--- title: "Chinese Inventions: The Four Great Inventions (四大发明), Ancient to Modern, With Pinyin" description: "Chinese inventions in Chinese: the four great inventions 四大发明, paper, the compass, gunpowder and printing, with who made them and when, silk, porcelain, kites and paper money, the seismoscope of 张衡, the new four from 高铁 to 移动支付, and 57 words with pinyin and sound." canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-inventions" author: "Mandarin The Wild" --- Free · 57 words # Chinese inventions [Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E5%9B%9B%E5%A4%A7%E5%8F%91%E6%98%8E%20%E9%80%A0%E7%BA%B8%E6%9C%AF%20%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97%E9%92%88%20%E7%81%AB%E8%8D%AF%20%E5%8D%B0%E5%88%B7%E6%9C%AF%20%E6%B4%BB%E5%AD%97%E5%8D%B0%E5%88%B7%20%E5%8F%B8%E5%8D%97%20%E7%BD%97%E7%9B%98%20%E4%B8%9D%E7%BB%B8%20%E7%93%B7%E5%99%A8%20%E8%8C%B6%20%E7%AD%B7%E5%AD%90%20%E8%B1%86%E8%85%90%20%E9%A3%8E%E7%AD%9D%20%E9%9B%A8%E4%BC%9E%20%E7%BA%B8%E5%B8%81%20%E7%83%9F%E8%8A%B1%20%E7%AE%97%E7%9B%98%20%E6%BC%86%E5%99%A8%20%E7%8B%AC%E8%BD%AE%E8%BD%A6%20%E5%9C%B0%E5%8A%A8%E4%BB%AA%20%E6%B5%91%E5%A4%A9%E4%BB%AA%20%E5%8E%86%E6%B3%95%20%E4%BA%8C%E5%8D%81%E5%9B%9B%E8%8A%82%E6%B0%94%20%E5%9C%86%E5%91%A8%E7%8E%87%20%E9%93%B8%E9%93%81%20%E5%BC%A9%20%E9%A9%AC%E9%95%AB%20%E7%81%AB%E7%AE%AD%20%E8%94%A1%E4%BC%A6%20%E6%AF%95%E5%8D%87%20%E5%BC%A0%E8%A1%A1%20%E7%A5%96%E5%86%B2%E4%B9%8B%20%E6%B2%88%E6%8B%AC%20%E9%B2%81%E7%8F%AD%20%E6%9D%8E%E6%97%B6%E7%8F%8D%20%E6%9C%AC%E8%8D%89%E7%BA%B2%E7%9B%AE%20%E5%AD%99%E5%AD%90%E5%85%B5%E6%B3%95%20%E9%95%BF%E5%9F%8E%20%E5%A4%A7%E8%BF%90%E6%B2%B3%20%E9%83%BD%E6%B1%9F%E5%A0%B0%20%E4%B8%9D%E7%BB%B8%E4%B9%8B%E8%B7%AF%20%E8%B1%A1%E6%A3%8B%20%E5%9B%B4%E6%A3%8B%20%E9%BA%BB%E5%B0%86%20%E8%B9%B4%E9%9E%A0%20%E9%92%88%E7%81%B8%20%E4%B8%AD%E5%8C%BB%20%E9%AB%98%E9%93%81%20%E7%A7%BB%E5%8A%A8%E6%94%AF%E4%BB%98%20%E5%85%B1%E4%BA%AB%E5%8D%95%E8%BD%A6%20%E7%BD%91%E8%B4%AD%20%E6%94%AF%E4%BB%98%E5%AE%9D%20%E5%8F%91%E6%98%8E%20%E5%8F%91%E6%98%8E%E5%AE%B6%20%E7%A7%91%E6%8A%80%20%E5%8F%A4%E4%BB%A3) Speed ## The four great inventions (四大发明) | | In Chinese | When | Who and how | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Papermaking | 造纸术 zàozhǐshù | Han dynasty, about AD 105 | 蔡伦 (Cài Lún) made paper from bark, hemp and rags | | The compass | 指南针 zhǐnánzhēn | Song dynasty, 11th century | A magnetised needle, first written up by 沈括 (Shěn Kuò) | | Gunpowder | 火药 huǒyào | Tang dynasty, 9th century | Found by alchemists looking for a potion of long life | | Printing | 印刷术 yìnshuāshù | Tang woodblocks; Song movable type, about 1040 | 毕升 (Bì Shēng) carved movable type in clay | ## The four great inventions sì四dà大fā发míng明 the Four Great Inventions (of ancient China) zào造zhǐ纸shù术 papermaking (technique) zhǐ指nán南zhēn针 compass huǒ火yào药 gunpowder yìn印shuā刷shù术 printing (technique) huó活zì字yìn印shuā刷 movable type printing sī司nán南 ancient south-pointing compass luó罗pán盘 compass ## Things China gave the world sī丝chóu绸 silk; silk cloth cí瓷qì器 porcelain; chinaware chá茶 tea kuài筷zi子 chopsticks dòu豆fu腐 tofu; bean curd fēng风zheng筝 kite yǔ雨sǎn伞 umbrella zhǐ纸bì币 paper money; banknote yān烟huā花 fireworks suàn算pán盘 abacus qī漆qì器 lacquerware dú独lún轮chē车 wheelbarrow ## Science and war dì地dòng动yí仪 seismograph (esp. Zhang Heng's) hún浑tiān天yí仪 armillary sphere lì历fǎ法 calendar system èr二shí十sì四jié节qì气 the 24 solar terms (of the Chinese calendar) yuán圆zhōu周lǜ率 pi (ratio of circumference to diameter) zhù铸tiě铁 cast iron nǔ弩 crossbow mǎ马dèng镫 stirrup huǒ火jiàn箭 rocket ## Inventors and their books cài蔡lún伦 Cai Lun (Han dynasty inventor of papermaking) bì毕shēng升 Bi Sheng (c. 990-1051), inventor of movable type zhāng张héng衡 Zhang Heng (78-139), Han dynasty astronomer and inventor zǔ祖chōng冲zhī之 Zu Chongzhi (429-500), mathematician and astronomer shěn沈kuò括 Shen Kuo (Song dynasty scientist) lǔ鲁bān班 Lu Ban (legendary master carpenter of ancient China) lǐ李shí时zhēn珍 Li Shizhen (1518-1593), author of the Compendium of Materia Medica běn本cǎo草gāng纲mù目 Compendium of Materia Medica (Ming dynasty pharmacopoeia by Li Shizhen) sūn孙zǐ子bīng兵fǎ法 The Art of War (by Sunzi) ## Great works cháng长chéng城 the Great Wall dà大yùn运hé河 Grand Canal (from Beijing to Hangzhou) dū都jiāng江yàn堰 Dujiangyan (ancient irrigation system and city in Sichuan) sī丝chóu绸zhī之lù路 the Silk Road ## Games and medicine xiàng象qí棋 Chinese chess wéi围qí棋 go (board game); weiqi má麻jiàng将 mahjong cù蹴jū鞠 cuju (ancient Chinese football) zhēn针jiǔ灸 acupuncture; acupuncture and moxibustion zhōng中yī医 traditional Chinese medicine ## The new four inventions gāo高tiě铁 high-speed rail; bullet train yí移dòng动zhī支fù付 mobile payment gòng共xiǎng享dān单chē车 shared bike; bike-sharing wǎng网gòu购 to shop online zhī支fù付bǎo宝 Alipay ## Talking about inventions fā发míng明 invention fā发míng明jiā家 inventor kē科jì技 science and technology gǔ古dài代 ancient times; antiquity ## What are the four great inventions of China? 四大发明 (sì dà fāmíng): papermaking 造纸术 (zàozhǐshù), the compass 指南针 (zhǐnánzhēn), gunpowder 火药 (huǒyào) and printing 印刷术 (yìnshuāshù). The name was given in the 19th century by Western scholars and taken up in China, where every child learns it at school. ## Who invented paper in China? 蔡伦 (Cài Lún), a court official of the Han dynasty, who around 105 made paper from tree bark, hemp, rags and old fishing nets and presented it to the emperor. Rougher paper had been made in China for two centuries before him; his made it cheap and good enough to write on. ## What did ancient China invent besides the four great inventions? Silk 丝绸 (sīchóu), porcelain 瓷器 (cíqì), the kite 风筝 (fēngzheng), paper money 纸币 (zhǐbì) in the Song dynasty, cast iron 铸铁 (zhùtiě), the crossbow 弩 (nǔ), the wheelbarrow 独轮车 (dúlúnchē), fireworks 烟花 (yānhuā), the abacus 算盘 (suànpán) and 张衡’s seismoscope 地动仪 (dìdòngyí) of 132, which showed which direction an earthquake came from. ## What are China’s new four great inventions? 新四大发明 (xīn sì dà fāmíng): high-speed rail 高铁 (gāotiě), mobile payment 移动支付 (yídòng zhīfù), shared bikes 共享单车 (gòngxiǎng dānchē) and online shopping 网购 (wǎnggòu). Young people from twenty countries named them in a 2017 survey; China did not invent them first, but made them part of everyday life. ## Did China invent football? An early form of it. 蹴鞠 (cùjū), kicking a ball into a net, was played from the Warring States period and was popular at the Song court, and FIFA calls it the earliest form of football it has evidence for. Today football is 足球 (zúqiú). ## How do you say invention in Chinese? 发明 (fāmíng) is both to invent and an invention, and an inventor is a 发明家 (fāmíngjiā). 中国人发明了纸 (Zhōngguó rén fāmíng le zhǐ) means the Chinese invented paper. ## Can’t hear it? Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead. ## More on Chinese history - [Chinese dynasties in order](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dynasties) - [Chinese landmarks](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-landmarks) - [Chinese art and porcelain words](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-art-words) - [Traditional Chinese medicine terms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-medicine-terms) Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; dates and makers from Wikipedia’s Four Great Inventions and List of Chinese inventions.