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5,000 Years of Culture and Inventions

The earliest Chinese people lived along the Huang He (Yellow) River, beginning more than 12,000 years ago during the Neolithic Period according to archeologists—so long ago! Legend says that Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, is the common ancestor of all Chinese people. So many things we use today were invented by the Chinese. How many do you know about?

About 2600 BCE, it is said that Huang Di created the lunar calendar and the zodiac. People also figured out a way to record time, as no one had clocks then! They also created a standard counting system using multiples of 10, and an early form of writing.

夏朝 Xia Dynasty (2070–1600 BCE)

Over 3,500 years ago in the Xia Dynasty, they grew rice, corn, tea, and soybeans, and made pottery and copper objects. Chopsticks were in use even then!

商朝 Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BCE)

China became the most skilled bronze-working civilization in the world, as people heated, melted, and cast metal to make pots, pans, tools, weapons, and household items. How were things preserved? People found that painting lacquer (tree sap) on wood protected it from water, bugs, and decay. Beginning about 1300 BCE, lacquer was painted on wood, houses, bowls, furniture, and ships. This allowed ancient things to survive for centuries, helping archeologists to see how people lived so long ago.

周朝 Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE)

Around 400 BCE, huge blast furnaces were invented to melt the iron out of iron ore, 1,200 years before this happened in Europe. It was now possible to make extra big pots, tools, and sculptures of gods.

In the last of the ancient dynasties, the Zhou Dynasty, people invented clever ways to bring water to crops—called irrigation systems—to grow ever larger amounts of food. Planting and irrigating crops in rows came about in this period. Over the centuries, Chinese agricultural methods became world famous, being adopted and used around the world today.

秦朝 Qin (“Ch’in”) Dynasty (221–206 BCE)

China’s name, meaning “Middle Kingdom,” comes from the Qin Dynasty, which Europeans used to pronounce as “Chine.” Powerful Emperor Qin Shihuang ruled from 221 to 206 BCE. In only 15 years he created standardized coins, weights and measures for use in trading, and built roads and canals linking the provinces with the capital. Qin imposed heavy taxes to pay for these huge projects.

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System was an engineering wonder! It stopped flooding, and channeled the Minjiang River to provide water for farming on the Chengdu Plain, now known as China’s breadbasket. Built in 223 BCE, this irrigation system still operates today.

Qin Shihuang built one of the most elaborate tombs known to mankind. Guarding his underground tomb were the Terra-cotta Warriors—8,000 life-size soldiers, all made of clay. Each one wore different clothes, with a different face, nose, eyes, hair, and armor. Many rode horses or chariots and held real bronze weapons. Qin had the tombs booby-trapped to stop grave robbers, so archeologists did not discover these underground warriors until 1974!

How did the Great Wall come about? Started in small sections by previous rulers, it was built up and extended in the Qin Dynasty to keep out invading tribes from the north. Engineers designed a way to link shorter walls with deep, strong foundations. Ultimately, it stretched for thousands of miles across northern China. About one million workers, soldiers, and prisoners labored for many, many years. Thousands died in the effort.

The Chinese invented the wheelbarrow, called the wooden ox, which made carrying big loads easier. This was also the first rickshaw, where one person pulls one or two people on a small platform.

汉朝 Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE)

Emperor Wu Di sent Zhang Qian to central Asia to make friends with China’s enemies, primarily the Huns. This was the start of the “Silk Road” trade route, along which China’s beautiful silks, lacquer ware, porcelain, tea, and spices were exported. The Silk Road (shown on page 8), started a network of trade routes linking China, India, Europe, and the Middle East.

Engineers designed deep mine shafts allowing China to mine coal, salt, and iron ore. The first suspension bridges allowed people to cross rivers and canyons. Around 100 CE, the first calculator was invented, called the abacus, along with the first seismograph, to detect earthquakes.

Top to bottom: Seismograph (Han Dynasty), magnetic compass (Song Dynasty), and abacus (Han Dynasty).

隋朝 Sui Dynasty (581–617 CE)

A huge engineering feat was completed during the Sui Dynasty: the 1,114 mile (1,792 km) long Grand Canal linked the Huang He and Chang Jiang rivers. Still heavily used, it carried huge barges and small sampans with silk, coal, food, and factory goods from north to south. Compare the Grand Canal to the Suez Canal (120 miles/193 km) and the Panama Canal (about 51 miles/82 km). Can you find the Grand Canal on page 9?

唐朝 Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE)

The Tang Dynasty is called the Golden Age of China. Printed books with poetry and literature became commonly available for people to read. Over the years, experiments with porcelain glazes on pottery led to what became “fine china” in the Song Dynasty. Paper money was invented so tax collectors did not need to carry coins.

The new practice of foot binding made women more obedient to men, and made it painful to walk. Except for those who worked in fields, most women had bound feet. Adult women’s feet were about the size of a 3–5 year old child—exquisite silk embroidered shoes hid their tiny broken feet. Footbinding continued until it was banned in the late 1800s-early 1900s.

The world’s first mechanical clock made by Yi Xiang in 725. It was huge—see the person on the top left platform!

Did you know that the oldest piece of paper was found in a Chinese tomb around 86 BCE (2,100 years ago)? It was made from bark and rope fibers, then strengthened with bamboo. This was different from ancient Egyptian paper made from papyrus.

宋朝 Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE)

By the time of the Song Dynasty, China had over 100 million people. These inventions forever changed the world:

• Magnetic compasses made ocean travel possible.

• Spinning wheels wove fibers into thread, boosting silk and cotton making.

• The “rainbow” bridge design helped tall boats use rivers.

• Chinese printing machines spurred communication; improved kilns and pottery molds created delicate porcelain.

• Chemists developed gunpowder, which led to the later invention of guns and rockets.

• Daoist monks developed the first vaccine against a dreaded disease, small pox.

During the Song Dynasty, fine dining became possible with the invention of the wok, while fine teas were sipped from beautiful porcelain china cups. Fancy restaurants and inns spread to serve traveling merchants. These new ways made the bustling cities of China even friendlier. How often do you and your family go to a restaurant or hotel?

元朝 Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 CE)

Ghenghis Khan created the Mongol Empire in central Asia and Europe through military battles. His grandson, Kublai Khan, founded the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty was the first and only Mongol-controlled dynasty. As trade flourished along the Silk Road, many people of Muslim faith moved to China and brought new cultural influences from central Asia, influencing lifestyle, food, and household furnishings.

Where are the pillars of the “rainbow” bridge? The genius of the design was that none were needed to hold it up! Now tall boats could use so many more rivers.

明朝 Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 CE)

Under the Ming Dynasty, exquisite arts and crafts flourished, and the Great Wall was repaired and extended. A grand period of exploration occurred after Ming Emperor Zhu Di directed hundreds of ships to be built and filled with expensive jewelry, silks, tea, and other goods to trade with the world. Named “The Treasure Fleet,” 317 ships carrying 27,000 men (including cooks, doctors, scribes, priests, and diplomats), sailed south into the open sea in 1405. Commanded by Admiral Zheng He, they visited 37 countries.

These inventions helped the Treasure Fleet take seven trips across open seas instead of hugging coastlines, which is risky:

• Paper and printing were used to make long paper sailing charts. Reading from the magnetic compass helped to calculate star locations and length of time for travel.

• Moveable rudders, invented in the Han Dynasty, steered these big sailing ships.

• Moveable sails meant sailors did not have to wait for winds to blow in the right direction.

Sadly, after Zheng He returned, civil wars halted new trips. Many journals from his voyages were lost. Some think he may have reached America and Australia, but proof is hard to find. Still, China’s role as a powerful maritime trader began with the travels of Zheng He’s fleet.

During the Ming Dynasty, the process of mass-producing exquisite blue and white porcelain was developed. This beautiful house ware became known as “fine china” around the world.

Two amazing buildings were built in Beijing during the Ming dynasty: The Temple of Heaven (above) and the Imperial Palace. Both were built of wood—without using any nails!

The Imperial Palace was known as the Forbidden City, because it was off limits to everyone but royalty, their families, servants and staff, and people on official business. Now a world-class museum, about 9,000 people lived there during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Temple of Heaven was where the Emperor went to pray in winter for an abundant spring harvest.

Can you imagine sailing across an ocean and all you can see is endless miles of waves? Can you imagine making friends with strangers who don’t speak your language? How would you go about it? Would you bring gifts or weapons?

清朝 Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)

The first 150 years of the Qing Dynasty were its glory days. China now stretched from Manchuria (the rooster’s head on pages 8-9) to Mongolia, Central Asia (parts of what is now Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan); south to Tibet and Southeast Asia, including parts of what is now Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Demand grew for Chinese goods. For example in 1684, tea traders began to sell to England. In 1720, they sold 400,000 pounds of tea; by 1800, this grew to 23 million pounds! Other Chinese-made goods like silk, porcelain, cotton and cloisonné (page 42) were in great demand around the world.

In 1908, three-year old Pu Yi became China’s last emperor, ending China’s Imperial Period. Under an agreement with the new government, Pu Yi stopped being emperor in 1912, but was allowed to live in the Inner Court. After being the home of 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City was no longer the political center of China.

In Imperial China, the dragon symbolized yang, the power and majesty of the emperor, and the phoenix symbolized yin, the feminine qualities of the empress. Today, the dragon is still a symbol of power, wealth, and respect. Did you know the dragon of royalty had five claws, while the people’s dragon had only three or four? Traditionally, colors had special meanings:

• Red was for happiness, worn at weddings and on festive holidays.

• Yellow was for royalty. In ancient times, only emperors and empresses could wear yellow. Common people could be jailed (or worse!) for wearing yellow.

• Green symbolized spring and renewal.

• White was traditionally worn when people mourned a death.

• Dark blue and black were worn as common people’s working clothes.

This Marble Boat and the Summer Palace (page 7) were lavishly restored by Empress Dowager Cixi. She took money meant for building a strong navy. Without this, several coastal cities were taken over by other countries. One was Hong Kong, which was not returned to China until 1997.

But the last half of the 1800s was quite difficult. Millions died in the Taiping Rebellion (a civil war), floods and droughts. A series of humiliating defeats by other countries forced China to give up land: in the Opium War, Hong Kong was ceded to the British. The Anglo-French invasion, also called the Second Opium War, the Sino-Japanese War, and the Boxer Rebellion, which led to the Eight Nation Alliance War, also caused big land losses. Revolutionary forces led by Sun Yat-Sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty and formed the Republic of China in 1911.

现代 Modern Times (1911—present)

Because living conditions were so hard in the late 1800s due to floods, drought and war, many thousands moved to California (called “Gold Mountain”) in the United States. They worked in gold mines, on the Transcontinental Railroad, and built levees in the Sacramento Delta, to channel water to grow crops. Many sent back their wages to help pay for Sun Yat-Sen’s revolution to end China’s dynasties. Today, Sun Yat-Sen is known as the Father of New China.

In 1937, an eight year war started when Japan invaded China—their bombs killed many people and destroyed precious historic buildings and ancient treasures. In 1941, American volunteers formed the Flying Tigers Air Squadron, to support China in its fight against Japan. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States entered World War II, and China and the US supported each other.

In 1946, fights between Mao Zedong’s Communists and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek’s Nationalist Army, called the Kuomintang, led to a three-year civil war. In the end, Chiang fled to Taiwan, keeping China’s name (the Republic of China, or ROC). Mao Zedong renamed the mainland the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949.

In the 1990s, construction of the Three Gorges Dam began. For centuries, the Chang Jiang River overflowed its banks during rainy seasons, causing thousands to die or be made homeless. The dam controls this powerful river and creates electric energy for China’s industries to grow.

More recently, hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was a great success. Preparing for the Olympics helped China modernize many facilities and spurred rapid growth. Chinese athletes won many medals. Putting on such a successful international event brought national pride and glory to China that will not be forgotten.

Sun Yat-Sen, Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong