CHINESE SCIENCE, DISCOVERIES, AND INVENTIONS

14 Century BC to 17 Century AD

 

Adapted by James W. Revak from Robert Temple’s The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention.

 

All dates are conservatively approximated.  When the discoverer or inventor is certain or highly probable, his name follows the description enclosed in separate parentheses.

 

14 Century BC

Mathematics

Decimal system (a number place system based on 10, which is much easier for calculating than, e.g., Roman or Greek numbers, and in common use to this day).

 

13 Century BC

Manufacturing

Lacquer (the “first plastic”, a material with exceptional powers of preservation, strength, and durability, and many applications).

 

11 Century BC

Astronomy

Circumpolar constellation template (a circular observational instrument held at arm’s length).

Brewing

Strong beer (a beverage with significantly higher alcohol content than regular beer, e.g., Chinese chiu and Japanese sake).

 

6 Century BC

Acoustics/Music

Large tuned bells.

Agriculture

Row cultivation (for increased agricultural output).

Intensive hoeing (for increased agricultural output).

Iron plowshare (which is more durable, efficient, and easier to use than prior wood plowshares).

 

5 Century BC

Acoustical Engineering

“Spouting bowl” (which generates standing waves when rubbed and causes water in it to spout upward).

Agriculture

Iron hoe (which has a significantly longer life than prior hoes).

Geology/Botany

Geobotanical prospecting (using the knowledge that certain plants grow near deposits of certain minerals to locate said deposits).

 

4 Century BC

Agriculture

Frame-plow (a plow with a special frame, including an adjustable strut, for better controlled and more efficient plowing).

Kuan plowshare (a more efficient plowshare of improved iron ending in a sharp point).

Plow moldboard (which efficiently guides plowed-up earth to the side).

Agriculture/Transportation

Trace horse harness (for more efficient pulling of carts, etc.).

Aeronautics

Kite (eventually used for various purposes, including entertainment, military communication, and, by the 6 century AD, human flight).

Astronomy

Recognition of sunspots as solar phenomena (Kan Te).

Energy

Petroleum used as a fuel.

Natural gas used as a fuel.

Industrial Engineering

“Permanent” asbestos lamp wicks (possibly as early as the 6 century BC).

Mathematics

Specifying a place for zero (for significantly easier calculating).

Manufacturing

Cast iron (for producing durable, more efficient tools and industrial products).

Mechanical Engineering

Double-acting piston bellows (which pumps air or fluids and expells them in a continuous stream).

Physics

Newton’s” First Law of Motion (the observation that cessation of motion is due to opposing force).

Physics/Scientific Instrumentation

Magnetic compass (an instrument which indicates the direction of South, used for navigation at sea by the 11 century AD; however, what may have been a compass dating to the 11 century BC has been excavated in Mexico).

Warfare

Crossbow as a military weapon (which is more effective than the prior longbow thanks to its greater range and power).

Poison gas (e.g., smoke from burning dried mustard).

 

3 Century BC

Cartography

Relief maps (three-dimensional maps that model terrain).

Civil Engineering/Transportation

Contour transport canal (one designed to exploit the contour of the land as a way round or over hills) (Shih Lu).

Manufacturing

Annealing (holding cast iron at high temperature for an extended period to make it malleable or less brittle).

Mechanical Engineering/Entertainment

Magic lantern or zoetrope (a device that uses a series of pictures through which light shines in succession to create the illusion of movement in a projected image, an early ancestor of the slide projector and cinema).

Medicine

Recognition of deficiency diseases (i.e., those due to poor diet) and dietary treatment of them (Chang Chi).

Physics/Scientific Instrumentation

Dial and needle magnetic compass.

Scientific Instrumentation

Dial and needle instruments (e.g., the dial and needle compass).

 

2 Century BC

Acoustics/Music

Tuned drum (one that produces a specific pitch).

Aeronautics

Parachute.

Aeronautics/Entertainment

Miniature hot-air balloon.

Agriculture

Multi-tube or “modern” seed drill (for sewing more efficiently and less wastefully than prior broadcast sewing).

Rotary winnowing fan (for efficiently separating chaff from grain).

Cartography

Quantitative cartography (using numbered grids to make maps) (Chang Heng).

Chemistry

Hexagonal structure of snowflakes.

Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) (for dissolving otherwise indissoluble minerals; possibly as early as the 4 century BC).

Entertainment

Fireworks (initially without gunpowder; only later, with gunpowder [the latter invented by the 9 century AD]).

Manufacturing

Paper (initially a relatively sturdy material used for clothing, etc.; later, by the 1 century AD, a relatively light material used for writing, etc.).

Decarburization (removing carbon from cast iron to produce steel).

Saltpeter (for dissolving ores and use as a flux, i.e., a substance to promote the fusing of metals in a furnace).

Mathematics

Negative numbers (e.g., –1, –2, etc., which are essential to advanced mathematics, including algebra).

Mechanical Engineering

Crank handle (a rod used to turn an attached wheel).

Gimbal  or “Cardan” suspension (two interlocking rings such that an object suspended in them remains horizontal regardless any motion of its support, used for mounting modern gyroscopes).

Medicine

Recognition of the circulation of blood.

Discovery of circadian rhythms or biorhythms (the body’s natural clocks).

Isolation of pituitary sex hormones (from human urine for therapeutic use).

Isolation of sex hormones (from human urine for therapeutic use).

 

1 Century BC

Agriculture

Swan-neck hoe (an improved tool with interchangeable blades for weeding round plants without damaging their roots).

Agriculture/Transportation         

Collar horse harness (for more efficient pulling of carts, etc.).

Astronomy

Permanently mounted equatorial armillary ring (an early ancestor of the “modern” equatorial mount, i.e., a mount aligned with the celestial pole, commonly used with telescopes and other observational instruments to this day) (Keng Shou-Ch’ang).

Mathematics

Decimal fractions (e.g., .123, which are sometimes easier to use than ordinary fractions, e.g., 1/2) (Liu Hsin).

Extraction of cube roots (calculating x, given that x3 = y; essential to higher mathematics, including algebra).

Mechanical Engineering

Belt-drive or driving-belt (a continuous belt that transfers circular motion from one wheel to another).

Deep drilling (up to 4,800 feet for natural gas, petroleum, and brine).

Hermetically sealed research laboratory (i.e., one meticulously protected from unwanted external influences or contamination).

Sliding calipers (a measuring instrument).

Mechanical Engineering/Transportation

Wheelbarrow (a wheeled vehicle for efficient, relatively easy hauling of comparatively heavy loads, usually by one person) (Ko Yu[?]).

 

1 Century AD

Civil Engineering

Suspension bridge (one with a walkway or road suspended from cables or ropes).

Manufacturing

Writing paper.

Mechanical Engineering

Chain pump (one with buckets or pallets arranged on a continuous, moving loop, frequently used for irrigation).

Mechanical Engineering/Energy

Water power for operating mechanical equipment (specifically a blast furnace bellows) (Tu Shih).

Naval Engineering/Transportation

Ship rudder (for efficient steering).

Warfare

Crossbow grid-sight (for improved aiming).

 

2 Century AD

Astronomy/Scientific Instrumentation

Non-observational rotating armillary sphere (for indicating current positions of  heavenly bodies; powered by a clepsydra or water-clock) (Chang Heng).

Chemistry

Purification of sulfur (an ingredient essential to gunpowder [the latter invented by the 4 century]).

Recognition of spontaneous combustion (burning caused by chemical changes inside something).

Geology

Recognition of selected aspects of “modern” geology (e.g., origins of sedimentary rock and dynamic nature of the earth’s crust).

Geology/Scientific Instrumentation

Seismograph (an instrument for detecting the occurrence and direction of the source of earthquakes) (Chang Heng).

Mechanical Engineering/Manufacturing

Quilling machine (for efficiently winding silk fiber).

Naval Engineering/ Transportation

Transverse bulkhead for ships (an upright partition that traverses a hull, which helps to make possible watertight compartments and multiple masts; possibly invented much earlier).

Watertight compartments for ships (enabling them to sustain significant damage below water level without sinking).

Transportation

For-and-aft rigs with lug sails (for sailing into the wind; the lug sail is the ancestor of the gaff sail).

Warfare

Tear gas (utilizing powdered lime).

 

3 Century AD

Agriculture

Biological pest control (using one kind of living organism to eliminate another which is harmful to crops).

Chemistry

Potassium flame test (for identifying saltpeter, an ingredient essential to gunpowder [the latter invented by the 9 century]).

Mechanical Engineering

Cybernetic or homoestatic machine (specifically, the “south-pointing carriage”, which includes a mechanically [not magnetically] controlled indicator that always points South) (Ma Chün).

Fishing reel (for easier, more convenient fishing).

Manufacturing

Porcelain (a hard, white, glazed translucent ceramic; depending on one’s precise definition of porcelain, possibly invented earlier).

Mathematics

Algebra applied to geometry (e.g., using algebraic equations to describe geometric figures).

Refined value of pi (calculated to five decimal places: 3.14159).

Transportation/Warfare

Stirrup (for efficient horse riding and cavalry warfare, used for arming crossbows by the 9 century).

 

4 Century AD

Mechanical Engineering

Umbrella (for protection from sun and rain).

 

5 Century AD

Manufacturing

Co-fusion or “Siemens” process (for producing steal by melting cast iron with wrought iron).

“Magic mirror” (a solid bronze mirror through which light may apparently pass).

Mathematics

Advanced value of pi (calculated to ten decimal places: 3.1415929203) (Tsu Ch’ung-Chih and Tsu Keng-Chih).

Mechanical Engineering

Crank-activated piston (which is similar to components essential to the modern steam engine).

Transportation/Warfare

Paddle-wheel boat (construction of a boat propelled by one or more paddle wheels for improved speed, maneuverability, and freedom from reliance on wind, sometimes used in warfare; however, the idea appeared independently in a prior European manuscript [dated to the late 4 century]).

 

6 Century AD

Aeronautics

Human flight with kites (possibly as early as the 4 century BC).

Chemical Engineering

Match (for quick, convenient creation of fire).

Entertainment

“Image-chess” (the early ancestor of modern chess).

Manufacturing

Toilet paper.

Transportation

Land sailing (using wind and one or more sails to propel a wheeled vehicle).

 

7 Century AD

Astronomy

Discovery of the solar wind (the outward physical force exerted by the sun).

Civil Engineering

Segmental arch bridge (a bridge constructed of one or more arches each of  which outlines not a semi-circle but a smaller segment thereof) (Li Ch’un).

Distilling

Brandy (an alcoholic beverage prepared by distilling wine).

Whisky (an alcoholic beverage prepared by distilling liquid produced from fermented grain).

Medicine

Recognition of excess sugar in the urine of diabetics (Chen Ch’üan)

Using thyroid hormone to treat goiter (a disease of the thyroid) (Chen Ch’üan).

Printing

Woodblock printing on silk.

 

8 Century AD

Mechanical Engineering/Scientific Instrumentation

Mechanical clock (for indicating both time and positions of heavenly bodies) (I-Hsing).

Naval Engineering/Transportation

Leeboard (a board lowered from a ship into water to sail more efficiently into the wind by preventing leeward drift).

Printing

Text printing (however not book printing, which begins in the following 9 century).

 

9 Century AD

Chemical Engineering

Gunpowder (first used in fireworks and, by the 10 century, artillery and bombs).

Commerce/Economy

Bank draft (which is more convenient than coins or ingots and facilitates commerce by enabling merchants to deposit coins or ingots at one bank in return for a certificate which may be redeemed at another for coins or ingots).

Aeronautics/Entertainment

Helicopter top (initially used in flying toys).

Physics/Geology

Magnetic variation or declination (the difference between truth north and magnetic north).

Printing

Book printing (for eventual publication of an enormous number of relatively inexpensive books; it revolutionized education and dramatically improved the diffusion of knowledge).

Printing/Entertainment

Playing cards.

Warfare

Paper armor (which protected the wearer from arrows).

 

10 Century AD

Civil Engineering/Transportation

Canal pound-lock (for improved, safer navigation of canals regardless changing water levels) (Ch’iao Wei-Yo).

Commerce/Economy

Paper money backed by deposited cash (which facilitates commerce by enabling businesses and individuals to dispense with coins and ingots which are difficult to store and transport in large quantities).

Warfare

Gunpowder-impregnated slow match fuse (as the source of fire in flame-throwers).

Flame-thrower (a weapon which produces a constant and destructive stream of burning gasoline or kerosene).

Gunpowder incendiary arrow (which ignites a fire upon hitting its target).

Fire-lance or proto-gun (a military weapon which utilizes gunpowder and acts as a portable, potentially lethal flame-thrower of relatively brief duration).

 

11 Century AD

Mechanical Engineering/Scientific Instrumentation

Improved mechanical clock (for indicating time and positions of the heavenly bodies with greater accuracy thanks in part to its superior mechanical escapement) (Su Sung).

Naval Engineering

Underwater salvage operations (e.g., raising large sunken objects) (Huai-Ping).

Navigation

Magnetic compass used for navigation at sea (possibly as early as the 9 century).

Physics

Discovery of magnetic remanence (observing that magnets demagnetize when heated).

Discovery of magnetic induction (observing that iron magnetizes when heated and then cooled while aligned in a magnetic field).

Printing

Multi-color printing.

Movable type (which is assembled piece by piece in a form or frame from which one may print pages) (Pi Sheng).

Warfare

Gunpowder incendiary bomb (which does not explode but does ignite fires).

Gunpowder exploding bomb (enclosed in a soft shell, e.g., bamboo).

Crossbow stirrup (for more efficient arming).

 

10 Century AD

Cartography

Cylindrical or “Mercator” map-projection (which is in common use to this day).

Chemical Engineering

Phosphorescent paint (which glows in the dark).

Mechanical Engineering

Chain-drive (a continuous loop of chain that transmits circular motion from one gear to another, first used in a mechanical clock) (Chang Ssu-Hsun).

Water-cooled “economic” lamp (which conserves fuel by slowing its evaporation).

Medicine

Small pox vaccination (preventing untold numbers of deaths).

 

11 Century AD

Cartography/Astronomy

Published star map (in New Design for a Mechanized Armillary Sphere and Celestial Globe) (Su Sung).

Mathematics

“Pascal’s” Triangle (a special triangular arrangement of numbers which may be used to solve certain algebraic problems) (Liu Ju-Hsieh).

Mechanical Engineering/Manufacturing

Spinning-wheel (for producing thread from fibers; possibly much earlier).

 

12 Century AD

Aeronautics

Application of the “Venturi-tube effect” (constricting the opening of a rocket tube to increase power).

Aeronautics/Entertainment

Rocket (initially used in fireworks, but, later, beginning in the 13 century, warfare).

Chemistry

Heated quartz test (for identifying saltpeter, an ingredient essential to gunpowder [the latter invented in the 9 century]).

Warfare

Repeating or “machine-gun” crossbow (for rapid, nonstop firing).

Gunpowder grenade (a small explosive which may be hurled by hand at the enemy).

 

13 Century AD

Acoustics/Music

Equal temperament tuning of musical instruments (which enables one to play them in any key) (Chu Tsai-).

Astronomy

Equatorial mounted torquetum (the equatorial or “modern” mount, which is aligned with the celestial pole, was commonly used with observational instruments, including the torquetum, and is commonly used with telescopes to this day)  (Kuo Shou-Ching).

Mathematics

Use of numerical equations of higher degrees than third (those with such values as x4, x5, etc.; essential to higher mathematics) (Ch’in Chiu-Shao).

Warfare

Handgun (which eventually revolutionized warfare).

Land mine (a bomb which is triggered when someone walks on or near it).

“Modern” metal-enclosed gunpowder bomb (which, because it produces shrapnel, is more destructive and deadly than earlier bombs).

Rocket (used as a military weapon).

Sea mine (a bomb which attaches to an enemy’s ship).

Signal flare (for communication).

 

14 Century AD

Aeronautics/Warfare

In-flight stabilizers for rockets (fins or wings that improve performance).

Multi-stage rocket (which may have a greater range than a single-stage rocket).

Warfare

Canon (which eventually revolutionized warfare; possibly invented in the 13 century).

 

17 Century AD

Aeronautics/Mechanical Engineering

Vertically mounted wind wheels (the basis of modern airplane propellers).