Four Great Inventions

The Four Great Inventions are the four most important inventions in the history of China. They are celebrated in Chinese culture for their historical importance. They are seen as symbols of China's advanced science and technology.

The Four Great Inventions are:
 The compass,
 Gunpowder,
 Papermaking,
 Printing.

These four discoveries had a big impact on the development of Chinese civilization. They also had a big impact on global technology.Francis Bacon wrote of the importance of these technologies to the medieval world: "Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries." Novum Organum, Book I, CXXIX Some modern Chinese scholars have argued that other Chinese inventions had an even bigger impact on civilization.

References

Category:History of China
Category:History of technology