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Leah Verba

Ms. Diane Nicole

7th Grade History

October 27, 2017

Inventions that Impacted Medieval China

The historic influence of paper, wood-block printing, the compass, gunpowder, and tea

impacted Medieval China.

Paper and Wood-block printing impacted Medieval china. “Besides the four great

inventions: papermaking, printing, gunpowder and the compass, Ancient China contributed

countless other inventions to the world” (Wang). Woodblock printing was a technique for

printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in

antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the

earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220 AD, and woodblock printing remained

the most common East Asian method of printing books and other texts, as well as images, until

the 19th century. Contemporary precursors such as papyrus existed in the Mediterranean world

and pre-Columbian Americas, respectively, these materials are not defined as true paper. The

first papermaking process was documented in China during the Eastern Han period (25-220

C.E). Wood block printing and paper were not the only inventions in medieval china, there was

also the compass and gunpowder.

The compass and gunpowder impacted Medieval China. “The compass and gunpowder

were two of the four great inventions of China” (“Four Great Inventions”). Chinese compasses

were invented for more than just helping people find their way when traveling. Compasses were
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originally developed for aligning buildings with directions (north, south, east or west), and as a

tool used in fortune telling. The compass was made from iron oxide, a mineral ore. The most

popular style of the first Chinese compass used a lodestone (which automatically points to the

south) and a bronze plate. Additionally, the invention of gunpowder is usually attributed to

experimentation in Chinese alchemy by Taoists in the pursuit of immortality, and is popularly

listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China. The last very important invention in

Medieval China was Tea.

Lastly, tea also impacted Medieval China. “As Chinese society developed and

progressed, tea production has played a role in driving economic development while tea

consumption has remained a practice of daily life” (“History of Chinese Tea”). Chinese have

enjoyed tea for millennia. Scholars hailed the brew as a cure for a variety of ailments; the

nobility considered the consumption of good tea as a mark of their status, and the common

people simply enjoyed its flavour. Tea then became a popular drink in the Tang (618-907) and

Song (960-1279) Dynasties. While historically the origin of tea as a medicinal herb useful for

staying awake is unclear, China is considered to have the earliest records of tea drinking, with

recorded tea use in its history dating back to the first millennium BCE. This inventions were very

useful and popular in Medieval China

The historic influence of the manufacture of paper, wood-block printing, the compass,

gunpowder, and tea impacted Medieval China. The manufacture of paper and wood-block

printing that were advancements that impacted Medieval China with writing. The compass and

gunpowder were also advancements that impacted Medieval China with traveling and war.
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Lastly, tea was a big invention in Medieval China. Paper, wood block printing, compass,

gunpowder, and tea were invented to make lives easier in Medieval China.
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Works Cited

“Four Great Inventions of Ancient China.” ​Travel China Guide,

​https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/focus/inventions.htm

“History of Chinese Tea.”​ China highlights,

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OEkQ4Lw2bCjKuwo0E-R91VpI0Y1u87nYiFQ8E

u_mn_g/edit

Wang, Peter. “Top 20 Ancient Chinese Inventions.” ​China Whisper​, ​November 21 2012,

http://www.chinawhisper.com/top-20-ancient-chinese-inventions/