You may know that lots of inventions that have changed the world were created in ancient China. Papermaking (造纸，zào zhǐ), printing (印刷，yìn shuā), magnetic compass (指南针，zhǐ nán zhēn) and gunpowder (火药，huǒ yào) are known as the four great Chinese inventions (中国四大发明， zhōng guó sì dà fā míng).But the Chinese didn’t stop at these amazing inventions! They also created a lot more things without which your life wouldn’t be the same! We put together for you a list of 10 surprising Chinese inventions. Prepare to be amazed!
1. Ketchup 茄汁 (qié zhī) / 番茄酱 (fān qié jiàng)
Starting in 300 BC ketchup was made in China as a fermented fish sauce (酿造鱼露，niàng zào yú lù), and then in the 18th century Britain created countless varieties. But it took until 1812 for the first tomato ketchup recipe to be published.
The word ‘ketchup’ is said to have come from the Hokkien Chinese, more commonly known as 福建话 (fú jiàn huà), word ‘kê-tsiap’ which described a type of sauce made from fermented fish (yummy!). Although the Hokkien translation has since died out, the pronunciation tsiap pronounced ‘zhī’ (汁) in Mandarin is still used today to mean ‘juice’. Before the British arrived, Fujian sailors took the sauce with them to Malaysia and the Philippines along with their red rice wine, where it became part of their local cuisine.
2. The Compass 司南 (sī nán) / 指南针 (zhǐ nán zhēn)
Long before European navigators roamed the seas, the Chinese invented the compass. The compass was created around the Qin Dynasty era (221 – 207 BC), but not for the reasons you’d expect. Long before it was used for navigation, the compass was actually used by fortune tellers (算命先生，suàn mìng xiān shēng) on their boards to make predictions.
The first compass was made of a spoon-shaped lodestone (天然磁石，tiān rán cí shí), a natural magnetic stone that naturally indicates the South. Later on, the Chinese improved on their first compass to create the magnetic needle compass during the 8th century AD, used on water.
3. The Earthquake Detector 候风地动仪 (hòu fēng dì dòng yí)
The first seismograph (地震仪，dì zhèn yí), according to records, was invented by 张衡 (zhāng héng) Zhang Heng, a scholar who specialized in astronomy and maths during the Han Dynasty. The ancient Chinese believed that earthquakes were caused by an imbalance of Yin and Yang. Because of his scientific studies, Zhang was able to discover that earthquakes were actually a natural phenomenon (自然现象，zì rán xiàn xiàng), and developed his seismograph to react to the initial tremors of a quake. The seismograph would shake, causing a ball to fall from a dragon’s mouth into the mouth of one of the toads. Because there were 8 dragons and 8 corresponding toads, the seismograph could also detect the direction from which the earthquake was coming. If the ball fell from the easterly dragon, then the quake was coming from the west.
4. The Toothbrush 牙刷 (yá shuā)
The toothbrush was invented in 1498 (although some sources state it was as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)) and was made from hog hairs (马鬃，mǎ zōng) attached to a bamboo handle. Boar bristles (野猪毛，yě zhū máo) were still used up until 1948 when nylon (尼龙，ní lóng) bristles were introduced! It took several centuries before the toothbrush arrived in Europe, where most people were using rags rolled in soot or salt!
5. The Fork 叉子 (chā zi)
Yes, seriously. The ancient civilization who now uses two sticks for eating also invented the fork. Bone forks (骨叉，gǔ chā) have been found as far back as the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BC). Although the fork was exclusively used by the ruling class (统治阶级，tǒng zhì jiē jí), eventually because of the nature of Chinese cuisine, chopsticks became more popular. It wasn’t until the 11th Century AD that the fork arrived in Venice, for the wedding of Byzantine Princess, Theodora Anna Doukaina.
6. Toilet Paper 厕纸 (cè zhǐ)
Chinese inventions can be very surprising sometimes! Have you ever thought about how toilet paper came into existence? Well, it all started around the year 851, during the Tang dynasty, when the Chinese invented toilet paper. But it’s during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD) that the use of toilet paper rose! At the time, toilet paper was actually made of huge sheets of soft fabric (柔软织物，róu ruǎn zhī wù), which only the Emperors and their family could use. Then the use of toilet paper spread to the people and to Europe via the good old Silk Road (丝绸之路，sī chóu zhī lù)!
7. Booze 酒 (jiǔ)
The Ancient Chinese were said to have been drinking beer 9000 years ago! Rice, hawthorns and honey were brewed to make a 4-5% beer that was very popular during the Xia Dynasty. Once brewing improved, yellow wine started to appear during the ‘Warring States Period’ (475-221 BC). According to Chinese legend, however, Yi Di (仪狄), an officer of the first Emperor, Yu (大禹) invented alcohol in approximately 2100 BC. It was said that Yu drank so much that it affected his ruling and Yi Di was sent away.
8. Rocket 火箭 (huǒ jiàn)
The Chinese had invented gunpowder during the Tang Dynasty in the 9th Century AD and had begun experimenting with gunpowder filled bamboo attached to arrows, launching them from bows. They soon realized that the bamboo could launch itself from the escaping gases, and the first ‘rocket’ was born! Although the rocket was initially used as weapon by the Chinese against the Mongols in 1232 AD, there is a legend that Chinese official Wan Hu (万户) invented a rocket-powered chair. His plan was to visit the moon, although it seems more likely that he was blown to smithereens on take-off.
9. Football 蹴鞠 (cù jū) / 足球 (zú qiú)
Yes, the game apparently played by the British using a pig’s bladder as a ball, was actually thought to be invented by the Chinese.
Football was invented during the Song Dynasty (960-1279AD), and was known as Cuju (蹴鞠). One form of Cuju, was to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible, another, more like the game we know today, was to pass the ball from player to player before putting it in a goal. Cuju was taken extremely seriously, clubs existed with managers and trainers, and the teams were made up of wealthy young men from good families.
10. Printing 印刷 (yìn shuā)
With the invention of paper, came the eventual ability to print. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), engineers used wooden blocks to print onto silk and were soon copying Buddhist texts (佛经，fó jīng). In 762, the first printed books were sold in the markets of Chang’an (长安), the capital at the time. Paper money also appeared sometime during the 700s. Wooden block printing (雕版印刷，diāo bǎn yìn shuā) was limiting, but moveable-type printing (活字印刷，huó zì yìn shuā) was invented by Bi Sheng (毕昇).
Source: Writtenchinese, Ninchanese.com
Editor: Jade
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