elektronika: List of Chinese inventions

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

China has been the source of many innovations, scientific discoveries and inventions. This includes the Four Great Inventions: papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and early printing (both woodblock and movable type). The list below contains these and other inventions in ancient and modern China attested by archaeological or historical evidence, including prehistoric inventions of Neolithic and early Bronze Age China. The historical region now known as China experienced a history involving Steel, hydraulics and mathematics applied to horology, metallurgy, astronomy, agriculture, engineering, music theory, craftsmanship, naval architecture and warfare. Use of the plow during the Neolithic pe…

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

China has been the source of many innovations, scientific discoveries and inventions. Below is an alphabetical list of inventions and discoveries made by Neolithic cultures of China and those of its prehistorical early Bronze Age before the palatial civilization of the Shang dynasty (c. 1650 – c. 1050 BC). These include the Bronze Age Erlitou culture and the semi-legendary Xia dynasty that, unlike the Shang, is not yet confirmed to have existed with evidence of contemporary texts. The contemporaneous Peiligang and Pengtoushan cultures represent the oldest Neolithic cultures of China and were formed around 7000 BC. Some of the first inventions of Neolithic China include semilunar and rectang…

Evidence: 40 • authority: 72

Many significant developments in the history of science and technology in China took place during the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). The Han period saw great innovations in metallurgy. Following the inventions of the blast furnace and cupola furnace during the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 – 256 BCE) to make pig iron and cast iron respectively, the Han period saw the development of steel and wrought iron by use of the finery forge and puddling process. With the drilling of deep boreholes into the earth, the Chinese used not only derricks to lift brine up to the surface to be boiled into salt, but also set up bamboo-crafted pipeline transport systems which brought natural gas as fuel to the furnace…

Evidence: 32 • authority: 72

Prehistoric Chinese religions are religious beliefs and practices of prehistoric peoples in China prior to the earliest intelligible writings in the region (c. 1250 BCE). They most prominently comprise spiritual traditions of Neolithic and early Bronze Age cultures in various regions of China, which preceded the ancient religions documented during early Chinese dynasties. While many of these cultures shared similar faith and practices, each developed distinct features in its religious life. Modern studies of these religions are obstructed by the absence of contemporary written records. Neolithic cultures in China appeared in various regions across the country. An early culture was the Peili…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Han Chinese, alternatively Han people or Chinese people, are an East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 17% of the world population. The Han Chinese represent 91.11% of the population in China and 97% of the population in Taiwan. They are a significant diasporic group in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. Han Chinese have exerted the primary formative influence in Chinese culture and history. Han Chinese trace their ancestry and culture to the Huaxia people, a confederation of agricultu…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The 4th millennium BC spanned the years 4000 BC to 3001 BC. It marked a critical turning point in human history, characterized by the transition from late Neolithic agricultural societies into urban, state-level civilizations. This millennium witnessed the invention of writing, the initial spread of bronze metallurgy, the adoption of the wheeled vehicle, and the rise of the first primary states in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, effectively initiating recorded history. The city states of Sumer and the (Predynastic) Kingdom of Egypt were established and grew to prominence. Agriculture spread widely across Eurasia. World population growth relaxed after the burst that came about from the Neolit…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Xia dynasty (, SHEE-ah; Chinese: 夏朝; pinyin: Xiàcháo; Wade–Giles: Hsia Ch'ao) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. Some scholars, especially Western historians and Sinologists, consider the Xia dynasty legendary or at least unsubstantiated, while a majority of Chinese archeologists consider it historical and identify it with the archaeological Erlitou culture (c. 1900–1500 BC). According to tradition, it was established by the likely legendary figure Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In traditional historiography, the Xia dynasty was succeeded by the Shang dynasty. There are no contemporaneous records of the Xia, and…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Late Shang, also known as the Anyang period, is the earliest known literate civilization in China, spanning the reigns of the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty, beginning with Wu Ding in the second half of the 13th century BC and ending with the conquest of the Shang by the Zhou in the mid-11th century BC. The state is known from artifacts recovered from its capital at a site near Anyang now known as Yinxu and other sites across the North China Plain. One of the richest finds was the Tomb of Fu Hao at Yinxu, thought to belong to a consort of Wu Ding mentioned in Shang inscriptions. Most Shang writing takes the form of inscriptions on oracle bones used for divinations on behalf of the…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Shang dynasty (Chinese: 商朝; pinyin: Shāngcháo), also known as the Yin dynasty (殷代; Yīn dài), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the 2nd millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals and Shiji. Modern scholarship dates the dynasty between the 16th and 11th centuries BC, with more agreement surrounding the end date than beginning date. The Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty within traditional Chinese history that is firmly supported by archaeological evidence. The archaeological site of Yinxu, near moder…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Zhou dynasty ( JOH; Chinese: 周; pinyin: Zhōu, pronunciation: [ʈʂóʊ]) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 790 years from c. 1046 BC until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (c. 1046 – 771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military control over territories centered on the Wei River valley and North China Plain. Even as Zhou suzerainty became increasingly ceremonial over the following Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), the political system created by the Zhou royal house survived in some form for several additional centuries. A date of 1046 BC for the Zhou's establishment is supported by the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Pro…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Qin dynasty ( CHIN) was the first imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng engaged in a series of wars conquering each of the rival states that had previously pledged fealty to the Zhou. This culminated in 221 BC with the successful unification of China. The Qin then assumed an imperial prerogative – with Ying Zheng declaring himself to be Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, and bringing an end to the Warring States period (c. 475–221 BC). This state of affairs lasted until 206 BC, when the dynasty collapsed in the years following Qin Shi Huang…