,000 feet. When the trees are ready for harvest, only new-growth leaves are picked by hand. Then the tree is cut back so it will grow new leaves for the next harvest, and the cycle repeats

Military Technoligy:Gunpowder

Feb 24, 850

The gunpowder was discovered by accident when alchimest tried to use salphire to find a way to exstend life

Military Technoligy: Rocket technoligy

May 27, 850

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. 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.

Industry: Porcelain

Feb 18, 950

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.

Military Technoligy: Flamethrower

Jan 24, 1000

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.