The ancient Chinese are the creators of four important inventions: paper, printing, compass and gunpowder. Without these inventions, we would have nothing to write on, as we would have no paper. We would take a long time to publish something, if we do not have printing technology. We would also get lost because we would not have a compass to give us directions. However, the Chinese also developed one of the most dangerous inventions, the gunpowder.

By the third century AD, scientists had studied a lot about magnetism in nature. They discovered that iron ore tends to align itself in a north/south position. Scientists then made magnets by heating pieces of iron ore to red-hot temperatures before cooling the pieces in a north/south position. They would place the magnet on a reed in a bowl of water so that it would float and point in a north/south position. The bowl would have directional markings. Since the compass was invented, it was widely used in Chinese ships in the eleventh century.

Chinese legend tells us that Cai Lun presented the invention of paper to the Emperor in the year 105 AD. Archaeological evidence proves the legend incorrect. The evidence shows that paper was in use 200 years before then. Chinese people were significantly ahead of the world. In the old days, it relied on the abundance of bamboo fiber to make paper. They would use silk, flax or animal hair to weave the fibers into a piece of paper. Types of paper used were hemp paper, hide paper, bamboo paper and xuan paper. The paper most commonly used is xuan paper because it is smooth, durable, and of its whiteness. It is widely used in Chinese paintings and calligraphy.

Chinese Taoist philosophers were some of the most important contributors to the invention of gunpowder. During the Han Dynasty, extensive research had been done on sulphur and saltpeter. When these two materials were combined, they would create an explosion. As a result many fires were started. In mid Tang Dynasty, sulphur and saltpeter were combined with charcoal to make the gunpowder. When Europeans found out about the gunpowder, they used it to make rockets and other explosive weapons.

Nowadays, people in the world use products built on these invention: paper for writing; printing for publishing; compass for directions; and gunpowder for explosives. Without these Chinese inventions, we would not have any of these things and we would have an extremely small range of things for use in daily life.

Chinese people had used a carved wood block for printing in the seventh century. They would carve characters on wood and print it on paper. Block printing was a costly and time-consuming process, because a block could only be used for a certain page of a book; but it all changed when Bi Sheng in the Sung Dynasty developed the removable printing type. His idea was to place the character-shaped pieces of wood onto an iron plate so you could print the characters in any order you like. You could use it repeatedly.