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100
Tea
(continued)According to Chinese legend, tea was innovated by Emperor Shen Nong while he was sitting under a tree in the comfort of his home. The tale tells of how the emperor called for a servant to bring him water in order to quench his thirst. The servant did so but before serving it to him; he added a few leaves from the tree the ruler was sitting beneath for herbal taste. Emperor Shen Nong thoroughly enjoyed this new flavour and as a result, invented tea by chance. Tea has a long history as it... -
100
Silk (Actual Date - 17 March 2737 BC)
(continued)Legend has it that the first person to actually discover silk was the Yellow Emperor’s or Huang Di’s consort, Hsi Leng Shih, whilst sitting under a mulberry tree in the courtyard of her house. It is the most accepted myth and tells the story of how a cocoon happened to fall into her tea from above. Due to the somewhat high temperature of the hot liquid, the silk thread began to unwind itself in front of Hsi Leng Shih’s eyes. Amazed and astounded, the empress decided to raise silkworm and... -
Period: 100 to Dec 31, 1300
1st and 2nd millennium AD (CE)
Some dates have been approximated, however the year of the date the invention or innovation was thought up and created in Ancient China is accurate. -
105
Paper
(continued)The invention of paper is credited to a Chinese government official and scholar by the name of Ts’ai Lun who happened to stumble upon his own innovation whilst grinding up plants in the fields. He was randomly experimenting with mulberry bark, linen and hemp, not knowing that he had just mastered the technique to creating paper when what lay in front of him was nothing more than a big pile of wet mush. By grinding the different plants, Lun had somehow separated the fibers of the vegetation... -
132
Seismometer
(continued)The seismoscope, an instrument that indicates the time of occurrence of an earthquake, was the innovation of a Chinese philosopher known as Chang Hêng yet till this day; it is not clear exactly where he invented the amazing creation. The vessel was six feet in diameter and strangely resembled a wine jar. On the outside of Hêng’s seismoscope were eight dragon heads – each facing a toad – in the direction of the eight compass points known at the time. Interestingly, eight was also considered a... -
330
Umbrella
(continued)It is not clear who first invented an umbrella in China so acclaim is given to the Chinese without one specific name being acknowledged as inventor. Archaeologists have estimated that chances are that a skilled craftsman trialled different ways to protect against heat or the cold in his shop and eventually created the umbrella. The first known umbrella was recorded to have been invented during the Wei dynasty and was specifically designed to protect from sun and rain. But as time progressed... -
Sep 19, 700
Gunpowder
(continued)Gunpowder was innovated by Chinese Daoist alchemists in various laboratories throughout ancient China. The invention was fairly new to the Han dynasty and Emperor Wu Di happily financed all research carried out by alchemists in the hope of creating a fantastic new invention. Some years later, what he had once hoped for is exactly what happened. After experimenting with several heating methods to transform sulphur and saltpetre in particular, a detailed book called... -
Apr 15, 1088
Movable Type (printing)
(continued)During a period known as the Ch’ing-Li period in ancient China, the country’s current printing technique was further advanced and bettered with the invention of the movable type printing press accredited to an alchemist by the name of Pi Sheng who invented the innovation in his workplace. The old technique of woodblock printing instantly became replaced with a more modern version of the movable type as it was considered not only costly but was also an extremely labourious and time-consuming... -
Sep 19, 1119
Mariner's Compass
(continued)A compass can be defined as an instrument containing a freely suspended magnetic element which displays the direction of the horizontal component of the Earth’s magnetic field at the point of observation. The world’s first proper magnetic compass was invented in the rural suburbs of China during the Qin dynasty, however it is not evident exactly who invented it as the inventor’s name was not marked down in history since it was a somewhat accidental innovation. The innovative idea to invent a... -
Sep 20, 1223
Dominoes
(continued)The invention of the game of dominoes dates back many centuries to the ancient Chinese societies that existed in similar time periods. It is not evident just who invented dominoes first, but there are a number of theories associated with plausible inventors in the distant past. Due to this reason, the location of the invention is not known for sure too. Some say dominoes were innovated by the creative hero of popular romance, Hung Ming. A myth even tells of how he came up with the idea for... -
Kite
(continued)The first kite was invented in the inner suburbs of China by a philosopher called Mo Zi. He made the innovation by using silk and bamboo to create different shapes and sizes, as derived through the mathematics of the time. Presently, there are many theories relating to the origin of kite-making. One philosophy tells of a Chinese man’s hat being blown off but caught by the neckband, making it fly in the wind and giving Mo Zi the idea of inventing such an object. Arguably the most important use...
