- [Narrator] China is the birthplace of many things
that have a lasting an unparalleled impact
on human society and civilization,
yet oftentimes it is not given the credit it is due.
To fix that, we bring you the 10 Chinese Inventions
That Changed The World.
Nature's calling can be nasty business,
and like in so many instances,
the Chinese were better than others in dealing with it
in a sanitary fashion.
The Chinese were the first ever to have been documented
to have invented and used toilet paper.
It was first use during the Sui Dynasty
in the late sixth century CE,
and it has been used by the Chinese ever since.
Toilet paper was so popular in use
that 1,000 to 10,000 sheets of toilet paper
were manufactured annually in Zhejiang Province alone,
long before modern times.
It might not be the healthiest invention,
but the electronic cigarette has been invoked for years now
as an alternative to more conventional cigarettes,
and though you might be surprised,
it was a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik
who invented the first modern e-cigarette.
He came up with the idea in 2003
by theorizing on the application of using a piezoelectric
ultrasound-emitting element to vaporize a pressurized
jet of liquid containing nicotine diluted
in a propylene glycol solution,
which would allow a smoke-like vapor to be inhaled
and enter the lungs and bloodstream.
It was an immediate hit,
and e-cigarettes are now more popular with the young people
than normal ones are.
Humans have been wondering the Earth
and many different places for millennia,
but until fairly recently in terms of evolutionary time,
they were truly lost.
The Chinese were pioneers of many things,
and the compass is one of them.
First developed during the Han Dynasty
for the purposes of divination,
and later refined and further developed
during the Song Dynasty for the purposes of navigation,
the compass permanently changed the notion of exploration
and travel in ways we can hardly fathom,
allowing travelers both on land and sea
to keep track of the direction they were heading in,
and thus their ultimate destination,
all the while using it to check against other directions
to make sure they were on the right course.
The Chinese are even rumored to have sailed
across the Pacific Ocean to California
with their advanced navigational skills.
Like it or not,
but war is a defining characteristic of humanity,
and we will likely always be burdened with it
in one form or another,
and just as the Chinese invented some things
that are beneficial,
the Chinese also invented gun powder,
which changed the very nature of warfare forever.
Chinese alchemists first formulated gun powder
in the ninth century CE.
In fact, a treatise likely written during the Song Dynasty,
or in the 11th century called the Wujing Zongyao
contains the earliest written formulae
for creating gun powder,
and was used as a military handbook
by many subsequent alchemists and generals.
The knowledge and technique for making gun powder
only became known when ironically the more primitive
Mongol hordes conquered parts of China,
and spread the knowledge of this form of weaponry
to the West.
The legacy of gun powder might be a destructive one,
but it one that has changed the face of warfare forever.
For untold centuries, most of humanity labored under
the necessity of writing in what is called vellum,
or animal parchment.
Animals would have to be skinned,
and the skins appropriately treated
in order to make them fit for being written on.
Before that, all people had was clay,
but in a stroke of genius the ancient Chinese
changed this all.
The first instance of paper making can be traced back
to 105 CE when an official named Ts'ai Lun
created the first sample using mulberries,
various fibers, and hemp waste.
Two centuries later, paper making and writing on paper
were widespread throughout China.
Overtime and through trade routes,
paper and the secrets behind making it
spread to the middle East and eventually to Europe.
It's hard to imagine any aspect
of modern life without paper,
since we use it for virtually everything,
and we have the Chinese to thank for it.
Paper making and printing go hand in hand,
and the Chinese invented both,
though people often think of the Gutenberg Press
in the West in the 15th century CE
as the first instance of printing,
the Chinese were, in fact,
far ahead of the game,
and invented the process far earlier.
The very first instance of printing
was a so-called wood block printing
where a combination of stamping
and relief patterns were used,
and this can be dated back to the Hong Dynasty
in the third century BCE.
This was later expanded upon when movable
and highly replicable block type was invented,
which later spread thought Asia.
It shouldn't surprise us at all
that one of the most advanced
and educated civilizations of the past
would produce something that has transformed modern society,
making reading and education available to all.
As a consequence of China's invention of gun powder,
the Chinese were also the first to employ
what one could only call grenades and explosives
in modern terms.
Ancient Chinese military manuals have illustrations
depicting warriors carrying ceramic and metal containers
packed with gun powder that could be thrown at the enemy.
In addition to conventional hand grenades,
the Chines were also the first to devise
the fragmentation bomb,
which was one of the deadliest tools
at Chinese soldiers' disposal.
Fragmentation bombs were grenades filled with porcelain
and iron shrapnel that when exposed to a salmonaic mixture
would rapidly heat up and explode,
inflicting vicious injuries on enemy soldiers
by blinding them and tearing their skin to pieces.
It was definitely not the most pleasant experience,
but Chinese military science was innovative beyond measure.
The Chinese were the first to cultivate and consume tea,
and it was first known from over 3,000 years ago.
Originally consumed for medicinal purposes,
tea drinking quickly spread beyond that purpose
to the ever popular social convention it's known as to day.
Of course, you cannot have tea without a teapot,
and the Chinese unsurprisingly also crafted
the first teapot with the most advanced form,
the one we know today with tea leaves and a pot
with boiling water,
being devised during the Yuan Dynasty.
Have you ever played a round of poker?
If you have, then you ultimately have to appreciate
the fact that the first deck of playing cards
was developed in China.
Dating back to the ninth century CE,
an extension of paper making,
their popularity eventually spread
to virtually all parts of Asia,
and when printing finally made its way into the West,
some of the first printed items were playing cards
for leisure activities.
The Chinese were ahead of their time
when it came to warfare,
and nowhere is this truer than in the fact
that they were the first people to engage
in actual chemical warfare.
Already being used as far back as the third century BCE,
the Chinese would use so-called burnt balls
filled with toxic plant mixtures with lethal efficacy
in wartime conflict.
Even worse, according to ancient reports,
Chinese soldiers would dig mines under the walls
to reach fortifications where a toxic smoke mixture
of mustard and other plants would force the enemy
out of their fighting positions.
In many ways, the Chinese were engaging in modern warfare
long before Europeans could even conceive of it.
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and thanks for learning.