Other Contributions by China
2 min readIn addition to these four great inventions and what have been mentioned in the first paragraph, China, in the past chronological dynasties, also invented earthquake detector, porcelain, scull, water-tight ship compartment, stern axial rudder, axial turning rudder, balance rudder, holed rudder, distance-recording chariot, armillary sphere, running horse lantern(embryo of gas turbine), abacus, silk, plough, lunar calendar, acupuncture, oracle, and so on and so forth, all of which have been great contributions to the world civilization and to the development of science and technology of the world as well, which truly proves the fact that “The ancient Chinese were great creators.”In the countless inventions lay the wisdom of the Chinese nation.
Today the cultural value of the four great inventions is universally acknowledged. Decker Hyde, an American scholar, said,”If there were no paper and no typography we would still be living in the medieval times. If there were no gunpowder, the world would probably suffer less, but the medieval European knights in helmet and armor would still act as lords in their moat-surrounded castles，and our society would still be subject to the feudalistic slavery.Finally，without the compass the era of great geographical discoveries would never have arrived.
It wasthese discoveries that stimulated the material and cultural life of the Europeans and brought them knowledge of the world yet unknown to them，including our America.”Compass，paper making，gunpowder and printing were great technological achievements that the Chinese nation dedicated to the world，which altered the historical course of the human being.They reflected and represented the brilliance and prosperity of the ancient Chinese civilization.
