Ancient China

The people of the Huang Valley created a rich civilization that lives on today.

The Chinese were ruled by various dynasties. A dynasty is a time period that is ruled by a specific family. When a new dynasty came into power it would overthrow the existing dynasty.

In 214 BC the building of the Great Wall of China begins. It is designed to keep out a destitute and starving people, the nomadic Hsiung Nu.
There are many great Chinese inventions. In fact, some of the greatest inventions in the world were by the Chinese. They excelled in mechanical contraptions, spiritual, and many simple inventions that were not much more then bamboo and silk. They also had many objects that went to studying the world and universe around them.

In the T'ang dynasty, fireworks were invented. These were originally for shows, but later on they used them to scare of enemies in war. The fireworks were mainly small bamboo cases filled with gunpowder, and a fuse was put on the side.

In the Han dynasty, they invented the wheel barrow, which was for carrying loads too heavy for a normal person's back to support. The wheel barrow was originally wood, so the Chinese nick named it the wooden ox.

The Chinese designed a machine called the Earthquake weathercock, which was a contraption that told them when and where an earthquake would occur. This machine looked like a giant six foot bronze pot that had dragon heads lining the top, and ivory frogs under each dragon.

They made the compass, which started out as a wooden circle with markings on it, and a magnetic spoon on top. The compass was for religious use. When a new houses was being built, the used it to see if the house was faced in perfect harmony with nature (which meant they thought if you faced your house north, you and nature would get along).

The Chinese first manufactured the "fan", which was mostly carried by women and soldiers. Most of the fans were made out of bamboo and silk. The fan was basically many bamboo spines sticking out in almost a half circle with silk wrapped around it.

They also first created kites, which mostly children played with. The kites were most of the time silk squares, held together by bamboo.

The Chinese created many things with bamboo which made a lot of baskets and holders and were really strong.

The Chinese were the first to discover iron casting around the sixth century, when they mixed tin and copper together.

The Chinese also were the first to think of harvesting silk, and make clothes, fans, kites, toys, paper, and lots of other things from it.

They also produced the first planetarium, which was actually made by an emperor. The planetarium was a big enclosed place with stars and constellations on the inside. The person using the planetarium would sit in a chair that was hanging from the top of the enclosed dome.

Here are more things the Chinese have done for us:

• They changed the way battles were fought with gunpowder.
• They revolutionized agriculture by harnessing animals
• They made boats with magnetic compasses, and they were the first to discover the rudder.
• The first clock that they devised was for astronomical uses. In the first clock ever, a puppet would hold up a plaque that would tell the time.
• In their writing, there were 80,000 different symbols.
• They created the first blast furnace, which was water powered.
• They made giant water clocks, which rang every fifteen minutes.
• They invented the first object for counting, called an abacus.
• The Chinese use a method of medical treatment called acupuncture. It involves the use of very small needles which are strategically stuck into nerve endings to treat various illnesses.
• They also processed grain with bamboo machinery.
• In the 3rd century, they a found a wine that acted like anesthetic, and they also used herbs before the age of written history.
• The Chinese invented paper and printing.
• The Chinese, who were the first to invent books, had book shops in every city by the end of the T'ang dynasty.
• The Chinese invented paper money.
• They used paper for lots of things. They modified paper to make raincoats, windows, umbrellas, they used a lot of paper in their houses even windows! Many of the children's toys were made out of paper, and even armor for war was made from strengthened paper.
• They were also the first to make bombs for war, in the 17th century, which were no more then a bamboo shell, about the thickness of two men's legs, and the length of a man's leg. The bombs were then filled with gunpowder, and a fuse like the firework's, was installed.
• The Chinese also built the first cannon, which were just bamboo cases holding gunpowder and were put in a big iron cannon. One of the Chinese's more useful weapons was a bamboo or iron basket, which was like a smaller version of the cannon, that had arrows with rockets attached to them. The arrow rockets would shoot out of the miniature cannon like bullets out of a gun would.