Ancient China Essay

The heritage of ancient china

Ancient china left a great legacy of inventions that changed the way we live.

Some of the great inventions are printing, paper, gunpowder, kites, seismograph and the compass.

Compass

Figure 1: top 20 Ancient Chinese inventions Source : (http://www.chinawhisper.com/top-20-ancient-chinese-inventions/)

The earliest reference to a magnetic device used as a "direction finder" is in a Song dynasty book dated to 1040-1044. Here there is a description of an iron "south-pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water, aligning itself to the south. The device is recommended as a means of orientation "in the obscurity of the night.” However, the first suspended magnetic needle compass was written off by Shen Kuo in his book of 1088.

For most of Chinese history, the compass that remained in use was in the form of a magnetic needle floating in a bowl of water.

By the time the Song Dynasty treatise, Wujing Zongyao, was written by Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide in 1044, the various Chinese formulas for gunpowder held levels of nitrate in the range of 27% to 50%. By the end of the 12th century, Chinese formulas of gunpowder had a level of nitrate capable of bursting through cast iron metal containers, in the form of the earliest hollow, gunpowder-filled grenade bombs.

In 1280, the bomb store of the large gunpowder arsenal at Weiyang accidentally caught fire, which produced such a massive explosion that a team of Chinese inspectors at the site a week later deduced that some 100 guards had been killed instantly, with wooden beams and pillars blown sky high and landing at a distance of over 10 li away from the explosion. Once they were discovered they created fireworks.