This statement was first put forward by Joseph Needham, a British sinologist, and was later inherited by many historians in China. It is generally believed that these four great inventions greatly promoted the development of politics, economy and culture in ancient China. These inventions spread to the west through various channels and had a great influence on the history of world civilization.
Compass editor
brief introduction
The predecessor of compass-Sina
Compass is a simple tool to judge the direction. Originally known as Sina. The main component is a magnetic needle that can rotate freely on the shaft. The magnetic needle can be kept in the tangential direction of magnetic meridian under the action of geomagnetic field. The north pole of the magnetic needle points to the geographical south pole, which can be used to identify the direction. It is often used in navigation, geodesy, tourism and military affairs. N of the compass refers to the north, E refers to the east, W refers to the west, and S refers to the south [2].
China is regarded as the country that invented the compass in the world. The invention of the compass is the result of the long-term practice of the working people of Han nationality in China. Due to productive labor, people came into contact with magnetite and began to understand its magnetism. People first discovered the property that magnets attract iron, and later discovered the directivity of magnets. After many experiments and studies, a practical compass was finally invented. The earliest compass was made of natural magnets, which shows that the working people of Han nationality in China discovered the attraction of natural magnets and their iron very early. According to ancient records, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the productive forces developed greatly, especially agricultural production, which promoted the development of mining and smelting industries. In the long-term production practice, people know magnets from iron ore. The earliest compass was Sina.
Papermaking editor
brief introduction
Papermaking is one of the four great inventions in China and an outstanding invention in the history of human civilization. China is the first country in the world to raise silkworms and weave silk. The working people of the Han nationality spun silk from the first-class cocoons, and the rest of the evil cocoons and sick cocoons were bleached to make silk floss. After floating, some residual flocs will be left on the mat. When the flossing frequency is high, the residual flossing on the pad will accumulate into fiber sheets, which can be peeled off after drying and can be used for writing. This kind of floc is called "He Qi" or "square floc" in ancient books because of its small number of by-products. This shows that the origin of papermaking of Han nationality in China is related to silk floss.
Cai Lun's improved papermaking (also known as Cai Houzhi). In the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the first year of Yuan Xing (A.D. 105), Cai Lun made plant fiber paper suitable for writing with bark, broken fishing nets, rags and hemp heads as raw materials, and improved the paper-making technology, making paper a widely used writing material. It is called "Cai Hou Paper". Have a unified understanding of the concept of paper. What kind of article is called a "paper"?
Gunpowder editor
brief introduction
A black or brown explosive mechanically mixed with potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur.
At first, it was made into powder, and later it was generally made into particles of different sizes for different purposes. Smokeless powder was used as the only military propellant until it was used.
Printing editor
brief introduction
Block printing: It is reported that Bi Sheng invented clay movable type printing in the Northern Song Dynasty, which is considered as the earliest movable type printing technology in the world. However, the movable type printing in the four great inventions is not the predecessor of modern printing, and according to Needham, the movable type printing in the Northern Song Dynasty has many disadvantages.
At present, the earliest woodcut print is a Sanskrit version of Dalagni Jing, printed on linen paper, published in 650-670, and unearthed in the Tang Mausoleum near Xi 'an in 1974. 1966, archaeologists discovered a miniature Dalagni Buddhist sutra in South Korea, which contained the Handwriting of Zetian promulgated by Empress Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty (about 690 -705). Scholars infer that the sutra was not earlier than 704, and later it was treasured in a stupa built in the era of Silla in 75 1 year. However, the earliest known printed book of general size is the Diamond Sutra published in the Tang Dynasty (6 18 -907). The longitude is 5. 18 m (17 ft), and the scroll format can be traced back to September 15 of the lunar calendar in Xian Tong, Tang Yizong (that is, in 868). Scholars Joseph Needham and Qian Cunxun described the calligraphy carving of the Diamond Sutra as far more advanced and exquisite than the one-page version of the Great Rani Sutra published earlier. In addition, the two oldest printed lunar calendar dates are 877 and 882, which were discovered in Dunhuang, the Buddhist holy land at that time;
Movable type printing: Shen Kuo, a scientist and politician in the Northern Song Dynasty, once wrote an article called "Folkboard" in Meng Xi Talk, which introduced the whole process of movable type printing in detail, which was easy to understand and very detailed. In his book "Talking about Meng Xi" written by 1088, he attributed this invention to an unknown craftsman Bi Sheng (990-105 1). Shen Kuo used sintered clay characters to describe the glyphs made by Bi Sheng, arranged the characters, printed them, and took them apart for later use. Bi Sheng tried wooden movable type, but it was not until Yuan Dynasty (1368) that Wang Zhen's wooden model (active in 127 1368) became more and more perfect. Wang Zhen also put Chinese characters on a wheeled typesetting tray with a small cell according to the phonological combination, which is convenient for taking Chinese characters. As for copperplate movable type, it was not until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that Hua Xiang's printed works (1439 to 15 13) became perfect.
Wooden movable type
Wooden movable type:
Wang Zhen, a famous agronomist and mechanic in Yuan Dynasty, made clear the wooden movable type and created a relatively simple turntable typesetting method suitable for the complex characteristics of Chinese characters. Later, metal movable type was invented and movable type printing was improved. Printed prints of the Tang Dynasty spread to Japan. In the late 8th century, Dalagni Sutra was completed, and then spread to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Eastern Europe. /kloc-In the 5th century, Germans learned to cast characters with alloys, and movable type printing pioneered by Bi Sheng became popular in Europe.
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