Who were the four great inventors of ancient China and what did they invent?

1. Zhang Heng?

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, about 1,800 years ago (117 AD), a large-scale astronomical instrument was driven by water power - ―The "water transport muddy phenomenon" was successfully created in Luoyang, Kyoto in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Twenty years later (138 AD), another instrument installed in Luoyang, Kyoto, the "Wai Feng Seismograph" accurately reported earthquakes that occurred thousands of miles away in the west. This marks the beginning of a new era for humans to use instruments to record and study earthquakes. ?

2. Cai Lun?

The name of Cai Lun, the inventor of paper, may be little known. Compared with his major inventions, the extent to which he has been ignored in the West is indeed staggering. Some large encyclopedias do not even mention him in a short article, and his name is rarely mentioned in standard history textbooks. mentioned.

Since the importance of paper is obvious, the lack of historical data about Cai Lun may lead people to believe that his character is purely fictional. However, careful study clearly shows that Cai Lun is indeed a real person.

3. Bi Sheng?

Invention: the inventor of movable type printing?

4. Du Shi?

Du Shi , (?-38) mechanical engineer of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The word is Jungong. A native of Ji County, Henan (now Henan). During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, he served as the censor. In the seventh year of Jianwu (AD 31), when he was serving as the prefect of Nanyang, he invented the water blower (hydraulic blower), which used hydraulic power to drive machinery to continuously open and close leather airbags, send air to the iron smelting furnace, and cast agricultural tools. Less effort and more results.

Extended information:

As early as 1550, the Italian mathematician Jerome Cardin was the first to point out that China’s “three great inventions” that have impacted the world are: Sinan (compass), printing and gunpowder. And considered them to be "no comparable invention in the entire ancient times."

In 1620, the British philosopher Bacon also mentioned in the book "New Tools": "Printing, gunpowder, The three inventions of the compass have changed the entire outlook and situation of things around the world.”

Then, from 1861 to 1863, Marx and Engels pushed the significance of these inventions to one. At the peak, Marx wrote in "Machinery, Natural Forces and the Application of Science": "Gunpowder, the compass, and printing - these are the three great inventions that heralded the arrival of bourgeois society.

Gunpowder exploded the knight class was shattered, the compass opened world markets and established colonies, while printing became a tool of Protestantism, in general a means of scientific renaissance, the most powerful lever creating the necessary prerequisites for spiritual development ."

Engels clearly pointed out in "The German Peasant War": "A series of inventions are of more or less important significance, and the one with glorious historical significance is gunpowder.

It has now been proven beyond a doubt that gunpowder was passed from China to the Arabs through India, and then introduced to Europe by the Arabs and gunpowder weapons through Spain.”

British Sinologist Mai. Du Si pointed out: "The inventive genius of the Chinese has been manifested in many aspects very early. The three major inventions of the Chinese (the navigation compass (Sinan), printing, and gunpowder) have provided extraordinary impetus to the development of European civilization. ."

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhang Heng

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Cai Lun

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Bi Sheng

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Du Shi