四大发明英文绪论.ppt

Four Great Inventions great contributions of the Chinese people to the world’s civilizations 小组成员：陈咏雪 李勐 张薇 李雪菁 Paper Printing Gunpowder Compass The earliest Chinese characters were inscribed on bones, tortoise shells and bronze wares in the Shang Dynasty and later, written on silk, bamboo and wood. The earliest Chinese books were made from flat strips of bamboo or wood, inscribed and then threaded together. They were heavy and bulky, inconvenient for reading and carrying. China was the first country in the world to make proper paper. Paper made during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-16 AD) has been found in Gansu Province, Xian and other places in Shanxi Province as well as Xinjiang. A further development of paper is credited to Cai Lun of the Eastern Han (25-220). He used plant fiber such as tree bark, bits of rope, rags and worn-out fishing nets as raw materials. In 105, Cai presented the first batch of paper made under his supervision to the Han emperor, who was so delighted that he named the material Marquis Cais paper. The importance of the invention of paper can hardly be exaggerated. It had a great significance to cultural progress not only in China but throughout the world. Seals(relief intaglio) →→→ Block printing The first method of printing in China was the seals—in relief or intaglio. Then, in the 6th century block printing was invented by combining the two methods used for seals and stone rubbings. By the end of the 11th century , On the basis of printing using carved blocks in the Tang Dynasty, a man called Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty invented movable type printing in the 1040s. Bis printing consisted of four processes: making the types, composing the text, printing and retrieving the movable types. Economical and convenient, the use of these types brought about a revolution in printing. In the mid-eighth century, printing began to be introduced into Korea and Japan in the East and Egypt and