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Malia Malden

Ms. Diane Nicoll

7th Grade History

October 27, 2017

​Historic Influence on Chinese Inventions

Trace the historic influence of such discoveries as tea, the manufacture of paper, wood

block printing, the compass and gunpowder.

Gunpowder is a very important invention in Medieval China. Gunpowder was supposed

to be a potion for unlimited life and ended up being a potion for death that is still used today.

(“Middle Ages Technologies Gunpowder”)When the Chinese found out that gun powder

exploded they used it for fireworks. After a few hundred years they started using it in war.

Another interesting fact was, “The invention of gunpowder evolved into many things.” Lastly,

gunpowder consists of potassium nitrate, common charcoal, and lastly sulfur. Secondly, Tea and

the compass are very important inventions in Medieval China. In the beginning, tea was used in

ritual offerings. Then, tea leaves were eaten as a vegetable, or used in medicine. Also, the

compass was later used for navigation by the Song Dynasty. Lastly, tea is an important part of

the Chinese tradition. An interesting fact is that “The most popular style of the first Chinese

compass used a lodestone and a bronze plate.” (“Chinese Compass History: Invention, Dynasty

and Navigation”). Also, another interesting fact is “By the early 1900s, tea was being grown in

new places like Indonesia, Sumatra, Kenya, and other parts of Africa.” (“History of the Tea

Trade: The Silk Road”). The first person recorded to have used the compass as a navigational aid

was Zheng He (1371-1435) from the Yunnan province in China. The magnetic compass is the
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most simple and common type of compass.

Lastly, Paper making and wood block printing are very important inventions in Medieval

China. Paper making is one of the inventions by Chinese. 105 C.E. Around 600 A.D. woodblock

printing was invented and by 740C.E. Around 600 A.D. woodblock printing was invented and by

740 A.D. A lot of the people living in the modern age take paper for granted. It is a common

object found nearly everywhere, it is cheap and light, and it is easy to get a hold of. But paper

has come a long way from its creation to the form people know today. “Materials such as bark,

silk, wood and leather functioned in a similar way to paper.” (“Who Invented Paper, and

When?”). Secondly, “Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns

used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing

on textiles and later paper (Vainker).

Finally, tea, the manufacture of paper, wood block printing, the compass and gunpowder

are important inventions in China. Gunpowder was supposed to be a potion for unlimited life and

ended up being a potion for death that is still used today. Also, in the beginning, tea was used in

ritual offerings. Then, tea leaves were eaten as a vegetable, or used in medicine. Lastly, some

chinese soldiers and paper makers were captured and brought to samarkand. All these five

inventions were very important to China in different ways. The inventions are tea, the

manufacture of paper, wood block printing, the compass and lastly gunpowder.
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Works Cited

Chinese Compass History: Invention, Dynasty and Navigation.” ​Learn Chinese History​, 11 June

2013, www.learnchinesehistory.com/history-chinese-compass/.

Ross, Cody. “Middle Ages Technologies Gunpowder.” ​China - Gunpowder​,

fourriverscharter.org/projects/Inventions/pages/china_gunpowder.htm.

Szczepanski, Kallie. “Who Invented Paper, and When?” ​ThoughtCo​,

www.thoughtco.com/invention-of-paper-195265.

Vainker, Shelagh in Anne Farrer (ed), "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", 1990, British Museum

publications, ISBN 0-7141-1447-2.

Wordie. “​History of the Tea Trade: The Silk Road.” ​Heavenly Tea Leaves​, 29 Nov. 2016,

www.heavenlytealeaves.com/blog/history-of-the-tea-trade-the-silk-road.html.