Chinese Inventions

By grace.poggi
  • 2700 BCE

    Tea

    Tea
    For several thousand years, tea—made by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water—was drunk mostly as medicine.
  • Period: 300 BCE to 1400

    Chinese History

  • 250 BCE

    Magnetic Compass

    Magnetic Compass
    Magnetized needle that aligns itself with Earth’s magnetic poles so that one end points north and the other south. The Chinese were using this type of compass to help them navigate on long voyages.
  • 200 BCE

    Steel

    Steel
    The Chinese first made steel, a very useful metal. Steel is made from iron, but it is less brittle than iron and easier to bend into different shapes.
  • 50

    Porcelain

    Porcelain
    Porcelain is made by combining clay with the minerals quartz and feldspar. The mixtures are baked in a kiln, or pottery oven, at very high temperatures.
  • 150

    Paper

    Paper
    The Chinese invented the art of papermaking. The earliest Chinese paper was probably made from hemp and then the bark of the mulberry tree.
  • 650

    Printing

    Printing
    In about the 7th century, the Chinese invented a technique called woodblock printing. The printer first drew characters (symbols) on
    paper.
  • 750

    Mechanical Clock

    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.
  • 850

    Gunpowder

    Gunpowder
    Gunpowder was accidentally invented by alchemists how were trying to find the secret of eternal life.
  • 850

    Game Cards

    Game Cards
    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

    Rockets

    Rockets
    Rockets were powered by a black powder made of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. The Chinese used them as weapons.