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Leah Verba
The historic influence of paper, wood-block printing, the compass, gunpowder, and tea
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
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
listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China. The last very important invention in
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
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
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/focus/inventions.htm
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/