What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of China?
The Great Wall?
Its enormous population?
Imitation products?
The ongoing U.S. - China trade war?
Constant surveillance perhaps?
Well, today we want to separate ourselves from the shenanigans of modern China and go back in time.
Have you ever heard of the Four Great Inventions?
In his book Instauratio Magna, English Philosopher Francis Bacon said,
“These inventions have altered the face and state of the world:
first, in literary matters; second, in warfare; third, in navigation.”
So, what are these inventions we are talking about?
Why were they invented?
And how did they shape modern society?
You’re watching Explore Mode and today we are introducing China’s Four Great Inventions:
papermaking, printing, gunpowder, and the compass.
In 2008, China wowed the world with its opening ceremony performance
during the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Featured in the ceremony were the Four Great Inventions.
A Chinese painting scroll that opened up in the middle of the stadium represented papermaking.
Then, from the scroll emerged tiles with Chinese characters,
representing the ancient Chinese movable-type printing technology.
Later in the ceremony, the public saw Chinese mariner and admiral Zheng He at the center of the scroll,
using a spoon compass to guide his voyages.
Finally, fireworks were set off, representing gunpowder.
Well, let’s start with papermaking.
As Chinese characters evolved, so did their writing mediums.
Throughout history, the Chinese have carved their writings on oracle bones, stones, silk, and wood.
These materials served their purpose, but they were expensive, hard to come by, heavy and difficult to store.
A lighter, more versatile material was needed.
That’s where papermaking came in.
In China, the technique was invented by Cai Lun, an inventor from the East Han dynasty.
However, paper existed far before Cai Lun was around.
The first Chinese plant fiber paper, Baqiao paper (灞橋紙)
was made during the Western Han dynasty, around 200BC.
5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians had invented the most rudimentary form of paper known to humans,
papyrus.
So why is Cai Lun often credited for this invention?
Well, he improved the process of paper production and
brought it to the masses by making it more accessible and easier to produce in large quantities.
So what was his paper making recipe?
Time for an Express Explore Explanation, start the clock!
First, we need to prepare the raw materials: mulberry bark, hemp, rags, and worn-out fishing nets.
Next, chop them into small pieces and soak them in water.
Add lime.
Then, cook, mash and beat the mixture.
After it becomes a well-mixed pulp, screen an even layer of pulp and dehydrate by pressing it.
Last but not least, leave it out to dry and voila!
You’ve made a piece of paper.
Nowadays, papermaking still consists of three major steps: forming, pressing and drying.
But of course, machines take care of all that today.
Together with the next invention, mass publishing began,
and aided the rapid distribution of ideas and accelerated the spread of education.
Can you guess what it is?
The Chinese mastered woodblock printing, aka the fixed-type engraved printing, during the Han dynasty.
They mostly printed on textiles and clothing at first.
Words or shapes were carved onto wooden blocks,
then ink was applied on the surface and the block was pressed onto the material.
It was essentially a large stamp,
but with several words carved onto a single block.
There was a problem though.
As characters continued to develop, new word combinations also emerged,
therefore, a new board had to be made each time for different designs.
Not too convenient.
So, a few centuries later, around 1040 AD during the Northern Song dynasty,
a Chinese artisan and inventor called Bi Sheng (毕昇) developed the movable-type printing system.
Single tiles of carved types were made, especially focused on commonly used characters.
To print a page, different lettertypes were gathered and arranged in order.
As time went on, the materials used to make these stamps changed from clay to wood and metal.
It would be four more centuries until the invention that would become the greatest leap
in the evolution of printing: The Gutenberg Press.
Its inventor would go on and do the first mass production of a publication.
His book of choice was the Bible.
He did a total of about 180 copies, most of which was done on paper.
And yes, the paper was brought in from China.
A mini Explore Fact for you here: Originally, gunpowder wasn’t used for fireworks or bombs,
but medicinal purposes.
See, alchemists in ancient China were trying to find the elixir of life by mixing different chemicals.
Most concoctions contained an oxidizer called saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate.
One day, they found that mixing 75 percent saltpeter, 15 percent charcoal and 10 percent sulphur
caused things to go up in flames with a loud BANG.
It wasn’t exactly what the alchemists were looking for but it was definitely something.
They named this compound fire medicine. AKA gunpowder.
Once its lethal powers were discovered, gunpowder became a weapon of war.
Around 904 AD, the Song dynasty was fighting against invaders, specifically the Mongols.
At the end of the Mongol-Song Wars, different gunpowder weapons were available to both sides.
This included fire arrows and lances, flamethrowers and landmines along with other exploding weapons.
The Jin dynasty also used it during their fight against the Mongol invasion.
Their weapons were called “Heaven-shaking thunder bombs”.
As written in the book, The History of Jin,
“The heaven-shaking-thunder bomb is an iron vessel filled with gunpowder.
When lit with fire and shot off, it goes off like a crash of thunder
that can be heard for a hundred li.”(about 48 kilometers).
Gunpowder set off the so-called Age of Exploration.
This is the period spanning the 15th to the early 17th century,
in which several European countries set off to look for new trading routes that would eventually
result in the colonization of the New World.
Gunpowder strengthened these European colonizers and played a part in establishing
the power dynamic and social disparity we see today between First World Countries and the developing world.
The compass is another invention whose origins don’t match their modern use.
At the beginning, the compass was mainly used for divination
and to harmonize cities and houses according to the geomantic principles of feng shui.
According to an ancient Chinese collection of essays called LunHeng “論衡”,
the earliest compass model was the south-pointing ladle, or “si nan” (司南) which means “south governor”.
The very first compasses were made with lodestone,
a magnetized mineral that aligns itself with the Earth’s magnetic field.
The lodestone was carved in the shape of the big dipper constellation,
placed on polished bronze surface, and made to spin.
When it stopped, the grip of the dipper would consistently point to the south
and the spoon would point to the north.
The first compasses used specifically for navigation
were made by placing a magnetized fish-shaped metal into a bowl of water.
According to the The Wujing Zongyao (武經總要) or “The Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques”,
this type of compass would always point to the south.
Let’s talk about magnetic declination.
The northernmost point of the globe is called the “true north”, which most compassess do NOT point to.
Does it mean compasses don’t work well? Not quite.
Compasses actually point to the Earth’s magnetic pole, aligning to Earth’s magnetism.
Imagine Earth as a huge magnet, the magnetic pole are the northern lines of attraction entering the Earth.
The angular difference between true north and magnetic north is magnetic declination. See?
It seems like a small figure but it’s important if you’re using a navigation device.
Make sure to correct your compass before using it!
Magnetic declination changes according to where you are and it’s also altered over time.
You can check the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website
for magnetic declination in different areas around the globe.
For an example, let’s say we were in the Johnson Space Center now.
Its coordinates are 29.5593° N, 95.0900° W.
So we are encountering 2.17° towards East, plus or minus 0.33° of magnetic declination
and it would change by 0.10° towards West per year.
Crazy right?
However, magnetic declination is proved to be reducing and predicted to become zero in around 2050.
This world is changing, everyday, at a lighting fast pace.
I mean, we are putting out cell phones with three camera lenses for crying out loud.
Computers that did basic calculations used to fit in a room,
now we carry a multipurpose computer in our pockets that can even talk back to us and tell a joke or two.
For many, our rapid technological developments show the insance capacity the human brain
has to build and innovate, while others fear we may succumb to AI and self-learning machines.
What do you think?
What are the most influential inventions in the world for you today?
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