Timeline of Chinese Inventions
10/29/05 10:10 PM
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from China: A Teaching Workbook,
Asia for Educators, Columbia University
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Dates in the "China" column indicate an approximate date of origin for the item or invention; dates in "The West" column
indicate the approximate time when the item or invention was received in the West.
silk, ca. 1300 BCE
• • • 1300 BCE •
••
[received in the West, 552-54 CE]
folding umbrella (?)
• • • 300 BCE • •
•
[received in the West, 1600s]
lodestone, 240 BCE
• • • 200 BCE • •
•
shadow figures (?)
• • • 100 BCE • •
•
[received in the West, after 1700]
Birth of Christ
lacquer • • • 100 CE • • •
[received in the West, 1730]
peach and apricot [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately
dated]
paper, 105 CE
[received in the West, 1150]
tea, 264-273 CE • • • 200 CE • • •
[received in the West, 1600s]
Word for porcelain first used • • • 300 CE • • •
[produced in the West, 1709]
sedanchair • • • 400 CE • • •
[received in the West, 1600s]
kite, 549 • • • 500 CE • • •
[received in the West, 1589]
silk, 552-554 [in China, ca. 1300 BCE]
• • • 600 CE • • •
playing cards • • • 700 CE • • •
[received in the West, 1377]
dominoes
gunpowder (?)
[received in the West, 1330]
porcelain described, 851 • • • 800 CE • • •
[produced in the West, 1709]
oldest printed book, 868
[Bible printed in the West, 1456]
The Song Dynasty, 960-1279
movable type, 1041-1049
• • • 900 • • •
• • • 1000 • • •
compass
[block printing in the West, 1423]
[received in the West, 1190]
zinc used in coins, 1094-1098
[described in the West, 1500s; industrially produced, 1740]
orange [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately dated]
• • • 1100 • • •
explosives, 1161
paper, 1150 [in China, 105 CE]
[gunpowder and cannon in the West, 1330]
compass, 1190 [in China, 1000s]
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/readings/inventions_timeline.htm
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Timeline of Chinese Inventions
10/29/05 10:10 PM
• • • 1200 • • •
• • • 1300 • • •
gunpowder and cannon, 1330 [in China, 700s]
playing cards, 1377 [in China, 700s]
lemon [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately dated]
• • • 1400 • • •
block printing, 1423 [movable type in China, 1041-1049]
Gutenberg's Bible, 1456 [China's first printed book, 868]
chaulmoogra oil and
ephedrine described, 1552-1578
• • • 1500 • • •
[received in the West, after 1700s]
zinc described [used in coins in China, 1094-1098]
kite, 1589 [in China, 549 CE]
• • • 1600 • • •
sedanchair [in China, 400s CE]
tea [in China, 264-273 CE]
folding umbrella [in China, in the 300s BCE]
The use of the following
also originated in China in
early times, but cannot be
accurately dated: peach,
apricot, orange, lemon,
pomelo, chrysanthemum,
tea rose, camellia, azalea,
China aster, gingko,
"German silver," wallpaper,
goldfish.
wallpaper manufactured, 1688
• • • 1700 • • •
porcelain, 1709 [in China, word first used, 300s CE; first described, 851
CE]
lacquer produced, 1730 [in China, in the 100s CE]
zinc in industrial production, 1740
"German silver" production, 1750
chrysanthemum, tea rose, camellia, azalea, China aster, grapefruit
shadow figures [in China, in the 100s BCE]
gingko, tung oil, soy bean
ephedrine and chaulmoogra oil [described in China, 1552-1578]
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