The Development of Science

and Technology in Ancient

China
The history of science and technology in China is both
long and rich with science and technological
contribution. In antiquity, independent of Greek
philosophers and other civilizations, ancient Chinese
philosophers made significant advances in science,
technology, mathematics, and astronomy. The first
recorded observations of comets, solar eclipses, and
supernovae were made in China.[1] Traditional Chinese
medicine, acupuncture and herbal medicine were also
practiced.
Among the earliest inventions were the abacus, the
"shadow clock," and the first flying machines such as
kites and Kongming lanterns.[2] The four Great Inventions
of ancient China: the compass, gunpowder, paper
making, and printing, were among the most important
technological advances, only known in Europe by the
end of the Middle Ages. The Tang dynasty (618 906 C.E.) in particular was a time of great innovation. [3] A
good deal of exchange occurred between Western and
Chinese discoveries up to the Qing Dynasty.
The Jesuit China missions of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries introduced Western science and
astronomy, then undergoing its own revolution, to China,
and knowledge of Chinese technology was brought to
Europe.[4][5] Much of the early Western work in the history
of science in China was done by Joseph Needham.

Early Scientific and

Technological Achievements
One of the oldest longstanding contributions of the
ancient Chinese are in Traditional Chinese medicine,
including acupuncture and herbal medicine, derived
from Daoist philosophy. According to archaeological
findings the first writings on medicine appeared between
the eleventh and the third centuries B.C.E., like the Wu
Shi Er Bing Fang, Prescriptions for Fifty-Two
Diseases found in a tomb excavated in 1973 near
Mawangdui. The Canon of Medicine was compiled in the
third centuryB.C.E. and summarized diagnostic
knowledge like the knowledge of Bian Que, a great
physician who pioneered medical examination and pulse
studies.
The practice of acupuncture can be traced as far back
as the first millennium B.C.E. and some scientists believe
that there is evidence that practices similar to
acupuncture were used in Eurasia during the early
Bronze Age.[6][7] According to the History of Later Han
Dynasty (25-220 C.E.), this seismograph was an urn-like
instrument, which would drop one of eight balls to

indicate when and in which direction an earthquake had

occurred. On June 13, 2005, Chinese seismologists
announced that they had created a replica of the
instrument.
The mechanical engineer Ma Jun (c. 200-265 C.E.) was
another impressive figure from ancient China. Ma Jun
improved the design of the silk loom,[8] designed
mechanical chain pumps to irrigate palatial gardens,
[8] and created a large and intricate mechanical puppet
theatre for Emperor Ming of Wei, which was operated by
a large hidden waterwheel.[9] However, Ma Jun's most
impressive invention was the South Pointing Chariot, a
complex mechanical device that acted as a
mechanicalcompass vehicle. It incorporated the use of a
differential gear in order to apply equal amount
oftorque to wheels rotating at different speeds, a device
that is found in all modern automobiles.[10]
The ancient Chinese also invented counting and timekeeping devices, which facilitated mathematical and
astronomical observations. Shadow clocks, the
forerunners of the sundial, first appeared in China about
4,000 years ago,[11] while the abacus was invented in
China sometime between 1000 B.C.E. and 500 B.C.E.[12]
The most ancient of all astronomical instruments, at
least in China, was the simple vertical pole. With this one
could measure the length of the suns shadow by day to
determine the solstices and the transits of stars by night
to observe the revolution of the sidereal year.[13]
Already under the Shang dynasty (1765-1122 B.C.E.)
the Chinese were casting shadows with the help of a
gnomon in relation to divination.
The sundial that was much used during the Han
Dynasty is clearly mentioned in the first
century B.C.E. The Sundial Book which includes 34
chapters would have been compiled by Yin Hsien at that
time. The use of water clock or clepsydra which was
important in astronomy would go back to the Warring
States period around the sixth century B.C.E. About
200 B.C.E. the outflow clepsydra was replaced by an
inflow type. Water clocks were used by Zhang Heng in
125 C.E. to drive mechanisms illustrating astronomical
phenomena. Later on astronomical towers were built like
the tower of Su Song in 1088 that comprehended an
armillary sphere, a rotating celestial globe and front
panels with tablets indicating the time.
The Chinese were able to record observations,
documenting the first solar eclipse in 2137 B.C.E., and
making the first recording of any planetary grouping in
500 B.C.E.[1] The Book of Silk was the first definitive
atlas of comets, written c. 400 B.C.E. It listed 29 comets
(referred to as broom stars) that appeared over a period
of about 300 years, with renderings of comets describing
an event its appearance corresponded to.
During the Spring and Autumn (77-476 B.C.E.) and
the Warring States (475-221 B.C.E.) periods, the
development of technology in agriculture and handicraft
enhanced the economic activities and made crucial the
means of calculation. It is then that the counting-rods
and rod arithmetic were invented. The counting-rods will

be used even after the invention of the abacus. The

abacus or suanpan was fits mentioned in the
Supplementary Notes on the Art of Figures by Xu Yue,
under the Han dynasty in 190 C.E., but it rose to
prominence under the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and
became a household instrument only during the Ming
dynasty starting in 1368.
In architecture, the pinnacle of Chinese technology
manifested itself in the Great Wall of China, under the
first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang between
220 B.C.E. and 200 B.C.E. Typical Chinese architecture
changed little from the succeeding Han Dynasty until the
nineteenth century.[14] The Great Wall as seen today is
the result of grand-scale reconstruction over a period of
100 years during the Ming dynasty.
The first bridge recorded in Chinese history is the boat
bridge over the river Weishui ordered by King Wen of
the Zhou dynasty 3000 years ago. The first record of a
stone bridge goes back to the Han dynasty. Stone-arch
bridges made their appearance around
250 B.C.E.Famous bridges are the admired Anji bridge
built with one arch under the Sui dynasty (581-618), the
Lugou Marco Polo bridge built during the Kin dynasty
(1038-1227), the jewel belt bridge, with 53 spans, built
a Suzhou during the Tang dynasty. The beam bridge has
the longest history in bridge engineering whether in
China or elsewhere. It can be mentioned for example
the Luoyang bridge built during the Northern Song
dynasty (960-1127) with a total length of 834 meter and
a seven-meter-wide deck for traffic. [15]
The crossbow n, was developed under the Warring
States period. The followers of the
philosopher Mozi (544-496) mentioned it in the fourththird centuries B.C.E. It is also described by Sunzi in
his Art of War. Several remains were found among the
soldiers of the Terracotta in the tomb of emperor Shu
Juangdi who unified China in 221 B.C.E.[16]
The Eastern Han Dynasty scholar and
astronomer Zhang Heng (78-139 C.E.) invented the first
water-powered rotating armillary sphere (the first
armillary sphere however was invented by
the Greek Eratosthenes), and catalogued 2500 stars and
over 100 constellations. In 132, he invented the first
seismological detector, called the "Houfeng Didong Yi"
("Instrument for inquiring into the wind and the shaking
of the earth").[17] According to the History of Later Han
Dynasty (25-220 C.E.), this seismograph was an urn-like
instrument, which would drop one of eight balls to
indicate when and in which direction an earthquake had
occurred. On June 13, 2005, Chinese seismologists
announced that they had created a replica of the
instrument.
The mechanical engineer Ma Jun (c. 200-265 C.E.) was
another impressive figure from ancient China. Ma Jun
improved the design of the silk loom,[8] designed
mechanical chain pumps to irrigate palatial gardens,
[8]
and created a large and intricate mechanical puppet
theatre for Emperor Ming of Wei, which was operated by
a large hidden waterwheel.[9] However, Ma Jun's most
impressive invention was the South Pointing Chariot, a
complex mechanical device that acted as a

mechanical compass vehicle. It incorporated the use of a

differential gear in order to apply equal amount
of torque to wheels rotating at different speeds, a device
that is found in all modernautomobiles.[10]
Sliding calipers were invented in China almost 2000
years ago.[18] The Chinese civilization was the first
civilization to succeed in exploring with aviation, with the
kite and Kongming lantern (proto Hot air balloon) being
the first flying machines.

The Four Great Inventions of Ancient

China
The "Four Great Inventions of ancient China"
(Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ;
pinyin: S d f mng) are the compass, gunpowder,
papermaking, and printing. Paper and printing were
developed first. Printing was recorded in China in
the Tang Dynasty, although the earliest surviving
examples of printed cloth patterns date to before 220.
[19]
Pinpointing the development of the compass can be
difficult: the magnetic attraction of a needle is attested
by the Louen-heng, composed between 20 and 100 C.E.,
[20]
although the first undisputed magnetized needles in
Chinese literature appear in 1086.[21]
By 300 C.E., Ge Hong, an alchemist of the Jin Dynasty,
conclusively recorded the chemical reactions caused
when saltpetre, pine resin and charcoal were heated
together in his Book of the Master of the Preservations of
Solidarity.[22] Another early record of gunpowder, a
Chinese book from c. 850 C.E. Classified Essentials of the
Mysterious Tao of the True Origin of Thingsindicates that
gunpowder was a byproduct of Daoist alchemical efforts
to develop an elixir of immortality:
Some have heated together sulfur, realgar and
saltpeter with honey; smoke and flames result, so
that their hands and faces have been burnt, and
even the whole house where they were working
burned down.
These four discoveries had an enormous impact on the
development of Chinese civilization and a far-ranging
global impact. Gunpowder, for example, spread to the
Arabs in the thirteenth century and thence to Europe.
[25]
According to English philosopher Francis Bacon,
writing in Novum Organum:
Printing, 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.

One of the most important military treatises of all

Chinese history was the Huo Long Jing written by Jiao

Yuin the fourteenth century. For gunpowder weapons, it

outlined the use of fire arrows and rockets, fire lances
and firearms, land mines and naval mines, bombards
and cannons, along with different compositions of
gunpowder, including 'magic gunpowder', 'poisonous
gunpowder', and 'blinding and burning gunpowder.'
(refer to his article).
For the eleventh century invention of ceramic movable
type printing by Bi Sheng (990-1051), it was enhanced
by the wooden movable type of Wang Zhen in 1298 and
the bronze metal movable type of Hua Sui in 1490.

The Middle Ages

Among the scientific accomplishments of early China
were matches, dry docks, the double-action piston
pump, cast iron, the iron plough, the horse collar, the
multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension
bridge, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the raisedrelief map, the propeller, the sluice gate, and the pound
lock. The Tang Dynasty (618 - 906 C.E.) in particular was
a time of great innovation.
In the seventh century, book-printing was developed in
China and Japan, using delicate hand-carved wooden
blocks to print individual pages. The ninth
century Diamond Sutra is the earliest known printed
document. Movable type was also used in China for a
time, but was abandoned because of the number of
characters needed; it would not be until Gutenberg
(1400-1468) that the technique was reinvented in a
suitable environment.[27]
In addition to gunpowder, the Chinese also developed
improved delivery systems for the Byzantine weapon of
Greek fire, Meng Huo You and Pen Huo Qi first used in
China c. 900.[28] Chinese illustrations were more realistic
than in Byzantine manuscripts,[28] and detailed accounts
from 1044 recommending its use on city walls and
ramparts show the brass container as fitted with a
horizontal pump, and a nozzle of small diameter. [28] The
records of a battle on the Yangtze near Nanjing in 975
offer an insight into the dangers of the weapon, as a
change of wind direction blew the fire back onto the
Song forces.[28]
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) brought a new stability
for China after a century of civil war, and started a new
area of modernization by encouraging examinations and
meritocracy. The first Song Emperor created political
institutions that allowed a great deal of freedom of
discourse and thought, which facilitated the growth of
scientific advance, economic reforms, and achievements
in arts and literature.[29] Trade flourished both within
China and overseas, and the encouragement of
technology allowed the mints at Kaifeng and Hangzhou
to gradually increase in production. In 1080, the mints of
Emperor Shenzong were produced five
billion coins(roughly 50 per Chinese citizen), and the first
banknotes were produced in 1023. These coins were so
durable that they would still be in use 700 years later, in
the eighteenth century.

There were many famous inventors and early scientists

in the Song Dynasty period. The statesman Shen Kuo is
best known for his book known as the Dream Pool
Essays (1088 C.E.). In it, he wrote of use for a drydock to
repair boats, the navigational magnetic compass, and
the discovery of the concept of true north (with magnetic
declination towards the North Pole). Shen Kuo also
devised a geological theory for land formation, or
geomorphology, and theorized that there was climate
change in geological regions over an enormous span of
time. The equally talented statesman Su Song was best
known for his engineering project of
the AstronomicalClock Tower of Kaifeng, by
1088 C.E. The clock tower was driven by a rotating
waterwheel and escapement mechanism, the latter of
which did not appear in clockworks of Europe until two
centuries later. Crowning the top of the clock tower was
the large bronze, mechanically-driven, rotating armillary
sphere. In 1070, Su Song also compiled the Ben Cao Tu
Jing (Illustrated Pharmacopoeia, original source material
from 1058 1061 C.E.) with a team of scholars. This
pharmaceutical treatise covered a wide range of other
related subjects, includingbotany, zoology, mineralogy,
and metallurgy.
Chinese astronomers were also among the first to record
observations of a supernova, in 1054, making the Crab
Nebula the first astronomical object recognized as being
connected to a supernova explosion.[30] Arabic and
Chinese astronomy intermingled under theMongol rule of
the Yuan Dynasty. Muslim astronomers worked in the
Chinese astronomical bureau established by Kublai Khan,
while some Chinese astronomers also worked at the
Persian Maragha observatory.[31] (Before this, in ancient
times, Indian astronomers had lent their expertise to the
Chinese court. Mongol rule also saw technological
advances from an economic perspective, with the first
mass production of paper banknotes by Kublai Khan in
the eleventh century.

Inventions in Ancient China

Acupuncture
Alchemy Alchemy was Taoist chemistry, very different
from modern chemistry.
Anesthetic - third century found a wine that acted like
anesthetic, and they also used herbs before the age of
written history
Astronomy - Planetarium - They produced the first
planetarium, which was actually made by an emperor.
The planetarium was a big enclosed place with stars and
constellations on the inside. The person using the
planetarium would sit in a chair that was hanging from
the top of the enclosed dome.
Astrology - Chinese astrology and constellations were
often used for divination
Bamboo - They made most toys, machines, houses, and

other things from bamboo.

Blast Furnace - which was water powered
Block Printmaking / Printing Technology
Clocks - The first clock that they devised was for
astronomical uses. In the first clock ever, there was a
puppet that would hold up a plaque that would tell the
time. They also invented giant water clocks, which rang
every fifteen minutes.
Compass - was for religious use. When a new houses
was being built, the used it to see if the house was faced
in perfect harmony with nature (which meant they
thought if you faced your house to magnetic north, you
and nature would get along). The compass started out as
a wooden circle with markings on it, and a magnetic
spoon on top.

sight, crossbow stirrup, repeating crossbows, poison gas

(smoke from burning dried mustard), tear gas made from
powdered lime, relief maps for battle planning, manned
kites, fire lance, rockets, gunpowder incendiaries,
gunpowder grenades, proto-handguns, various gunrelated ammunition types and the cannon.
Gunpowder - In the T'ang dynasty gunpowder was
accidentally invented in an attempt to make the elixir of
life, to make the emperor immortal. Cannon - were just
bamboo cases holding gunpowder and were put in a big
iron cannon. Bamboo or iron basket, which was like a
smaller version of the cannon, that had arrows with
rockets attached to them. The arrow rockets would shoot
out of the miniature cannon like bullets out of a gun
wood.
The nest cart was a mobile lookout, for oncoming
armies and other things. The people in the nest cart also
dropped bombs from their perch, which was perfect
because they had a bird's eye view.

Crossbow
Earthquakes - Designed with a machine called the
Earthquake weathercock, which was a contraption that
told them when and where an earthquake would come.
This machine looked like a giant six-foot bronze pot that
had dragon heads lining the top, and ivory frogs under
each dragon.

The first to make bombs for war, in the 17th Century,

which were no more then a bamboo shell, about the
thickness of two men's legs, and the length of a man's
leg. The bombs were then filled with gunpowder, and a
fuse like the fireworks, was installed.
Porcelain

Fan - which was mostly carried by women and soldiers.

Most of the fans were made out of bamboo and silk. The
fan was basically many bamboo spines sticking out in
almost a half circle with silk wrapped around it.

Rudder

Fireworks - invented in the T'ang dynasty. These were

originally for shows, but later on they used them to scare
of enemies in war. The fireworks were mainly small
bamboo cases filled with gunpowder, and a fuse was put
on the side.

Silk - first harvest silk, and make clothes, fans, kites,

toys, paper, and lots of other things from it.

Seismograph

Spaghetti
Stirrup

Glider
Harness - revolutionized agriculture by harnessing
animals
Hot Air Balloon
Kites - which mostly children played with. The kites
were most of the time silk squares, held together by
bamboo. Created many things with bamboo, which made
a lot of baskets and holders and were really strong.
Lacquer
Mathematics - They invented the Asian Abacus. The
main applications of mathematics in traditional China
were architecture and geography. Pi was calculated by
5th century mathematician Zu Chongzhi to the seventh
digit. The decimal system was used in China as early as
14 Century BC. "Pascal's" Triangle was discovered by
mathematician Liu Ju-Hsieh, long before Pascal was born.
Military innovations include the crossbow and the grid

Wheelbarrow - Invented in the Han dynasty and used

for carrying loads too heavy for a normal person's back
to support. The wheelbarrow was originally wood, so the
Chinese nick named it the 'wooden ox' .
Paper -Ancient Chinese were the first to invent paper
and printing. Their early script contained 80,000
different characters. They went on to invent books and
had book shops in every city by the end of the T'ang
dynasty. There were 3 different important kinds of paper,
the very first being silk rags. The cheap kinds were no
more the wooden strips, and the most expensive was silk
cloth. Although most of the kinds of paper was made
from over 50%bamboo, some of the other things they
were made of were silk, cloth, hemp, mulberry bark, and
plant fibers. In the Han dynasty, 206B.C.-A.D.220, paper
and ink were invented. In the T'ang dynasty, 618-906,
the first printer was invented. In 868 AD the earliest
known book ever was printed. About 1,800 years ago,
during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), Cai Lun
improved China's papermaking technique using bark and
hemp. This then became one of the four great ancient
inventions of Chin. Today, ancient papermaking has been

replaced by modern means of production, but in some

places in southwestern China's Guizhou Province, where
many people of ethnic-minority groups live; this ancient
technique is still practiced. In Huishui, Changshun and
Danzhai near Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, many
papermaking workshops are well preserved. Of them, the
biggest is the one in Dongkou Village, Lushan Town,
Huishui County, some 80 kilometers south of Guiyang.
At Dongkou Village, where Bouyei people live, we can
see an open dam through which a limpid river flows, and
flocks of ducks are seen sporting and playing in it. On
the banks Bouyei women in groups of two and three
wash clothes. All Are quiet, leisurely and carefree.
Looking down from a high place, we can wee large and
small steaming and boiling kilns, fermenting pools and
lime pits scattered all over like stars in the sky, as if to
tell and sing a story of long, long ago. Near high and low
thatched cottages are papermaking workshops and a
water-powered mill wheel.
The local records say that the papermaking industry
there began 300 years ago, in the late Ming and early
Qing dynasties. Later it flourished during Qing emperor
Qian Long's reign(1736-1796), and the number of
papermaking households increased from three to a
dozen. Every household had eight kilns, with a monthly
rough-straw paper (or toilet paper) output of 150 kg. At
that time, hand production included husking bamboo
and hemp with pestles and mortars. Today, such
primitive means of production can still be seen in Xieyao
Village, Changshun, 30 kilometers from Huishui.
In the early 20th century, Dongkou's papermaking
industry spread to more than 100 households. The
husking of bamboo and hemp was then done by wateror ox-powered roller. In the 1940s, papermaking there
became more flourishing, and production spread to 150
households, with a total of 300 kilns. The number of
papermaking workshops grew to 180, grinding 1.5
million kilograms of bamboo raw materials a year with

60 rollers. Its annual output was 0.5 million tons of

rough-straw paper. Today, both rough-straw paper and
paper money are good sellers in all corners of the
province.
To make rough-straw paper takes two kinds of bamboo
as raw materials, with the addition of birch leaves, lime
and water. Generally, the paper, called zhuma (bamboo
hemp), is clean and is a good absorbent. One special use
is for putting under corpses.
Birch leaves are necessary materials for papermaking.
The mucilage is drained out of the leaves for
strengthening the adhesion of the paper, and for
improving its smoothness and evenness. First, bamboo is
husked with a pestle and mortar. It is then placed in a
pool of lime to soak for several days to make it soft. It is
then put into a big kiln for steaming and boiling for 35
days. After being rinsed in river water, it is again
steamed and boiled for another ten days before being
ground into pieces and put into a pool of pure water.
After mucilage from birch leaves has been added, it is
then strained. The residue is the pulp raw material.
Originally, papermakers used bamboo curtains to hang
the sheets of pulp on till they dried to the constituency
of damp paper. Later, the remaining water was squeezed
out.
Invented origami - which originated with the wealthy
people in China - when they used expensive paper to
write to friends. Before they sent the letters, they folded
them up into fancy designs.
They also modified paper to make raincoats, windows,
umbrellas, they used a lot of paper in their houses even
windows!
Many of the children's toys were made
out of paper.
Armor for war was made from
strengthened paper.