chinese inventions

The Four Great Inventions of Ancient China (traditional Chinese: 四大发明; simplified Chinese: 四大发明; pinyin: Sì dà fā míng, meaning “four great inventions“) are, according to Chinese tradition and the British scholar and biochemist Joseph Needham:The Compass[1] Gunpowder[2] Papermaking[3] Printing[4] These inventions are celebrated in Chinese culture for their historical significance and as signs of ancient China‘s advanced science and technology.[5] These four discoveries had an enormous impact on the development of Chinese civilization and a far-ranging global impact.In 1620, the English philosopher Francis Bacon wrotePrinting, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries. (Novum Organum, Liber I, CXXIX—Adapted from the 1863 translation)The Compass Diagram of a Ming dynasty mariner‘s compassThe earliest Chinese literature reference to magnetism lies in a 4th century BC book called Book of the Devil Valley Master (鬼谷子): “The lodestone makes iron come or it attracts it.“
[6]The earliest reference to a magnetic device as a “direction finder“ is recorded in a Song Dynasty book dated to 1040-44. Here we find a description of an iron “south-pointing fish“ floating in a bowl of water, aligning itself to the south. The device is recommended as a means of orientation “in the obscurity of the night.“
[7]However, it should be pointed out that the compass remained in use by the Chinese in the form of a magnetic needle floating in a bowl of