CHINA'S TOP 10 CONTRIBUTIONS AND INVENTIONS - HISTORY - 2025

Among the most important contributions and inventions of China for humanity are paper, fireworks, gunpowder, the compass or silk. China or the People's Republic of China, is an Asian state that today is considered the most populous country in the world (more than 1,300 million inhabitants).

It is the third largest country on the planet by land area and the second world economic power by GDP. For millennia its political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties and from 1949 to date, it is governed by the communist party.

Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China 1988.

Its civilization, one of the oldest in the world, has developed to such an extent that today it is considered internationally as an emerging superpower, a reference in the industrial and commercial field, and with a military force that competes with that of the United States of America.

Its years of history have meant great advances in different fields: medicine, agriculture, architecture, science… In the next few lines only some of these advances that have crossed borders and contributed to world progress are listed.

China's 10 most notable contributions to the world

1. Paper

The first known piece of written paper was discovered in the ruins of a Chinese watchtower at Tsakhortei, where Han dynasty troops had abandoned their position after an attack by Xiongnu.

Evidence shows that the paper was made from: rags of silk, strips of wood or bamboo, seaweed, hemp or clothing.

Making paper from silk was very expensive and writing on bamboo paper was uncomfortable to handle, so little by little it evolved towards vegetable fiber.

And the development of writing and paper naturally led to the invention of some type of writing ink. Thus, in 400 BC, the first ink made from carbon black and rubber appeared.

Paper money is also due to Chinese ingenuity.

2. Printing

In 1974, in a Tang tomb near Xi'an, a hemp paper with printed letters was unearthed.

And it was a Chinese scientist, Shen Kuo (1031-1095), who first described the process of printing on movable blocks of clay, attributing the invention to a little-known craftsman named Bi Sheng (990-1051).

3. Gunpowder

It is an explosive material that is obtained from a mixture of charcoal, saltpeter (potassium nitrate) and sulfur and is used to fire projectiles or for propulsion. It was invented by Taoist alchemists of the 4th century of our era.

In a military manuscript compiled in 1044 during the Song dynasty (960-1279), the use of incendiary bombs dropped from catapults and defensive walls is described, which is why some consider it a precursor of the metal cannon that emerged in Europe between 1280 and 1320.

4. Compass

That apparatus whose magnetized needle points to the North, had its origin during the Han dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), when they were used in the form of a wooden circle that had a number of marks on it and a magnetic spoon on the lid, oriented to the north and south, for divination and geomancy purposes.

That is to say, its initial objective was not to guide them in navigation but rather to be a tool used in religious rites or to verify that the buildings were oriented correctly towards the north in order to be in harmony with nature.

It is said that the ancestor of the apparatus was a wooden fish that contained a small piece of lodestone that pointed north when it was floated in the water.

5. Silk

It was the Chinese who taught the rest of the world how to harvest silk from silkworms.

They also developed the techniques to make clothes, fans, kites, paper, and many other items from this fabric.

6. Abacus

A popular way of counting during the 13th century was to do so using the abacus table developed by the Chinese, a table covered in cloth with lines drawn in chalk or ink.

The oldest, discovered to date, dates back more than 3,000 years and was made with ceramic beads.

Despite attempts to replace it in the following years, it did not disappear until the use of Indo-Arabic numerals spread.

7. Acupuncture

It is a form of traditional medicine in which needles are inserted into certain points of the body located on the lines of vital force. It is believed that he was born around 100 BC. C. in China.

It is a technique used in the treatment of pain and other conditions, generally complementing another form of treatment.

Although its scientific validity is questioned, it continues to be used in many countries around the world.

8. The kite

That children's toy that is usually seen in the skies in summer seasons, was also invented by the Chinese but with another purpose: to send messages through great battlefields in wars.

9. The seismograph

The device currently used to record the time, duration and amplitude of an earthquake, several hundred kilometers away, was also invented in China.

10. Steel

In the 6th century AD, the Chinese developed the process of co-fusion, bathing the masses of wrought iron with molten iron, thus giving rise to steel.

Thanks to this they managed to build suspension bridges with iron chains (around 600 AD) and drilled wells up to 700 meters deep.

Although here is a list of 10 contributions of China to the world, the truth is that many fields of modern life benefit from inventions or knowledge developed in that culture:

• Obtaining salt from underground wells
• Paper processing
• The notion of human blood circulation or pulse
• The explanation of solar eclipses
• An anesthetic
• Harness
• Stern helm
• Elaboration of ceramic utensils
• The Basics of Immunology

We also owe them some of the first ways of handling iron: While in the military sphere, iron was forged to make armor or long swords, in agriculture it was cast to create molds that were later used to make iron plows or parts of iron. wheelbarrows.

In short, China is the example of a very ancient civilization that solved many problems of its daily life with its ingenuity, bequeathing many of the results to the rest of the world.

References

1. 5 Important Chinese Contributions. Recovered from: angelfire.com
2. BBC World (2010). The curious history of fireworks. Recovered from: bbc.com.
3. Infogram (2017). China´s greatest contributions to the world. Recovered from: infogr.am.
4. Ancient China (1994). Contributions and legacy. Recovered from exploreancientchina.weebly.com.
5. Roche, Marcel (s / f). Technology in Ancient China in Interciencia. Recovered from interciencia.org.
6. wikipedia.org.